[Flashback] Zealotry and Alcohol (Valerius)

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

15th Day of Autumn, 511 AV Minerva had been in the floating city for a couple of weeks now. She hadn't done much, other than study the architecture, ponder her current purpose in life, and make a somewhat volatile acquaintance. She didn't feel like she fit in here, but after spending about ten weeks in travel, she wasn't inclined to be back on the road again. So for now she was passing the time trying to figure out what she wanted to do with herself, and her life. This involved a lot of drinking. She would later in life have fond memories of the silver-colored, cool, tart beer they called 'Sliver,' often yearning for it when she was stuck drinking the seaweed swill Zeltivans called 'Kelp Beer.' Yet now, as she sipped at a mug of the strange concoction, she thought it was a little too tart. Of course, once she'd had three or four of them, she stopped paying attention to the unusual flavor and just enjoyed herself. She was sitting at a table in the Silver Sliver Tavern with a group of young men who kept ordering her more of the unusual brew, likely with the hopes of 'loosening her up.' Little did they know that Tock was the daughter of a serious Sunberthan alcoholic, and she had started sneaking tastes of her Da's hooch when she was far too young to get served in most taverns. Her Da had always been too drunk to ever realize how much he had drank, so he never noticed it missing, and a few shots of booze here and there had often helped soothe the aches and pains she had received from his fists. Thus she was, so far, drinking the men under the table. But even though she wasn't wasted yet, she was tipsy enough to feel the urge to start singing... a rather inappropriate Sunberthan song, filled with Sunberthan idealogies: Oy, 'ere ain't no Lord fer me! Not as far as I can see! I dun need no Boss Ta make me cross No, 'ere ain't no Lord fer me! Oy, 'ere ain't no ol' wizard! I dunno if ye've 'eard! We cut off 'is 'ead An' left 'im dead! Aye, 'ere ain't no more wizard! Oy, 'ere ain't no Gods fer me! Not as far as I can see! I ain't need no God 'Ey're a useless sod! Oy, 'ere ain't-- She cut off, despite there being another three verses, when she saw several men standing up, glaring at her angrily. She blinked, not at all sure what the problem was. "What...?" she asked dumbly, clueless as to what their problem could be...

[Valerius Nitrozian]

Valerius usually preferred a cup of Yae Varone’s famous coffee and a piece of cake to whatever things they sold at the Silver Sliver, no matter how close it was to his home, but even he needed a change every now and then. And thus he left the Nitrozian Estate, a slave in tow and made his way to the tavern. He was as always dressed in fine clothes and walked with his head held high. He knew exactly who he was and how important his family was, and even the fact that he was occasionally cleaning cages at the Kelvic Research Institute didn’t have much of an impact on his self confidence. The slave did of course not enter the tavern with him. He just made sure that nobody crossed Valerius‘ path or bothered him otherwise. Valerius parked him in front of the tavern as if he were a horse but he bought him a mug of cheap beer so that he wouldn’t die of thirst. Once the slave was taken care of, Valerius pushed the door open and entered to buy his own drink, secretly hoping that at least a few people would be looking his way and admiring him, but to his disappointment nobody paid attention to him which was a little unusual. He was halfway to the bar when he heard her voice. He would be able to pick that voice out among a million other voices. She was just as rude and annoying as she had been then, when she had been in his house. And on top of that she seemed to be drunk. Valerius never got drunk and disliked people who did. He preferred to have himself under control. He had been fully intent on ignoring her as much as possible, but then he noticed just what she was singing. His eyes widened. He had always known that she wasn’t particularly smart – even though she seemed to be a decent mage – but this here wasn’t just stupid, it was dangerously stupid. Another man might have rushed to her aid and pulled her out of the tavern before the angry mob could get to her, but Valerius Nitrozian would never be any woman’s knight in shining armor, least of all hers. He just walked over to her, looked at the angry men indifferently for a moment and then remarked, „It’s good to meet you again, Miss Tock. I see that you are about to commit suicide. Are you having fun?“

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

In Sunberth, 'There ain't no Lord for me' was a very popular song, often heard in taverns around the city. It was seen as a song of independence. Of freedom. Of man's ability to lead himself and his own life without anybody making decisions for him or telling him what to do. It was a philosophy Minerva had held onto even years away from home, never being one to let anyone else tell her what was what. It just never occurred to her, not even once, that the song could be seen as insulting. Feet propped up on the table, leaning back in her chair, sipping her silver drink, and having no idea the cultural differences she was trodding upon, she glanced up and saw him walking over. Just the 'Lord' that she didn't want to see, the posh man whose name eluded her at the moment. She was sure he'd mentioned it several times during their 'business' together, but he had been so smug about it that she hadn't, out of pure stubbornness, been bothered to remember. Just like he couldn't seem to remember not to call her 'Miss.' She considered cursing him out and turning him away, considering he had so rudely interrupted her performance, but his words were a bit too curious not to explore. "Whatcha done yakkin' 'bout, Guv?" she asked him with a slightly inebriated slur. "Ya bloody well knows it ain't good ta see me again!" she snorted and snickered, the look in her eyes making it quite clear the feeling was mutual. "But aye," she said, "I is 'avin' fun, since ya ask. Looks like 'ere's 'bout ta been a tussle, though, aye?" She glanced back at the looming men behind Valerius, who had hesitated when they saw who he was, but otherwise still looked ready to pound some face in, most likely hers. She'd been in enough brawls and bar fights back in Sunberth to recognize the signs, though she still didn't know what had prompted the behavior. Usually she had to do something to set someone off before they got all full up on themselves and wanted to tumble. She winked at Val and said, "Might wanna watch out, aye? Could wrinkle yer clothes o' break a nail..."

[Valerius Nitrozian]

As he noticed that she had her feet on the table, he came to the conclusion that she wasn’t only stupid, she also had bad manners – much worse manners that he had thought in fact. Had nobody ever taught her how a woman was supposed to act? What had he done that Rhysol had decided to repeatedly punish him with her? „I’m not sure what exactly you mean“, he replied coolly. He still found her accent as hard to understand as when they had first met, and he liked it even less now. „I was just trying to point out the obvious – which you don’t seem to be able to see for some reason. You, Miss Tock, are about to commit suicide without being fully aware of it.“ „I was being sarcastic“, he informed her as she told him that it wasn’t good to see him again. „You know what sarcasm is, I assume? You were rather sarcastic when we last met.“ He glanced at the men behind him who still seemed to be intent on beating her up and possibly knocking a few of her teeth out. He was half tempted to let them. She deserved what she got – and more – but who would he be able to insult then? Besides, he wanted her to at least realize what she had done wrong before he let the angry mob loose on her. So he said to her, „Do you remember what I told you last time? About the way things work in Ravok and how not to insult those that are in charge? You were basically singing that you don’t need Rhysol. Rhysol who made this city great and protects us.“ „Gentlemen“, he adressed the men. „Let me talk to this heretic for a moment, would you? Afterwards she’ll be all yours if you still want her. For now though, why don’t you buy yourselves some beer? I’ll pay.“

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Had Val asked, he might have learned that there had not, in fact, been anyone to teach the young Minerva Agatha Zipporah how a woman was supposed to behave. She had grown up without a mother, and lived under the harsh rule of an abusive father. He might have learned that what little she knew about 'acting like a lady' had been picked up on the streets from whores and other women who weren't the best role models at all. He may also have learned that she had never been taught one single thing about proper etiquette, nor even had a single day's schooling in her life. He might have learned all this, but it was more likely that she just would have told him it was none of his goddamn business. "Aye, I knows what sarcasm is," she replied with another swig of her drink. "Ya jus' ain't so good at it. Done gots ta put more attitude in yer voice, aye? Ya done says 'er so poshy what fer I can't tell when ya's been serious o' jus' 'avin' a lark at me, aye?" She snickered, thinking herself quite clever. The rest of what he said didn't make much sense to her. The part about not insulting the people in charge, she understood (even if she didn't give a damn about it). But the rest of his words went a bit over her head. "'Eretic, aye?" she snorted. "'At's a new one!" She snickered more, not knowing what the stuck up fool was going on about, nor caring beyond the fact that she was enjoying baiting him. "An' who's 'Rye-sol'?" she asked. At that, the entire rest of the tavern started staring at her. One of the angry men stepped forward, only to be stopped by his buddy, who pulled him towards the bar. "Might generous of you, m'lord," he said with a slight tip of his cap at Valerius. The look he cast at Tock indicated he thought Val's generosity extended not just to the drinks, but to his offer to 'educate' her. She watched the men get their drinks, and noticed they kept an eye on her, their body language both deferring to and protective of Valerius. She frowned. She wasn't much for social graces, but she'd seen that kind of body language in taverns before. They stood at the bar, leaning against it with feigned casualness that hid a tense readiness. Like they were just waiting for the Bossman's word to 'take care of her' for him. She looked back to Val, suddenly reminded of Sunberthan gang leaders. He didn't seem tough enough in her estimation to fit that sort of role, but the men were backing him up the same way gang members supported their leader. She wondered if he was actually the type to unleash the thugs on her, or if the superior attitude he held didn't go so far as to incite men to violence. It was an interesting question: Were his hands soft and clean because he didn't care for dirty business, or just because he got other men to do it for him?

[Valerius Nitrozian]

„I’m very good at sarcasm“, Valerius disagreed. „I’m just subtle.“ He put a noticeable emphasis on the word ‚subtle‘. „Subtlety seems to be something that you don’t understand, like so many other things. It would be good if you tried to be a little more subtle, but you won’t listen to my advice, will you?“ She was loud, rude and stubborn, and he seriously began to doubt that she would ever learn, even if he let the angry mob lose on her to teach her a lesson. „You know what a heretic is, I hope?“ He was honestly surprised that this seemed to be new to her, but maybe it was normal to sing heretic songs wherever she came from. She had to have learned her bad behaviour somewhere. He wanted to say more when he realized that she had asked who ‚Ryesol‘ was. He froze and stared at her. His eyes were so wide that they nearly dropped out of their sockets, and then his face turned a rather interesting shade of red. Situations that involved his beloved god where the only ones where he ever lost his precious self control. This woman, this insane, stupid woman had not only sung a heretic song, she didn’t even know the god she had just insulted! What was he supposed to do now? „It’s Rhysol, not Ryesol“, he informed her, pointing a finger at her. „And he is my god, our god. Those that are jealous of our wealth call him the god of evil, but he is merciful. He protected us from the chaos that ruled the world after the Valterrian and he continues to protect us to this day. Ravok only exists because of him. Are you sure that you don’t know who he is?“ „I knew that you were ignorant, but I never thought that you were that ignorant.“

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

It was rather entertaining watching him turn red the way he did. So much so that she almost wishes she were just messing with him. It was quite the reaction. Though the simple fact of the matter was that Tock was an uneducated, religiously ignorant girl. She knew trades and crafts, and had apprenticed to learn magic, but there were a lot of other things she didn't know. History, religion, politics, literature... these things were all completely foreign to her. So she didn't know who or what Rice-all was. For the most part she also wouldn't care, except that her curiosity had now been piqued. So she continued drinking her silver beer, feeling too buzzed to care, and listened for a moment to what Val had to say. "Aye, Rice-all, 'at's what I said," she replied in a drunken slur, not hearing any difference in her pronunciation. The rest of what he said didn't make much sense to her. She obviously knew what the Valterrian was, but only in a vague, 'the Gods broke the world a long time ago,' way. She didn't know the historical or religious details. "'E's yer God, like," she waved a hand in the air trying to form the thought, "personally? Whatcha done gots a private room wit' 'im somewhere?" She snickered. To her the Gods were like Ghosts... sure, she had heard they existed, but she figured they were far off and left her alone. She had never seen one. That didn't mean she wouldn't believe they existed; after all, anything was possible. But she had no conception of what it meant for this to be 'his' God. "Ya met 'im in person?" she asked. "Whazz'e look like?" "Watch who ya's done callin' 'ignorant,' Guv," she warned him. Maybe she WAS ignorant, but she also had a strong arm from years of manual labor, and would gladly smack him one if he pushed her too far. "I's sure yer Ricey boy is great an' all, o' thinks 'e is, aye? But jus' cause the Bludger done built yer city, o' whatever, ain't means what as 'is shit dun smell like everybody else's..." Did Gods shit? She didn't know. But if they did, their divine droppings were sure to stink up the heavens. No, she didn't truly know what a heretic was.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

As she proceeded to call his god ‚Rice-all‘, his face turned even redder. For a moment he looked as if he were about to explode, but then anger was replaced by utter cold. The temptation to slap her was strong, but he would not do that. He would not physically harm a woman, not even a heretic. Besides, he doubted that a mere slap would make her see the error of her ways. Why. if her previous, highly illogical behaviour was anything to go by, she might even like it! „Do not insult my god!“ he warned her. „You know very well that he doesn’t have anything to do with rice. Do you have any idea what happens to people that insult Rhysol here?“ As she suggested that he get a room with him, he frowned, although he could imagine worse things than being alone in a room with his beloved god. In fact being alone with Rhysol was very appealilng. He would do nearly anything for him. He just didn’t appreciate jokes about it. „No, I haven’t met him … yet“, he replied. „My aunt Amanda has though, and so did several other members of my family. And I hope to be chosen by him once I’ve finally become a member of the Black Sun.“ Ricey boy? Bludger? Had she just talked about Rhysol’s shit? He didn’t say anything to that, but just grabbed her arm and proceeded to try and drag her to the door. She would find that his grip was very strong. Valerius Nitrozian wasn’t just a man who dressed in overly expensive clothes and walked around with his head held high, looking slightly ridiculous, all the time. Sometimes he actually did physical work. He had come to the decision that leaving her to the angry mob (who was currently busy drinking) was much too kind. He wanted to personally take care of her and make her realize that she had made a mistake. After what she had just said the mob would probably just beat her unconscious before the message had gotten through.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock's eyes went wide as Val started to turn red and blow up on her. She'd been pressing his buttons since the day they met, and while she knew she had riled him before, she had NEVER prompted this sort of reaction! Apparently, insulting his God was just the sort of thing that got under his skin... She was almost proud of herself, except for the niggling feeling that she had gone too far. She liked messing with him. Any time she met someone who was too full of themselves, she enjoyed knocking them down a peg or three. She got her jollies off it, and she figured maybe if she knocked him down far enough, he'd see the world the way it really was. Not the flawed perspective someone had when they were looking down at the world from the top. But the real world, where everyone was equal, and no one should have the right to lord themselves over anyone else. Val was a perfect example of this flawed perspective. He thought he could actually MEET his God? That members of his family already had? Tock didn't know much of anything about religion, beyond a vague knowledge of the names of the more common Gods. But she had never heard or anyone actually for real meeting one in person. Did Rice-all make house calls? While she was pondering this, Val grabbed her. Actually touched her. After all his fuss about not wanting to get dirty or sully his noble hands on the filthy commoner. Well, Tock did NOT allow herself to he manhandled! By the time the initial shock wore off, they were halfway to the door and practically outside. Stumbling between her drunkenness and her misbalance after being so rudely pulled from her seat, she screamed, "Git yer bloody 'ands offa me!" She had fought men off her before, and sometimes they came out missing an ear. This time, however, she swung her almost-empty beer mug right at Val's holier-than-thou head. Her swing was sloppy, but she was also used to physical work, and if she had her way, she was going to break the mug right over the back of his stuck-up head.

[Valerius Nitrozian]

As Tock told him to get his bloody hands off her, Valerius just looked at her coldly as if he hadn’t understood a thing and didn’t particularly care either, and then he tightened his grip, so that she wouldn’t be able to escape. It was true that he didn’t particularly enjoy touching filthy commoners, but he could if the situation called for it. And in this situation it was definitely necessary! As she swung her beer mug at his head, he momentarily let go of her and ducked. Touching her was one thing, but he’d rather keep his pretty face a while longer. Once he had made sure that it was safe again, he raised his head once more and attempted to wrestle the mug from her. She didn’t need it, besides she might just accidentially kill herself judging by how sloppy her attack had been. And he needed her to live a little longer. Since Valerius didn’t have a beer mug to hit people with (he didn’t drink beer – it was such a vulgar drink), he used the next best thing – his hand. If he didn’t resort to physical violence, she would probably never stop, and he needed her to stop right now. He had been taught never to hurt a woman, but she … she was not a woman. She was insane, a demon, possessed, and she had dared to attack him, a Nitrozian! His palm connected with her cheek.