1629, Earth Season, probably Disorder Week, Around Fireday
Context
Varanis, Berra, and friends are staying at Silor’s house, while Berra prepares to do something monumentally stupid with a lot of splashback. Session SA5.W4.
Events
On the evening of the talk with the spirit, before Berra has told people about Her Plan, and while Maalira and Varanis are still very very chattery, Berra either takes pity on the household, or does not know what she is in for; she goes out for a walk with Varanis once it is dark.
She comes back freshly bathed an hour later, and climbs in over the wall, jumping down and then limping into the house. Her hair is amazing. A puffball.
Maalira blinks at her, taking in the entire picture. “What have you done to your…” she pauses, weighing it up, “…leg?”
“Uh, just twisted it jumping down.” Berra looks back outside. “Varanis mended the break.”
Maalira pinches the bridge of her nose. “Why didn’t you just come in the normal way?”
“Oh, the gate’s closed for the evening. And the windows are shuttered because Orlanthi live here. I didn’t want to bother anyone.”
Around them the hall bustles a little, even at this late hour. Nobody challenges Berra, and any guards outside did not shout out.
“Fair enough,” Maalira sighs. “And… the hair?”
“That was when I broke my ankle. I needed a bath. There was mud in it.”
The clean clothes look like they have been borrowed from a bath-house, or a hospitable friend. Berra is carrying a bundle with her, as well as two swords.
Maalira nods. “That figures.” After a moment, she adds, “Do you need any more healing?”
“I need to cut it off again, I think.” Berra runs a hand through it. “Uh, the ankle? Maybe. I think it’s just settling in, though.” She pulls up the leg of her trouser – it is already tied in position above the ankle, so that she can walk at all. She just has to displace the cloth.
Her left ankle has white scarring around it, where an Orlanthi has obviously ‘healed’ it.
“That doesn’t look comfortable,” Maalira observes.
“It’s better than if I did it,” Berra says. “But it really needed putting right. Even what I could have done would have been better than the mess I made. I landed on a rock. Well, half on. It wasn’t from very high, and it wasn’t a big rock, but I didn’t expect it.”
“Come over here, then, and let me have a go at it,” Maalira says, beckoning to a quiet corner.
Berra obediently does as told.
Maalira carefully puts her hands on Berra’s ankle and massages the scar, to separate the fibres before they knot too hard.
Berra watches, and winces from time to time, in the way one does when getting deep tissues moved about. “She says you gave her something to keep her awake?”
“And myself,” Maalira confirms. “It was the only way to make sure that the spirit didn’t put us to sleep.”
“Does this mean you’re going to want to go out for a walk as well?” Berra looks at her foot, and Maalira, and then at the door.
“No, you’re safe,” Maalira says with a giggle. “I’ll be awake a while yet but I don’t feel any need to go tempting rocks.”
“Good, because the mud was pretty foul. I should probably find some scissor-snips… cutting my hair with a flaming dagger would be bad, wouldn’t it? I don’t know why I thought of that.”
“Yes, that would be extremely bad,” Maalira says. She fishes around in her scrip and pulls out some snips, handing them over.
“Thank you.” Berra puts her hand to her head to grab a clump of hair. “Wow. It went all fluffy.”
“It really did. Do you need some oils for it?”
“It’s about to all go. If I’m going to Prax, I just need enough to keep my …” Then Berra trails off, thinking. “Yeah, it’s gonna go.” She starts cutting, starting with a handful from the back of her neck, where it will not be seen if things go badly.
Maalira watches with some concern. “Do you want help?”
“Which end of me… actually, lemme say that a different way. Are you done with my ankle?” Berra puts a handful of hair on the table, carefully.
“Yes, your ankle’s done. Want help with the hair?”
“Yes please. Just cut it as short as you can at the sides and back, and pretty short on top. I’ll shave the bits that need shaving tomorrow.” Berra sits forwards, then remembers the borrowed shirt and pulls it off, putting it out of the way of falling hair.
Maalira takes the snips off her and begins working, a little at a time.
Berra sits politely, almost entirely still, except for her expression.
Hair falls, and when it is done it is…1Maalira fails DEXx3 well, probably not the worst haircut she has ever had.
A passing Ernaldan gives Maalira a Very Supportive Smile.
“I don’t think I’ve done a very good job of this,” Maalira says resignedly.
“Is it on fire, and did you break any vows? I mean, do I still have my ears?” Berra looks for something to look into. The passing Ernaldan who had a bronze basin with her is hurrying away.
“I mean, I’m not sure this doesn’t accidentally break my vow to harm people,” Maalira says, not entirely joking. “I’m sorry, Berra, it looks awful.”
Berra reaches for the scissors, hand moving through her hair. “Nah, it’s fine. It’s a bit shorter than I like to start with, but lemme give it a go.”
Maalira hands the snips back again. “Be careful, don’t snip your skin,” she says.
Berra nods. “Course.” She starts work at the back, just as before, and for a couple of moments all is fine. Then she pauses and says, “You know you said not to snip my skin?2Fumble on DEXx5. ‘I made you roll it, so I have to roll it too…’“
Maalira sighs, pulls a clean cloth out of her scrip, and offers it to Berra.
Berra dribbles a bit of blood on her shoulder as she looks at her index finger, but she folds her thumb over it for pressure while she hands the scissors back. “I’ll just go straight to the razor, later on.” It looks like she got her knuckle, pretty hard.
Maalira sighs. “Can you please stay in one piece for at least a day?”
Berra considers that carefully. “I haven’t actually lost any bits. Today. Did you know Varanis got a leg AND an arm cut off this season?” It sounds like she was hit by a change of subject, rather than trying to change it herself. She just remembered, and blurted it out.
“She WHAT?”
“Uh, she… got into about two fights and neither of them went well?”
“That… well… at least she’s back together.”
“Yeah.” Berra wraps up the finger. “At least I’m good with a razor.” Nothing could go wrong, after that has been said.
“I think you should maybe ask someone else to do it,” Maalira says. She reflects. “Not me.”
“Well, if I can get a mirror I can do most of it, probably?” Berra looks around for help, though.
“Varanis would probably do it – when is she coming back?”
“Uh, I left her at the baths. She was talking a lot to the servant as she went in there, so probably when the stuff wears off?” Berra looks at her bandaged finger. “We could go back there and ask her, but if she comes back at the same time…”
“No and no, you’re not going anywhere else on that ankle tonight,” Maalira says firmly.
Berra sighs. “Alright. But then let’s ask one of the women here to. I’m pretty sure Thenaya will be free.” Her right hand drops briefly to the iron sword at her hip, and her fingers tap the hilt. “She’s brought up enough kids to know how to do this.”
“Good idea.” Maalira looks around too.
Berra stands up, and flags down a young woman, sending them off to find either Thenaya, or competent help. Then she sits down again. “So, a lot’s happened around here. The area down South, Whitewall and Heortland? Varanis helped to find a King for it.”
“Oh! That’s good… I think? Is that good?”
Berra nodnods. “They’re pretty Sartarite anyhow – it’s likely to make them good allies.” Berra frowns in thought, complete with nose-wrinkling. “South of us is the Holy Country. The Colymar, my people, were the first to come back to Sartar after Dragonkill, hundreds of years ago. Old Man Colymar came from Heortland.”
“That’s good,” Maalira says. “I hope they will see some stability.”
There’s a loud thump and a yelp outside the door to the great hall.
“Yeah.” Berra settles into her chair properly. “It’ll be good if that happens. Maybe it was the idea?” She is keeping an eye on the inner doors, but at the thump she is getting up instantly.
Thump, thump, thump.
A few others are heading that way, and of course, Maalira put her in a corner to deal with the ankle, and Berra has her shoe half off, so there is a short delay. A grizzled old warrior opens the door, spear in hand.
Maalira watches the door being opened, curiously.
Varanis is slumped against it, in armour, but looking damp and rather worse for wear.
“Stand down. Orlanthi missed the floor,” the old man calls. With his foot in the way so the door cannot open fully, at least he does not get Varanis’ full weight on him.
“Sorry,” she slurs. “Wash… was a mish… mishap. Lost m’balance.”
“Is she…” Berra has her shoe on now.
A couple of women by the door bend to help Varanis up. “Come on, dear.”
“Oh dear,” Maalira murmurs.
Thenaya pauses next to Maalira. “Oh dear,” she echoes softly. It might be at the haircut. It might be at the drunken Wind Lord. “You just keep sitting down. We’ll bring her over.”
“Only had one wine. Cup. One wine cup. One cup o’wine. S’all.”
“Sometimes wine is strong. Hup-up-come.”
Then Berra arrives on the scene. Someone has attacked her hair with scissors, and she has no shirt on. Blood is splattered on her left shoulder – perhaps her ear is bleeding?
Varanis peers at the room, taking things in. “Ulerian sed I was drunk. But I c’n handle a wine cup. Mebbe it was poison. Said so. Was told to go to bed. Cud have slept there, but what if they poison… poisoned me. Maalira, am I poisoned?”
Maalira scowls mildly at Varanis. “No, you’re not poisoned, just a bit in your cups.”
“Can’t hold her drink,” someone mutters. Berra gives them a deep scowl.
“Was s’only one,” Varanis promises, allowing herself to be guided towards her friends. She flops down beside them. “I feel horrid.”
First Aid: If she has truly only had one, something might be wrong. This is very drunk.
Thenaya leans over to take Varanis’ temperature with the back of her hand. “You’ve had more than just wine,” she guesses. Berra stays back, casually watching. Very casual. Her right hand is hooked over the pommel of her iron sword. Dead casual.
“Jus’ one cup,” Varanis insists. “But feels like a whole amph… amphfra. And now m’head hurts. Like wakin’ up from drinkin’ too much. I think I wanna sleep.”
“Hmm,” Maalira says. “I don’t think you should go to sleep just yet. Let me take a look at you.3Passed both First Aid and Treat Poison: There is some interaction between the wine and whatever stimulant it was Maalira gave Varanis earlier. She knows it as a problem, given her previous critical score. Someone may have mixed the wine with herbs that make this happen, or it might just be wine + stimulant + bath heat, or it might be that Varanis is just strange and reacts oddly to drugs.“
“I’ll go get some water,” Thenaya tells Maalira. There is a jug on a table nearby and she brings it after sending a child to go get cups, and a larger child to make sure he does not try to carry too many.
“She didn’t have time to drink more than about one or two,” Berra pipes up. “She’d have been having a bath.”
- 1Maalira fails DEXx3
- 2Fumble on DEXx5. ‘I made you roll it, so I have to roll it too…’
- 3Passed both First Aid and Treat Poison: There is some interaction between the wine and whatever stimulant it was Maalira gave Varanis earlier. She knows it as a problem, given her previous critical score. Someone may have mixed the wine with herbs that make this happen, or it might just be wine + stimulant + bath heat, or it might be that Varanis is just strange and reacts oddly to drugs.
