Carthigan's Spirit Walk

(Session 22-25) Wracked by guilt following Shegal's untimely demise, Carthigan seeks solitude and falls into a deep sleep...

As Carthigan lies slumped against the wet mossy stone wall, darkness claims him. He gets the sensation of falling deeper and deeper into an endless sea of blackness. There is a thunderous sound of silence, so loud that it is numbing to his senses. As he falls, falls, falls.
BANG
There is a loud crash that shatters the silence, sending it skittering away and Carthigan opens his eyes. He finds himself in the middle of a clearing within the wildlands jungle. The soft mossy carpet he lies on is cool but not wet. A ray of sunlight falls through the canopy, lighting his face as he awakens.
Carthigan takes a deep, trembling breath. Then another. His eyes wander around the tall trees at the edge the clearing.
He hastily gets up, making sure not to put weight on his bleeding foot. He wipes his hand across his stained face and beard as he looks around the clearing for anyone.
"Kim? Aella? S'you there?", he calls out. His words are more a plea than a question.
As Carthigan goes to wipe his foot, he notices the blood has gone, but the scar still remains. He is there in his usual travelling clothes, but they are clean and dry as if they'd been freshly put on. There is no reply from anyone as Carthigan calls out, his voice echoing slightly as it hits the thick tree bark. There is a sense of peace within this glade, as if it were a pocket of tranquillity within the savage wildlands.
"Lia? Gunter? Vince?"
He turns in semi-circle, still spying into the trees all around the clearing.
"Viktor? Anyone?"
He suddenly notices that his foot is no longer hurting. He slows down to a stop. He looks down to see the gash gone, and the blood with it. Only but a wound remains. He goes to touch his nose, and it's no longer busted. He notices his cuff links and white suit that dazzles in the ethereal sunlight.
"What-?"
He calms himself down a bit and takes a couple of deep breaths, tasting the vibrant air around him. He only now notices the solitary beauty of this place.
There is little sound in this glade, adding to the sense of serenity that it brings. There is the soft whisper of wind and somewhere in an unknown direction the sounds of small wildlife and insects make quite noise as they continue their existence.
Carthigan remains standing for a moment, unsure of what has happened or what he should do. He then slowly seats himself down on the ground in the centre of the clearing again. He tries to sort out his thoughts and assess his situation, but he ends up mostly just sitting there in silence.
He sits there for a while, taking in all the sensory experiences around him. The waves of warmth and cold. The sounds of small life everywhere. The smell of the jungle.
"Maybe they'll be here in a bit. Comin' for me."
He sits for a while more, pondering. Shegal, as foolhardy as she was, did not deserve the death she got. It was his fault, it should've been he who was punished for it. Maybe this feeling was his punishment.
Or perhaps this place was his punishment? Had he been put here to atone for all the bad things he'd done? Seems awfully redundant, he'd be punished eventually anyway when his soul was snatched. Time goes on, and nothing happens in the clearing. Is this the fate to where his decisions have led him? Spending the rest of his life here, until he passes and the snake comes for his soul?
Or maybe he was already dead, and she somehow hadn't gotten his soul. Perhaps this was the afterlife. Carthigan would've thought it to contain more coconut wine and beautiful women, but then again, that was him.
"Who's I kiddin', they ain't comin' for me."
He gets up, and straightens his hat and ascot. He looks around for a moment, contemplating which direction he should try and go in first.
He looks up at the sun to try and determine which way is north, and frowns at the apparent time of day. He finds north. Contemplating whether his best bet would be to make his way northward or southward, he reaches into his inner suit pocket.
He rummages around the pocket in search of his coin purse. It's not there. No ledger either, though he had already expected that to still be with Vincent. Not even his trusted ink pens, specifically made to make sure they never leak into his white suit pocket are there. Then he feels the cold sensation of metal at the tip of his finger, and pulls out a single coin. A copper. A bit old, but still worth something to the right person. Right now, that person is him. He puts it on his thumb and tosses it.
The coin whirls through the air for a moment, then lands in his right palm. He smacks it down on his left forearm. Heads. That means north. He puts the copper piece back into his suit pocket, and walks to the northern edge of the clearing. He begins walking between the trees northward.
Carthigan walks for a time. The jungle begin to close in around him, but now without the tools and the comrades to help him hack his way through the jungle, progress is slow. As he continues to walk he gets the feeling that he is being watched.
He stops and carefully lets his gaze wander, first to the left, then to the right.
"M- mistress?", he whispers.
There is no reply but 10 seconds later he hears his own voice echoed back to him from the trees.
He jumps a bit in surprise at hearing his own voice. He swallows.
"Hello? What's this? Who's there?"
A few seconds later and his words are repeated to him again, but this time the tone has noticeably changed to one of mockery.
Carthigan's fear turns to frustration and anger.
"Who are y'all!? The hell's you's want from me? Show yourselves!"
He turns in a circle as he shouts to make sure nothing creeps up on him.
As Carthigan shouts out and spins around, his voice returns to him with the same mocking tone. The sound comes from all directions, in multiple voices, but all sound exactly like Carthigan. But this time the words are changed.
"Who are you? The hell's you want from us? Show yourself!"
Carthigan stops and immediately ceases his shouting. The questions caught him by surprise. He hesitates on what to say.
"I'm... Carthigan Amadeus Banio."
The voice rings out into the woods and then one at a time, but with a strange choral rhythm, his voice returns from multiple directions again.
"I'm a businessman"
"I'm a son"
"I'm a brother"
"I'm an employer"
"I'm a sorcerer"
"I'm a servant"
"I'm a friend"
"I'm a liability"
Shivers run up his spine as he listens to the otherworldly chorus.
"Y- yes. I, uh, want... I need help." He lets out quick sigh. "I need guidance. I don't know what to do or how to get outta here."
The Chorus continues to interpret, corrupt or correct his words and repeat them back to him.
"I need help"
"I need guidance"
"I need reassurance"
"I need forgiveness"
"I need redemption"
There is a pause before another voice, still Carthigan's but its darker and full of vitriol
"I need power"
Carthigan turns to face the direction of the last voice.
"What kind of power?"
There is no answer, no response, no echoing back of words. As Carthigan stands there looking into the deeper darker forest, the words repeat in his head. "What kind of power".
He is still for a while, holding his breath, thinking. Power. He's always had it. When he lost it, he got more. And more. It felt good to have the power, but most of all it felt terrifying to then lose it once he'd had a taste. Like when he went bankrupt. Or when he didn't have his cane just a few hours ago.
Was it really his power, though? He hadn't studied like Vincent had, or honed his skills in battle like Gunter. He hadn't spent his days working at the forge like Viktor, or learning how to control some innate magical essence like Lia. No, the power belonged to her, and he'd been a fool to do dealings with her.
He turns around, turning his back to the darker part of the jungle.
"I don't wanna need power. I want... redemption, I suppose. But I don't know the way."
There is silence as Carthigan is left alone with his thoughts again.
His thoughts whirl through his head in a cacaphonous tornado of different intentions. It is impossible to focus on a single one, or hear what they're saying. He is left mindless, with but his instincts, his nature, to control him.
He turns around and carefully takes a single step towards the darker path.
The storm of thoughts and voices, ideas and intentions, desires and doubts grows larger and larger inside his mind, and he fears it might shatter at the strain. Though in the midsts of the thunderous vortex, a voice, a memory in particular becomes clearer and clearer.
Another step towards the darkness.
The storm changes. What was once a swarm of different tones now begins to unify into a single drive, a single impulse. An urge to leap forward, to take the dark path and embrace it. But then the memory from before becomes clear to hear, and pierces the compultion. It's Kim's voice.
"I like you, Carthigan. Don't make me change my mind."
He freezes. Then he quickly turns around and begins to run back the way he had come, back in the direction of the glade.
Carthigan runs back the way he came until he returns to the same glade as he was in before. Quiet, peaceful, tranquil.
He takes off his hat and begins panting, as he is not used to the exercise. After a minute, he looks up again and puts the hat back on.
"South, then. South it is."
He begins walking in the complete opposite direction of where he originally went.
Carthigan walks for some time, he's not sure how long exactly, and no pocketwatch to be able to tell neither. Eventually he comes to a cliff edge and steep drop into a ravine below. As he looks down he sees a low mist filling the valley below, swirling back and forth in eerie chaotic patterns.
He breaks off a twig from a nearby young tree and drops it down into the ravine.
It falls and disappears into the miasma below.
Carthigan lets his eyes spy westward, then eastward, looking for a way around the ravine.
Well, he can't fly. And climbing seems a bit redundant as well, what with his stubby little legs. The ravine seems a nearly impassable obstacle. Perhaps he ought to go back to the glade. Maybe back to the echoing voices after all.
He eyes the length of the ravine again. He might as well try and make his way around it before deciding. He takes off his hat, and places it on a nearby bush, marking the location. He strokes his ponytail, damp from the jungle moisture. Been a while since he had a haircut. He turns to the left and starts walking along the edge of the ravine.
Carthigan moves along the edge of the ravine, a little further back from the edge, but still looking around for any sign of a way to cross. Up ahead he sees a large tree leaning to one side, the bark looks black as if it had been struck by lightning. It leans at an angle as part of the base of the tree seems to have been worn away. Its hanging loosely half way over the ravine.
Carthigan takes a mental note of the tree as a landmark and continues along the edge.
Continuing along the edge of the ravine, eventually Carthigan comes across a rope bridge across the chasm. The bridge looks a little worse for wear but essentially fairly solid
He approaches the bridge and grabs onto the rope railing. He takes a slow, careful step onto it, then puts some weight on the foot to test the bridge's safety.
When he is sure the bridge is safe-ish he takes a quick, determined breath and begins his walk across the ravine.
The bridge creeks a little but supports Carthigan's weight easily enough as he continues to walk across
Carthigan gets to the middle of the bridge and as he looks ahead he notices 2 shadowy apparitions appear on the far side of the bridge. He turns to look towards the side he's come from and see two more of these same figures hovering towards the bridge
The shades move towards the bridge and float out over the chasm flanking the sides of the bridge on both sides
Carthigan's eyes move from one shadow to another, unsure of what to do. He lifts his hands and holds them up in an attempt to stall them so they may converse.
"Howdy, y'all! Please, uh, stay right there! Uh, who're you? Whatchu want?", he asks nervously.
The shadows begin to move on along the sides of the bridges getting closer to Carthigan. One of them lets out a low gutteral screech as its empty maw opens wide. One of the shades from behind Carthigan slashes out with spectral claws.
As the shades move in and strike at Carthigan, he grabs the ropes and throws himself over into the abyss.
He falls down, in free fall, through the layer of mist and continues to fall onto the sharp crags below. As his body hits the rocks his vision fades as his body lies broken.
Carthigan opens his eyes. He finds himself in the middle of a clearing within the wildlands jungle. The soft mossy carpet he lies on is cool but not wet. A ray of moonlight falls through the canopy, lighting his face as he awakens.
He is immense amounts of pain and it feels like every bone in his body has been broken. Even the slightest movement causes huge amounts of pain, but he's alive.
He slowly, slowly gets up in a sitting position, grunting in pain all the way.
"By. Golly."
He lies back down and rests for a while, staring up at the pale blue moon high and scattering of distant stars high above. Every inch of his being beats with waves of pain. It was a miracle he'd survived such a fall. Actually, how had he survived such a fall? He was back where he started. Who had gotten him out of that ravine? Had the others found him after all?
He gets up in a sitting position again and looks around the glade with weak eyes. "Anyone there?", he asks the dark forest around him, not really expecting it to answer.
As Carthigan lies there, he feels but doesn't see a touch against his skin, and the warmth of radiant magic filling him. His bones begin to mend and the pain subsides a little
He takes a deep sigh of relief and places a hand where he can feel the radiant touch.
". . . thank you."
He remains on the ground for a moment as his bones realign and bruises heal.
As Carthigan sits looking around, checking over his mending bones a short halfling figure walks into the glade. He seems to be reasonably old, and has a long scruffy greyish white hair. He's wearing travelling clothes with a large rucksack on his back
"Ah you're awake finally" he calls over as he approaches
"Oh thank the spirits, finally another civilized individual 'round here."
He gets up on his newly mended legs and grunts.
"Hail n' well met n' whatnot. Name's Banio. And to whom do I owe the pleasure?"
He extends a hand, then retracts it and cocks his head to the side. He thinks for a moment.
"Was it you who got me outta that there ravine? And, uh, healed my busted n' broken up body?"
"Tedon, Tedon P. Overmire. And yes sir, that was me who got you outta tha' ditch. How'd you end up down there in the first place, if ya don't mind me askin Sir."
Tedon walks a little closer and goes to shake the hand until its retracted. He just nods politely instead
"I recklessly threw myself into the unknown, misty abyss, driven by some sudden, idiotic, otherworldly impulse. 'S bein' chased and assaulted by some shadowy fellas at the time, n' thought it my only escape. Good thingimadoo you found me, Mr Overmire, or I might've most certainly perished down there."
Tedon walks right up close and looks Carthigan over closely
"Yeah sure, sounds likely. If you don't mind me saying, what's a smartly dressed fella like yourself doing out here with no supplies, no gear and no weapons? Just saying its mighty suspicious sir"
Carthigan stays put but slowly leans backwards to put some distance with him and the halfling, as he doesn't completely enjoy the sudden proximity in which he has found himself to this stranger.
"Well, uh, actually I ain't too sure myself how I ended up in this here jinxidoodle. I's here with my travellin' companions, n' we stumbled 'pon some unfortunate circumstances. I sorta became... exhausted, I'suppose, and next thing I know I wake up all alone in the jungle with naught but a coin on my person."
The Halfling backs off a little and pulls his backpack off his shoulders.
"Sounds like them companions o' yours have ditch you. Yes sir. Did ya argue wid them perhaps? Maybe not pullin' your wait sir? It's alright, people are petty minded like that, yes they are. But ta leave ya with just the clothes on your back. That's pretty low. Real mean spirited if I might say sir."
He begins to pull out some bread and some particularly ripe looking cheese
"S'alright though. Ted's got you covered. I bet you must be a nip peckish"
A low rumble emerges from deep within Carthigan's innards as he observes the cheese with great interest.
"Practically starvin'."
He thinks about what the man had said for a moment. He hadn't even thought about the possibility that Telum Veritas... his friends... could have abandoned him. Left him behind in the jungle. Now that he thought about it, it seemed so obvious. Lia hated him for what he'd done in the past, Viktor hated him for what he'd done recent. Kim and Aella probably fell to dislike him as well. Gunter and Vincent... Vincent. Well, after what he'd said to the boy, it wouldn't surprise him if he'd awoken some wrath there as well. And Shegal...
But would they really just leave him like that? Maybe he wasn't a good person, but they are, aren't they? Good enough to still believe in him, realise he's trying? Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.
"Um, Mr Overmire? Tedon? Ted? Teddy?"
"Yes sir?"
He hands a chunk of bread and a generous slice of cheese to the Dwarf. The cheese is a very mature and smelly slightly soft cheese
Carthigan looks down at the cheese in his hands like a father watches their newborn child in awe.
He devours the soft, delicious cheese.
He wipes his mouth and licks his for any remaining cheese before biting into the bread.
"I'm just tryin' to get my bearings set on straight. I just had this thought that if I've been left here by the others, maybe I've been in a slumber for a few days or somethin'? You wouldn't happen to know what date it is?"
"Where's you from anyway? I detect a certain southern resonance in your tone. How came it about you found your way up in this here nest o' hell?"
"You've got a good ear on you sir. I'm all the way from the South coast. I'm guessing by your voice you'd be a northerner but so far north as we are now. Would I be right?"
"As for dates I don't keep track but just coming into the Zeminna's embrace I would reckon. I've been away from civilized too long to count more than that "
When he mentions being away from civilization for too long, Carthigan raises his bread in the air slightly.
"I hear that." He bites into the remaining bread. "And indeed, I'm a northener. Lakebell, born n' raised. So, whatchu doin' up here, then, Teddy? You remarked my lonliness, but you seem a lone wanderer s'well, no? Did you too lose your expedition?"
"Long time ago I did. Now I live in these parts, helping out strangers where I can. Now I guess we'll need to find somewhere to patch you up for the night"
Carthigan finishes his bread and gives the peculiar halfling an equally peculiar look.
"Live 'round here? Who'd would volunarily live up in these cursed lands? You wouldn't wanna head on back down to more southern places that ain't filled with jungle, beasts and that there black magic voodoo doohickey?"
"Sure the wildlands are dangerous. But if you know what you're looking at its not mysterious. It has a strange honesty to it. If everything is trying to kill you then at least you know where you stand. Right sir?"
"Hmm. I suppose so. Though I find I never truly know what the hells I'm lookin' at while up here. Strange women that are there but really they ain't, then they turn you deaf. Orcs that've turned red allova sudden for some damnable reason. We encountered a couple o' truly monstrous castorinae 'bout a week ago, which has to up there s'far as horrifying beasts go. The very fruit in this place seems to have murderous intent, I can attest to that."
He pauses for a bit. It is good to have food in his belly again.
"I 'poligize if I'm blabberin, Mr Overmire. I'm just happy to meet someone after bein' all alone in this place, I've been longing for someone to make conversation with."
"Ain't much of a talker myself. I tend to listen more. I find it helps to get to the truth of the matter. Those that is always gabbin' do it to hide their deeds. Least that's how I see it."
Carthigan falls silent, and slowly closes his mouth. He looks at the man for a few seconds, determining if he is trying to mock him or not.
"...right. I suppose that might be so."
Quickly wanting to change the subject, he looks around the glade.
"You mentioned some place to rest n' patch up?"
"Yep, that's right. I never stay in one place for too long. I'm of 'no fixed abode' if you will, but perhaps with an extra set of eyes we can find somewhere with some relative safety to rest up"
He gets a little closer to Carthigan and offers him a hand up from the ground
He takes his hand and gets up. "Sounds marvelous. I'll give the surroundings a peer. Might wanna try n' keep away from the north n' south. North's got some strangely talkative beast, n' south's got them there apparitions I did the speakin's of."
Tedon groans a little as he helps the Dwarf up. He then turns and begins heading North
"What are you blabberin' about? There's no talkative beasts I've ever heard of. C'mon, daylight is waning"
Carthigan freezes for a moment. He doesn't like the idea of going back up north. Though, perhaps the voices he had heard were only tricks of his mind? After all, a lot had been going on in there lately. In any case, perhaps whatever those voices were would not return if he wandered up there with someone to accompany him. Mr Overmire seemed to know these environments good enough. He quickly swallows and hurries after the halfling.
"You never heard o' parrots? I hear those birds o' paradise be plentiful up in these here parts."
He keeps a close eye on the jungle around them as they walk.
They begins to walk out of the glad towards the North
"Parrots? Yeah sure hardly what I'd call a beast though. You'll not last long out here if ya afraid o' parrots sir."
As they continue on their way the jungle seems lighter, less threatening than it had done previously. There are no voices, no spirits, nothing that gives the same uneasy chill Carthigan had before
"So tell me 'bout your comrades. Why'd ya think they'd leave you behind?"
Carthigan slowly relaxes as they walk, relieved that whatever creature was here before is now gone. Maybe it hadn't actually been more than his mind playing tricks on him after a few weeks of panic after all. He scratches the back of his neck, right below the ponytail, and realises that his hat must still be lying where he left it.
"Well... I'll be honest with you, Mr Overmire, I've done some acts in my past that some people would consider to be bad. Not somethin' directly harmful to any one person, but a bad decision all the same. So while I didn't do anythin' to my companions, at least not intentionally-like, I imagine they might've thought me a... liability. Someone who it's unsafe to be around. And that's why they left me."
He grinds his teeth slowly. He is not used to talking about these sorts of things, though he imagines a stranger to be the perfect recipient of his thoughts.
"They... might be a whole lil' o' a bit furious with me right now s'well. I made a misstep on our travels recently... caused one of my friends an early end. I-" He swallows. "I didn't mean to do it, o'course, but it's still my fault. And it seems that was the final straw. They clearly don' trust me no more."
"Sounds to me like your been made into a Straw man here. Gettin' the blame for all that's going wrong with the group. Mr Banio I believe you may have dodged an arrow with been left on your own. You seem to me like someone who's more used to rely on their own wits to get by than having a posse as a crutch. Am I right?"
The two of them continue to walk for sometime until they reach a slope downwards towards a wide fast flowing river
Carthigan is quiet for a moment.
"I mean, yeah. Leastways, that used to be what I thought. I'm a clever man, n' I know I'm a clever man, a charmin' man with ambitions that lie high up on yonder. But then again, I had some help from an associate o' mine then. I have this terrible feelin' that perhaps I didn't earn my prosperity back then, maybe t'was just her doin' that allowed me to become so great. N' now, it's time for me to pay her back for her assistance."
He sighs again before continuing.
"It didn't feel that way when I's with them travellin' companions, though. I never felt what I accomplished was all thanks to them. They assisted, yes, but it was... I dunno, team effort I s'pose?"
He lowers his gaze a little.
"I had people I thought were my friends before. People who left me by the roadside when I lost everythin'. But these new companions o' mine, they didn't do like them people did. They stuck with me, tolerated me. Some o' them... why I think some o' them might've even liked me."
He is silent, staring absently at the river ahead.
"I don' feel like I dodged any arrows, Mr Overmire, or bulletfire, or any other projectiles fo' that matter. I just feel terrible that I've lost the only people I think would've liked me as a person."
"Ah yet here you are, on your own with ol' Ted here. Stuck with ya? Tolerated ya? Seems it was all just words I guess."
They reach the edge of the wide river, its current is flowing smoothly. Tedon takes a turn to the left following the current of the river as they walk along the bank
"So tell me 'bout this associate of yours. Did something happen to them to? Why aren't they around no more?"
"She resides up here in the jungle, actually. Haven't seen her in a while. She wants me to come on up to see her."
He sighs.
"But I dunno. If I go, she might make me do somethin' horrible. If I don' go, there'll be consequences. I used to think we were on equal ground, like business partners, but recently it's seemed more of a deal o' domination n' subjugation. N' I don' fancy that."
He is silent.
"Maybe I should just stay here. By the riverside. Or try n' find my way down south. I don't know."
"Ah, you'll be talking about the Empress, I'd be guessing sir. Seems only appropriate that subject would be raised as we walk beside her tail. How'd a southerner like you end up at her mercy?"
They continue to walk but the pace is slowed slightly. Tedon looks up and down the river
Carthigan's eyes go wide. Startled, he looks straight at the man and takes a step away from him. After a moment, he calms himself somewhat and clears his throat as his shoulders relax.
"Aye. Empress, Mistress. You know of her?"
"Of course, would last long in these parts without knowing who's pullin' strings around here"
He sees Carthigan's reaction and chuckles. He smiles reassuringly
"Don't worry, I'm no patsy of hers or anything. I've been here a very long time and managed to stay neutral to all the shenanigans here."
He eyes the halfling for a moment.
"Right. I'suppose it's a blessin' that comes with stayin' here a while. Wish I'd had that."
He slowly falls back in line to walk side by side with the man.
"I, uh, made a bargain with her. N' now she wants me to do my part o' the bargain. I fear what thay might entail."
"Did you make this bargain under some form of duress? Where you aware of what you bargaining for? It ain't something most folk would enter into lightly"
"It was by my own choice. I's desperate. I sought her out, read the contract thoroughly and signed like a happy sinner. Though... that was a long time ago. I consider it one o' the gravest mistakes o' my lifetime these days."
"Gotcha, but you still made the deal. So there must have been something you agreed to pay. You're a business man right, you've done deals all your life?"
"My payment was my services, when the time would come. That time seems to be now. That, and she'd get ahold o' my incorporeal vestige once I passed. My soul."
"Alright so you made a deal, with the full intention of keeping the deal but now its time to pay up you don't want to and you're a bit miffed that she's not treating you like an equal now? How would you act if one of your debtors refused to pay up?"
He gives the halfling a look and laughs a bit sheepishly.
"Well, I knew the contract, yes. I knew what it would entail, what it would mean for me down the line. I understand what's happened n' what she expects of me. It's just..."
He looks out over the river and sighs.
"It's just... until recently, I thought workin' with her was what I wanted. Now I feel... I feel it ain't right. I could do better, I could be better. Maybe."
"Sounds like some mighty big decisions you've been making sir."
They stop at a small inset near the river
"This should make a good campsite for the night. What's your survival skill like? Think you can start us up a fire?"
"I can certainly try. Haven't done it in a long time, though. D'ya have a tinderbox or, like, a couple o' matches or somethin'?"
Tedon plonks his backpack down by a rock and sits on top of it
"Anyone can make a fire if they have the right tools. Can yer do it without help or do need to rely on someone else?"
He frowns a little.
"I can do it. I'll stay close so nothin strange snatches me out from the underbrush."
He goes to gather some firewood.
As Carthigan returns he sets about putting a campfire together. With some relative ease he manages to light the fire and soon a small fire is burning within the clearing
"Good job sir. Bet that felt mighty good."
He claps his hands a couple of times, shaking off any dirt that was on them.
"Felt mighty good indeed. You know, I must admit, it's kinda nice bein' a bit more on your own. 'Part from you, o'course. Easier to focus, y'know?"
"I think I know exactly what you mean. Seems like you have a choice coming up soon in your life. Rely on yourself to sort things out or rely on others."
He reaches into his backpack and pulls out some preserved meats and some mature cheese and passes them over
Carthigan takes the food and begins eating, in a more civilized manner this time.
"Whatchu mean?"
"Oh I'm just an old man who's mostly talking out of his posterior. But it seems to me like you're at a crossroads. You keep going straight ahead and you're walking straight towards the Empress, where she has control over you."
He pauses and munches on some of the cheese, bits falling from his mouth into his unkept beard
"That left path, that's the way you go where ya take control for yourself. Your wits have always been sharper than the average joker and maybe you work your own way through things"
There is a longer pause this time while he looks around a little
"Then there's the path on the right. That's the big question mark, that's one where you let go of control and you just hope something or someones comes along and helps you. Its risky of course, probably the hardest path to take, but maybe its the right path for a reason."
Tedon looks directly at Carthigan
"I chose the left path years ago, don't rely on anyone but me. Its why in the morning when you wake up, I won't be here. But that choice, that'll be coming real soon sir. Are you're following what I'm yabberin' about?"
Carthigan looks back at the man, and for a few moments the two of them just look straight at each other in silence. His gaze then wanders towards the nearby river.
"Yeah... I think I do. Maybe."
He turns abscent for a moment, thinking about what the halfling said.
"Why'd you decide you couldn't rely on anyone but yourself?"
"Well I ain't sayin' I've lived the right path, but at least its my own path. Got no one to blame for my mistakes, but no one to take credit for my success. Easier not to get hurt if you don't let anyone close."
He smiles and idly sits eating
"Anyway, the suns getting real low, yes sir. You should get some sleep. I'll keep watch, make sure you gets yourself a good rest"
Carthigan thinks for a bit longer, then takes off his suit jacket and lays it down in the ground. As he begins to crawl into the bedroll, he looks over at the man.
"Thank you again, Mr Overmire. So, we won't see each other in the mornin', then?"
"I don't reckon so. Been a pleasure meeting you Mr Banio. I hope my words of guidance do you some good. Anything else ya wanna know before we conclude for the evening?"
He sits thoughtfully, pulling out an old wooden pipe, putting in some pipeweed from a small pack at his side and lighting it up
Carthigan lies down comfortably in the bedroll, looking up at the sky above, or rather what he can make out between the trees. He listens to the faint crackling of the fire and the halfling's pipe. He can feel sleep creeping up on him.
"Ain't it lonely?", he finally asks. "On the left path?"
"Sure is, but that don't bother me too much. Guess that's part of the choice I made."
Tedon puffs a large smoke ring out in to the calm evening. He watches as it rise up into the sky and fades away
He thinks about that for a second.
"Right. Well, g'night, Teddy. Thank you for all you've done."
He glances at the man, then rolls over on his side and lets sleep take him.
Sleep comes quickly for Carthigan, his experience has been exhausting and the events of the last few days seem now to drift off his troubled mind.
As Carthigan's eyes flutter open the following morning, the sun is already up and as he looks around there is no sign of Tedon, his belongs or even his bedroll. Carthigan is laying next to his suit jacket on a soft bed of leaves.
Carthigan squints his eyes. The Wildlands could be awfully bright at times. He gets up and stretches his old bones for a moment, looking around to determine that Tedon is really gone. He suddenly realises that maybe he ought to have asked for a bit of food to take with him.
Hangin his suit jacket over his right shoulder, he walks over to the river with the intent of washing his face, making sure to look if it's safe before he does.
He kneels down to wash his face by the river shore. The water feels good on his hot face as he tries to wash his thoughts straight. He wipes his face off with the inside of his suit jacket, then looks around to get a better picture of his surroundings.
As he looks up the river is gone. He is knelt down in the same glade that he started from. But this time the glade has 3 distinct archways out of it. One to his left, one straight ahead and one to the right.
The path ahead is wide, open and level. Its seems to lead through the jungle without much effort.
The path off to the left seems less open and looking further along it seems to head towards the bottom of a large cliffside
The path to the right is dark, and Carthigan can barely see into it before the jungle seems to take control of it. As he looks closer he realises this is the path he took when he first arrived, the one with the voices that haunted him.
Carthigan swallows hard. 'I thought he meant his words in a metaphorical sense. The hell is all o' this? ', he thinks to himself.
He needed to make a choice alright. Straight ahead, Tedon had said, was the path to Dal Zarma. If he went to her, and did what she asked, he would've held up his part of the bargain, and wouldn't feel her wrath. Though, could he truly prosper with a fiend such as her looming above his head at all times?
He looks left. The left was what Tedon had chosen. To rely on his own better judgement and ability. Such a choice would let him make more choices and decisions in the future, give him the reigns so to say. But then again, what ability did he really have on his own? And in a place like this? He would be in charge of his actions, yes, but would he survive?
Then there was the right path. The right path scared him. It was unknown, an uncharted land where he didn't know what to expect. Bleeding anything could happen there. He might meet allies and help along that path, but perhaps also enemies and adversary. In a way, the right path could be seen as a risky investment.
Carthigan sighs. In his mind, the paths were one of submission, one of control, and one of faith. Submission to Dal Zarma, Control of his own direction, or Faith that others can save him from himself. He was indeed at a crossroads.
He didn't want to go straight ahead, back to his Mistress. She was powerful, yes, and she could make him powerful, yes, but he would have to truly give up everything that he stands for. If he were to be let himself be dominated by her, he wouldn't be Carthigan Amadeus Banio, he would be a shallow husk of what he used to represent.
He shakes his head. No Dal Zarma, then. He was terrified of what such a betrayal might cost him, but if he decided to comply with her demands, it would already have cost him too much.
Left or right, then. Control or Faith. He thought about Tedon Overmire, and his decision to rely on himself. It must be nice not to have to worry about anyone but yourself, like when he had lit that campfire last night. But if you're all alone, all by yourself, why would you even care about what happened to you? If no one is there to take part of what you do, then why do it?
On the right path, you would have others take part. But then they might hurt you, like his old ensemble of friends. Or worse, you might hurt them, like with Shegal. But maybe he has to take that risk? Even though his friends had abandoned him here, didn't he still care something about them? About Aella, about Kim? Vincent? What about Geoffrey, back in Highspire, who had been like a second father to him? He couldn't lose him, could he?
He swallows hard again. Left or right, right or left. He suddenly realises something, and reaches into the inner pocket of his suit jacket. He pulls out the single copper coin from before. He stares at it for a moment, then tosses it. Right or left, left or right...
The coin spins in the air for a moment, then lands in the palm of his hand. He slaps it down on his wrist to look. Tails. That means left. He can feel the hairs in the back of his neck rise up slightly. He turns towards the left archway, and stares through, down to the distant cliffside. He starts walking towards it.
"Wait, hold up.", he suddenly says to himself and stops right before walking through the archway. He frowns and looks down at the coin.
"That's dumb. I'm takin' the path towards control because o' nothing else than mere chance? Why, that's just contradictory! This coin tellin' me I get to decide my own actions is exactly the reason why I shouldn't follow it, ain't it? I can decide what I want to do myself, I can decide to take the right path instead!"
He steps away from the left archway. "And if I then were to take the right path, wouldn't that just prove that I still have control o' what I wanna do and who I wanna rely on? It ain't all black n' white, is it? I don' have to throw all o' my control way off over yonder, I just have to live with the fact that part o' that control resides with others."
He suddenly finds himself in front of the right archway. The jungle inside looks dark and uncertain. He is unsure what awaits inside. He tosses the copper coin in the air again and catches it without looking at the result.
"I'm takin' control o' my destiny by takin' a step towards less control. N' s'long as I'm still walkin' on two of these here stubby lil' leggins, I'm gonna do fine."
With the coin in hand, he steps through the right archway and begins walking through the jungle.
He is anxious, and unsure, but at the same time confident and sure as all hells he is on the right path. As the darkness of the jungle around him seems to cling to his undershirt, he begins slowly humming the tune of a song. A song he was taught long ago by his father, which he would play together with his sister in their youth. He providing vocals and piano, while she provided the wailing violin. He had a lot of horrible things to say about his sister, but she could play the violin better than anyone in Highspire. The song in question was aptly named 'Into the Unknown', and he finds himself humming its melody as he walks through the dark jungle.
"Led through the mist, by the milk light of moon, all that was lost is revealed..."
He glances up at the branches high above him, looking out for any creatures that might be observing him or lying ready to snatch him from above as he continues humming on different parts of the song.
"...but where have we come, and where shall we end? Hum, hum. If dreams can't come true, then why not pretend?"
He looks directly ahead, readying himself for what he might face on this path.
The next step he takes is the last one. As if the ground itself had opened up to swallow him Carthigan slips downwards. His vision unable to get any bearings on where he is. He falls and falls until suddenly he stops.
After a while his vision clears. He is unable to move, unable to even turn his head or move his mouth. He still has his thoughts but no way to act. Around him is a dark glade. One he has seen but once before. He feels something constrict around him as his stomach sinks. Then there is a voice that calls out from the darkness.
"Ssssso good to ssssee you Mr Banio"

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