Pilgrimage of Fu--er, Faith! I mean Faith!|Flux

[Kender Bard]

"You have a lot to learn about the Greedy," Nail muttered, rubbing his eyes. The retelling had been draining. He cast a glower Schuldig's way as he prepared to leave the hall. "So, was that worth knowing? It sounds like she got along just fine in life despite it. It's not like I ever plan to see her again either. It could have just stayed buried."

[Darastrix]

I'll kill him, Schuldig thought, ignoring Nail as his mind turned toward Anarlina. One good hit is all it'll take. His eyes began to glow as he drew on his element, lips drawn back into a silent snarl.

Even if Nail found out later, he couldn't point at Schuldig as the perpetrator without revealing himself. And he was a telepath, so that kind of attack wasn't really his specialty, so the people in Anarlina who knew him....

Still might find out, because I'm not specialized at this from this kind of distance.

If it wasn't perfect, there was a chance Wolf would survive and Schuldig could be identified. They'd already had one incident with Anarlina's priests; Crawford would kill him if he caused another. Nagi wouldn't be happy, either. Or Emerald.

Schuldig pressed his lips into a thin line and some of the glow faded from his eyes. Of all the times for his mental rambling to veer into the rational....

Well, there was another "weapon" at his disposal.

~Teddy. Do you have any problems with kicking someone's ass and not telling them WHY?~

[Kender Bard]

Nail saw Schuldig's eyes glow and decided that he might well want to get scarce. He left swiftly.

I'm a Wrathful, Teddy answered scornfully. Not at all.

[Darastrix]

~Then next time you see Wolf,~ Schuldig growled, ~beat him within an inch of his greedy little life. I just dug out another part of this story; Locket went to Nail because Wolf had her thinking she'd get in trouble if she didn't, and Nail didn't know what Wolf did.~

[Kender Bard]

I'm gonna beat him down so hard he'll be shitting teeth for the next month, Teddy thought darkly in agreement. Fuckin' Wolf. Always thought he was more of snake.

[Darastrix]

~Just leave her name out of it. She doesn't know I know, and I don't want this coming back on her at all.~

If the whole mess had been about anyone else--well, almost anyone else--Schuldig wouldn't have given a flying fuck about what Nail or Wolf had done. But it was Locket, so he did care, and Wolf was due.

"I need a drink or something," he muttered and peered around the bower until he spotted Daze. He kept a mental 'ear' out in case Teddy thought anything that needed a reply, and walked over to the other priest. "Where do the Addicts stay?"

[Kender Bard]

Daze flashed Schuldig a smile and got up to his feet. "This way," he said, beckoning as he headed out of the Bower, stepping over sprawled individuals and couples. The Addicts didn't have as prestigious of a hall as many other paths; it was a lesser path and so got less space. But they had grown clever in how they used it. One would have expected an overwhelming amount of smoke, but the place had surprisingly clear air, though heavily scented. Most of the smoke seemed to be sucked away through a crafted slit in the ceiling. The place was very dimly lit, but the walls were highly decorated with tapestries of wild colors and patterns that were almost dizzying to look at for too long.

Most of the Addicts kept to themselves though there were knots here and there where people chatted amiably to one another. The guard of the Addicts was actually a Wrathful and rather than be posted outside of the door she was leaning against the wall smoking from a pipe inside, keeping a close eye on anyone who might suddenly have an 'episode' and start endangering the other Addicts.

There was an assortment of things in bowls in the middle of the room to choose from, though locked chests indicated either personal stashes or the better stuff.

"What do you want to feel?" Daze asked. "Or not feel."

[Darastrix]

After what he'd found out? "I want to feel...happy," Schuldig stated, peering at one wall until he had to blink and look away. He did not want a headache on top of being pissed off. "Or at least relaxed."

[Kender Bard]

"We can do happy," Daze replied with a wide grin. "There's some mild stuff here, but if you're willing to do a little bit of trading I can arrange for some very good stuff. You being a Lustful and all, I think offering yourself as our personal "attendant" here for a couple of days should suffice."

The more lucid of the addicts were glancing over now, their interest piqued.

[Darastrix]

That was an easy choice, even though just the idea of getting something was helping his mood. "I need the good stuff," he said. "I hold mild stuff a little too well."

[Kender Bard]

"Heh, all right, but just to warn you, this is very potent," Daze remarked as he headed over to where a man with glassy eyes was gazing at one of the tapestries. "I worked out an exchange for some of the Smiley-smoke."

The man fished around in a pocket and held up a key. Daze accepted it and went over to one of the locked boxes in the room and opened it up, taking out his pipe and filling the bowl with what seemed to be a mix of things. Relocking the box and returning the key, he offered the pipe to Schuldig after lighting it. "Here you go," he announced. "I'm not the one that makes it so don't even ask me what's in it. Not my secret to keep. But it'll have you grinning in no time."

[Darastrix]

"Guess it's a good thing that I don't really care what's in it," Schuldig said as he took the pipe. He thought "Smiley-smoke" was a damn silly name, but if it got the job done, he figured it wouldn't matter what they called it.

And to think, it had been Wolf who'd first introduced him to some of the Addicts' stash. Bastard. Next time he saw that fucking-- Schuldig cut the thought off with a sharp shake of his head, aware of the tension growing in his shoulders and the glower beginning to take over his expression. Wolf wasn't worth spending his trip pissed-off over.

Schuldig brought the pipe to his lips and took a long, slow drag. He held the smoke for a moment before letting it flow back out into the air.

[Kender Bard]

There was no effect--at first.

"Keep puffing," Daze instructed. "It takes a little bit of time to sit in." He settled down in a comfortable chair, sinking down in it a little. An acolyte here, a young man but certainly more adult than most acolytes, walked over to see if Daze wanted or needed anything. He shook faintly all over and his voice had tremors. Daze waved him away.

A few more puffs and the effects of the drug began to take root. Things became a little more amusing and there was an urge to giggle or at least grin.

[Darastrix]

Schuldig found a seat nearby and flopped into it as he continued puffing at his borrowed pipe. "What's with twitchy?" he asked, nodding after the acolyte. He took another puff and tilted his head as he watched the smoke curl into the air. Something--he wasn't sure what--struck him as funny about the way the smoke moved or the shapes it was making, and he snickered softly.

[Kender Bard]

"See it's starting to work," Daze noted. The acolyte apparently didn't notice he was being talked about and set about relighting one of the priest's pipes. "That kid... I forgot his name. But if he's 'twitchy' then he's probably either being trained or punished. If an acolyte annoys his master in this path, we take away all the goods and leave him high and dry. Sometimes we do that anyway, though, so they get used to the feeling in case we run out of something. Doesn't happen often--especially not in Flux--but it's never pretty seeing someone deep into a narcotic of choice, for a long time, suddenly run out and never having known what it's like before."