Diaries The Saga Of Berra — Fragment 21
1626
Anger was cold in the daughter of Jarang
Cold was her mind as she walked through the hallways
Speaking her thoughts to Serala who listened
Asking for eyes on the kin of the killer
Up on the rooftop she watched Nala practice
Axes with Rajar and earth-tongue a-lashing
Turning her eyes from the Ernaldan Weapon1Literally, the axe with its earth association. Figuratively, Nala.
Berra saw someone draw bow on a rooftop
Hearing the thump of the string on a hornbow
Seeing the slumpling attacker in motion
Berra looked down to see Serala riding
Prisoner there by her horse-side she hurried
Calling Varanis to come to the rooftop
Berra’s quick wits called for Leaping through air-home
Sending the Vingan2This indicates an interesting start to the relationship with someone theoretically her superior in many ways. The usual commentary on Berra applies. to heal the assassin
Capturing him before blood left his body
Following Rajar swift Berra descended
Looked at the edifice rising above her
Called for a rope and a grapnel of bronze then
Heard the great crash as the Bison broke inward
Rajar had set his great weight to the doorframe
Clean snapped the bar as his shoulder collided
Seeing the breach of the guesthood of Nochet
Berra walked in with her head bowed to house-hold
Here we are in the pursuit of a killer
We must pass through but are begging your pardon
Berra spoke thus to the house’s bold owner
Following Rajar she soothingly calmed him3It is unlikely to have been Rajar who was soothingly calmed.
Up on the roof was Varanis in glory
Dawn kissing armour that glistened with silver
She held the living as prisoner squirming
Held by the arrow and held by her presence
Proud was Varanis and Berra proud of her
Seeing the Vingan that she could have been once
Down they descended to take in the guilty
Berra paused then to make recompense honest4This is very much in character with Berra’s fabled personality. She probably over-paid for the damage.
When they returned to the house of Varanis5Notable that the name Saiciae is not used, but that of Varanis instead. This gives the new reader some foreshadowed understanding of what is to come.
Questions were asked of the Lunars they captured
Tall stood Serala and sharpened her sword up
Answers were given to every question
Onjur Yanafal Tarnilsa was named then
Child of the Eel clan and kin of the red-witch
Iron his breastplate and iron at his temples
Berra knew hatred that bubbled inside her
Plans were then made for the capture of killers
Kinfolk protecting and watching of houses
Nala and Sid went to find dark-eyed6In the context of the next line this unusually placed epithet must mean ‘seeing in the dark’ rather than its usual ‘beautiful’. trollkin
Hawk-eyed Serala would watch in the daytime
What Really Happened
After finding out that her boss was ‘dead’, Berra had a show of anger that was also a lot of stress relief, and then sent Serala off to spy on the household of the kinfolk of the first assassin, having found out (from Dormal? From Serala?) that Dormal had put his own people on that. She elected not to trust him. Serala came back with a crippled Lunar, to shoot a bowman who was up on the roof, about to shoot her. Berra called on Varanis to make a Rune-spelled Leap across the gulf to Heal the man, and she and Rajar went down by the stairs. While Berra pondered how to get up the building, Rajar shoulder-barged the door, so they went up the stairs, with Berra explaining the need to the horrified house owner. They captured the assassin who had been successfully healed, and Berra paid for the damage on the way out.
The Lunars were questioned, giving up the name of their Lunar Lord, Onjar Eel. He was the man in charge of the operation, and he had several kill teams, and several ways of contacting them – they had a ‘kept in the dark’ structure. There were at least three teams, counting the ones who had been sent in as a disposable screen (probably the first assassin) and a probable fourth team, Onjar’s back-up. There were a couple of places where he could be contacted.
Berra reminded Mellia to go back to the temple, and the session closed with Mellia getting information from a Chief Priestess, expert on Comas and Failed Heroquests.
Sessio Quotes to follow
“We should gag Irillo, its the only way to be sure” – Rajar
“Gagging Irillo will be so much fun.” – Rajar
“We’re not judging you.” – GM
“Can we judge him more?” – Berra
“Wine was downstairs, although more wine isn’t.” – Berra
“Irillo drank wine downstairs, to Berra’s annoyance.” – Berra
*zombie impression* – Irillo
“BRING IT” – Berra
“Humaktiheart” – Berra
“I should have got more pie.” – Nala
“Rajar is the pie-eater.” – Berra
“Captain Lunar…” – Berra
“CAPTAIIIIIINNNNNNN LUUUUUNARRRRR.” – Nala
“I don’t think anyone is in armour except me and Rajar.” – Nala
“I am.” – Berra
“I’m in a dungeon keeping the assassin hidden, I think.” – Berra
“Which is… Odd, for a Humakti.” – Berra
“So we keep the assassin in manacles, attached to a chair, but a different chair.” – Berra
“RAwrGH.” – Rajar
“…Rigor Mortis has set in.” – GM
“MMMMMMMMMMM SNAPPY” – Rajar
“Obviously the poison made him stiffen!” – Berra
“Now, I have to come running. Which means it is good that the assassin is in a manacle set.” – Berra
“Sorry. My lungs tried to turn inside out.” – Varanis
“Got the plunger on them in time?” – Berra
“Berra’s mostly pacing up and down in the corridor outside the dead room.” – Berra
“My act is only 45.” – Nala
“My act score is low – but my cold pure anger is obvious.” – Berra
“I love Mellia all the more.” – Berra
“Am full-blown, gonzo confused. Where is Serala going?” – Nala
“Out!” – Berra
“Fair enough” – Nala
“Berra is plotting underhandedly.” – Dormal
“No, I’m just plotting elsewhere.” – Berra
“Without an instructor.” – Berra
“I’m around on the permimiter” – Rajar
“iterterterter.” – Rajar
“You’ll be back once you’ve worked out how to stop saying that.” – Berra
“I don’t immediately have to go to lethal force.” – Serala
“Now you’re just confusing Berra.” – Dormal
“Intimidate. Storm Bulls have a bonus to that!” – Rajar
“So do Humakti!” – Berra
“We both have form for randomly killing people who don’t get intimidated.” – Rajar
“The sword thuds into your shield. He doesn’t have a shield!” – GM
“Your turn now!” – Berra
“Berra’s prowling around. Calming Rajar.” – Berra
“Mellia has Regrow Limb.” – Mellia
“And he might renounce Chaos…” – Berra
“I will be on Pag with his… oh, I can’t tie his hands together.” – Serala
“You can, and that would be hilarious!” – Berra
“Can I have a tick on battle as well, for remembering we’re under threat of assassination?” – Berra
“Hmmm… I wonder what I’m doing. The guards didn’t need me for anything did they?” – Varanis
“We’re mostly hanging around being useless because we have nobody to look after any more.” – Berra
“Rajar. Duck.” – Berra
“Nala looks exasperated. “Devolin’s here?,”” – Nala
“Assassin. Other roof.” – Berra
“Pause.” – Berra
“Alas, no Devolin.” – Berra
“Berra’s unslinging her bow and looking for trouble.” – Berra
“Whose thumb was it?” – Nala
“Mine.” – Berra
“Berra’s running down the stairs to go climb the building.” – Berra
#TeamVaranis – Berra
“Run for a rope and a grappling iron from the house.” – Berra
“I’m going to shoulder barge the door.” – Rajar
“The Humakti gets to be the good cop!” – Berra
“We could! Have got! A grappling iron!” – Berra
“I even have one of those!” – Rajar
“No you don’t. You have a grappling bronze.” – GM
“I reach down and haul Berra up.” – Rajar
“It is Rajar and Berra. That is about the tall and the short of it.” – Nala
“Happy Smiling Humakti.” – Berra
“Shiny happy people.” – Nala
“This guy is afraid of me!” – Berra
“We take him in. I slap him around a bit!” – Rajar
“No.” – Berra
“-1 Lunar for the door, plus some others for Serala.” – Berra
“It’s adoorable” – Nala
“Thank you. Justice has been served.” – Berra
“Berra is looking very happy indeed.” – Berra
“And smiling at the assassin with two hands.” – Berra
“A loving, Humakti smile.” – Berra
“There is a saying amongst my people “She smiled benignly, like a shark”” – Nala
“You’ve all accepted the ransom… so if you all want to leave the room?” – Rajar
“Go tell the guards that there are multiple teams of lunars out there. Red Alert” – Rajar
“Well done!” – Berra
“Rune Lord of Yanafal Tarnils, scar just there…” – GM
“Iron Breastplate? Moon, Truth, Death runes?” – Berra
“I take it this description is familiar.” – Varanis
“Goat Interfering smelly butted turd pot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” – Rajar
“Who we are going to kill.” – Rajar
“I am going to cut his head off and shove it up his bottom” – Rajar
“Rajar was hiding in the corner.” – Varanis
“Super stealthy like.” – Varanis
“We had orders for targets of opportunity. The grazelander… you… the storm bull, a grey sage, and he asked if any of us were willing to ice a white lady…” – Prisoner
*massively complicted underhanded thinking* – Berra
“Damnit! I always end up playing Dormal. This time I just gave myself a significant lack of headstart.” – Berra
“So. Eranda. Can we go out and look for him, and can we get the House Guards from here if we do?” – Berra
“”We’re short in numbers but there’s a Lunar Bastard on the loose.”” – Berra
“Sneezing fit. Fun times.” – Varanis
“Achoo!” – Berra
“Onjur-Eel.” – Prisoner
“Eel? What does that mean?” – Berra
“It’s a name that we’ve sort of heard before.” – Berra
“Jar-Eel…” – Prisoner
“Enough of the talky talky, let’s find some Lunars and make them Kiss my Axe.” – Rajar
“Oh. Do the prisoners know where Onjar is likely to be?” – Berra
“Trust me. They know.” – Dormal
“I’m sorry. The words ‘trust me’ out of your mouth…” – Berra
“I could have sworn I had money. But now I can’t find it.” – Varanis
“I didn’t write the money down.” – Berra
“We had lots.” – Serala
“Remember what we had, triple it, run it by the GM, all good.” – Serala
“Maybe as much as… ten lunars.” – Sid
“Well, sod that. I’ll give him twenty.” – Nala
“He puts on a poncho.” – GM
“We have to get him a cigar!” – Dormal
“Long thin cockroach…” – Berra
“And talk to Mellia. “Can you go to the temple and get information?”” – Berra
“Quietly, so that Varanis doesn’t overhear.” – Berra
“Oh, yes, I need to go and talk to the library, too. See? I forgot. I told you I was better at subplots” – Nala
“The Great Hospital? Yes, I do need to do that consult.” – Mellia
“Indeed. We’re getting distracted. The main thing is that.” – Berra
“He’s a cold-blooded killer. No offense.” – Prisoner to Berra
“He shoots an arrow onto the roof with a note. It doesn’t matter what’s on the note. We can’t read.” – Prisoner
“Berra only has a reputation for sweetness and light, surely?” – Serala
“Berra’s look when she talks about Onjur is pretty close to fury.” – Berra
“She wears her emotions openly.” – Berra
“Clearly, Nala is trying to break the Trollkin curse.” – GM
“One night at a time.” – Berra
“Why is it my best rolls seem to be honour?” – Varanis
“BECAUSE IT IS IMPORTANT!” – Berra
“Keeps me from murdering people.” – Varanis
“Yes.” – Berra
“Which is good, if you were wondering.” – Berra
“Grapple them to death!” – Berra
“That’s an interesting question, Mellia, and I’m pleased that you’ve brought it to me.” – Chief Priestess.
“That’s an interesting question and I’m pleased that you’ve asked it.” – Berra
“Hardly even tried to slot Dormal at ALL.” – Berra
- 1Literally, the axe with its earth association. Figuratively, Nala.
- 2This indicates an interesting start to the relationship with someone theoretically her superior in many ways. The usual commentary on Berra applies.
- 3It is unlikely to have been Rajar who was soothingly calmed.
- 4This is very much in character with Berra’s fabled personality. She probably over-paid for the damage.
- 5Notable that the name Saiciae is not used, but that of Varanis instead. This gives the new reader some foreshadowed understanding of what is to come.
- 6In the context of the next line this unusually placed epithet must mean ‘seeing in the dark’ rather than its usual ‘beautiful’.