Winding trails (Sama'el)

by **Ragnor Matlian** on June 5th, 2011, 8:54 pm

Ragnor contemplated Sama'el's question for a few moments. What was the correct way to describe the way he moved? " I supposed I float, or simply will myself to move no much more difficult than an alive person does to walk " he responded after mulling it over for a bit. He understood Sama'el's curiousness, and he himself would have asking more or less the same questions where the roles reversed. Ghost's where not uncommon, but finding one that would stick around for you to ask questions to might be a bit rarer, and so he simply took the questions as innocent musings. " I don't believe I can move any faster than I could in life, that is unless I tried my other way of transporting myself but that wears me out quick " he added, and he continued to float in pace with the rider.

" No worries, ask what you want, I will take no offence I assure you " he responded in a light hearted tone. He was used to his affliction by now, and it was very difficult for things to affect him, his only sore spot being his family or the man that killed him. " Have you ever been outside of these lands? "

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on June 7th, 2011, 2:22 am

"Hm," he said, thinking about what all Ragnor told him. He tried to consider everything people told him, trying to separate the chaff from the wheat, and the true from the untrue, or even just the important and less important facts and stories. Finally, musing on his own travels, he spoke again.

"I was born among the horseclans," he began, the story getting easier with each telling. "Our pavilion often wandered away from the safety of Endrykas. Unfortunately, we were set upon by bandits while returning from a trading run to Syliras and most of my... well, all of my family were killed and I was taken to Sunberth as a slave. I think by way of Lisnar, but I'm not sure. My Common wasn't so good then. I spent many years in Sunberth before I could escape, and then I wandered much of Sylira and Taldera. I spent a season and a half in Syliras before I finally returned to Cyphrus. I wasn't sure what my welcome would be."

by **Ragnor Matlian** on June 8th, 2011, 6:55 pm

He listened to the horseman's story rapt with interest, and felt sympathy for the man, even though he hadn't lost his whole family in quite the same way. No, he knew that he lost his because of a certain pirate, with a certain jagged edged blade. On that fateful day he had lost his family, because he lost his life. Thoughts of revenge where never far from his mind and now that he knew that his family would be secured he could focus more on those thoughts, and he nurtured them knowing when they blossomed he would taste the sweetest of victories. " I am sorry for your loss. Tell me something please, do you believe in retribution Sama'el? " he asked, and the loaded question seemed to thicken the air around him. Manifestations of his presence seemed to become all the more apparent like a unusual cold hanging in the air, and if Sama'el was observant enough he would also smell a hint of salty sea air that one was filled with when they were near a large ocean. His eyes seemed to darken along with the rest of his form, and for a brief moment his form seemed to warp into something very dark.

Ragnor quickly suppressed his darker feelings of hatred and pain, and after more than a few moments he managed to push it from his mind, and offer a smile to Sama'el. " Sorry about that, I have to be careful of what I say, emotions tend to dictate me at times " he offered not sure if he had noticed his brief change or not.

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on June 12th, 2011, 8:13 pm

Sama'el was no great sage of the mysteries, but he could ride the Web and he could create Fire. He was more sensitive to things than he had been before. The reaction Ragnor had to his own words made the world darken a bit in Sama'el's vision, and he felt an atavistic shiver run up his spine. He took a deep breath before looking over to the ghost and nodding his understanding, insofar as he could truly understand. He could empathize with the ghost's loss, even if the mechanics of his own loss were different.

"For a long time, I wanted revenge," he said thoughtfully, "but after years of slavery, I just wanted to survive, and freedom. Now I have those, the need for revenge seems like a memory, faded. As do the faces of the bandits, really. I'm not sure if I would recognize them now, and in their line of work, it's likely they're already dead. But if I did run across one, and I did recognize him..." He was quiet then, though his silence was pregnant with meaning. Of course such a reunion out of nowhere might inspire violence, rage, and pain. Sama'el was no saint, even if time and distance had given him some perspective.

"Forgive me if I speak where I shouldn't, but I think you will find more solace in looking after your family than haunting the one who killed you. Killing your murderer won't bring you back to life, but ensuring your family's survival would make sure your life and your suffering had meaning. I wouldn't risk my life or anyone else's for revenge, but I would cut out my own heart on Dira's altar if it meant my pavilion could have survived."

by **Ragnor Matlian** on June 13th, 2011, 5:34 pm

He took in Sama'el's words, as he moved silently, his thoughts spiraling off of the implications of them and if they were truly in the right in his opinion. Of course he would react that way, who wouldn't when they came face to face to the person who hurt them so deeply, though Sama'el did not realize how deep his hatred ran for his killer, a mark on him specifically, and one of the only things keeping him tethered to this world. He wouldn't go out searching for the man mind that, as he had a debt to repay to a dear friend that was seeing his family out of Avanthal, but when he had paid it in full, he more than intended to achieve his revenge, and at last attain his final peace.

" I don't intend to go searching for the man I assure you it is only musings, I intend to make sure my family is taken care of before I pass from this world " he said, and the majority of it he truly believed, but one day far from now he would go for him, and he could only pray that he hadn't died by then. " But that is the past, and the time is now, as the saying goes, let us rather live in the moment than be haunted by the ghosts of our past " he added, eager to shift the conversation from the sore spot. " Have you ever been near the sea? " he asked, and found it fitting as this was the subject he was most comfortable with.

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on June 18th, 2011, 3:32 am

"What do I know, eh?" he asked, smiling a bit and shrugging away his advice. It was probably a faux pas to even bring that up to to a ghost such as Ragnor, but Sama'el liked to help people, and maybe it would end up helping him.

He nodded to the question, seeking backward into his memory for details to share. Dohaina moved beneath him and his body unconsciously moved to make the burden of his weight as easy to bear as possible.

"I think the first time I remember seeing it was Zindal Bay, down by Claridon. Then the Suvan Sea, or at least the estuary that leads down to Black Rock. Then, when I was older, the eastern shores..." But those weren't such happy memories, so he didn't elaborate. "Why do you ask?"

by **Ragnor Matlian** on June 20th, 2011, 2:58 pm

" Your advice meant well friend, no worries " he said slowly in a tone of reflection. He hadn't meant for his words to come out in such a way, but he was not a poet with words, and he hoped that Sama'el realized this. Ragnor was a man of action, and dying had been quite the worst thing to happen to him, and he constantly felt woefully ineffective in this form, possessing none of his former strength, not being able to wield all of his senses only keeping sight and hearing as a mere compensation to all that he lost. He didn't even fell like the same man anymore, feeling like a stranger to himself no matter where he was, and the plague of emotions that in life he had stifled down and buried under a tough exterior now roamed free, manipulating them at their own whims, and making him feel fine in one moment and a wreck in the next. It was all so maddening, and he thought he understood the reasons for why some ghosts where told to be so malevolent, if they felt the same he did all the time then they had every reason to want to strike out at whatever object they could nearby. Even then he had a reasonable control over his actions, and even if he was filled with complete rage in this moment, he would not direct his ire at the friend by his side, and would instead find another safe outlet for the strong emotion, or at least he hoped he would be able to control it so well, only time could tell.

Rubbing his hands together, he continued to float alongside Sama'el at a leisured pace as he considered his words. " Oh just mere curiosity, being at sea is a lot like breathing for me, I never wanted to leave the ocean, but my wife and children where worth being absent from the seas at times " A smile found its way to his face, and he was glad that Sama'el had seen the magnificent sea, few should go without such a view after all. " Did you enjoy the sight of the waters every much as I? "

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on June 21st, 2011, 12:46 am

Sama'el's answering smile was tentative, as if he sensed something boiling beneath the surface. It was difficult to tell with ghosts. He thought back to his roadside meeting with Rhylen, the Drykas shaman over a year ago, and how he had spoken of the ghosts of the dead. It was too bad Sam hadn't learned a thing or two about them from him.

"Well, I found out that I get seasick," he said, "but it wasn't exactly a pleasure cruise. Lisnar to Sunberth. East of here, in Sylira. But... it's peaceful to watch from the shore, and I'm not a strong swimmer, but it's nice to be in it when it's a hot summer day like today." He grinned. "Soon I'm going to want to gallop just so the wind keeps me from boiling."

by **Ragnor Matlian** on June 25th, 2011, 4:26 am

His memories spiraled back to his times jumping into the sea, and enjoying the feel of the salty spray slapping against his body, and leaving a thin sheen of salt when he rose out to continue his duties aboard the deck. There was nothing quite like the smell of the sea at large after all. That fond memory dampened his smile just the slightest, but still he struggled to keep a wry grin on his face as he heard Sama'el's answer to his question.

" Aye, I suppose you are more comfortable in a saddle than on a rolling deck, and I can understand that even though the problem is quite the opposite " he said with a hearty laugh while watching Sama'el and he looked onwards to the road before them and nodded. " It must be quite stifling out here, not that I would know, but if the wind would do you good then ride on and know that I will be close behind " he said with a gentle gesture onwards motioning for the man to continue. He rather enjoyed bathing in the sun and letting it redden his skin, but out here on the sea of grass he supposed water might be just as limited as it is on a boat, so Sama'el needed to find his comfort elsewhere. With a smile he would float onwards after Sama'el, no longer focusing on materializing and just holding onto a piece of the yvas that was not touching the horse, tethering him in a way along for the ride to Endrykas.

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on June 25th, 2011, 4:40 am

"Perhaps someday I will have an opportunity to be aboard a ship with happier results," he said optimistically. Certainly, he would like to obliterate past horrors with happier versions, but he wasn't sure when he would need to be on a boat again. Perhaps some other time when visiting Riverfall there would be a need. "Well, I do hope you can keep up," he said and laughed as Dohaina bolted forward.

She responded almost to his thoughts now, and she picked up speed with remarkable acceleration until she was running as fast as Horse. But he concentrated, saw the Web sparkling here and there like the dew-spangled web of some giant spider. At his guidance, she banked slightly to one side, galloping toward a good-sized ley-line until she was running its length. He could see the slight drain on it as she instinctively pulled from it, her speed increasing and increasing. He could see the Web-energy coursing through her veins, almost as if she held a tiny Web within herself, augmenting the power of her muscles.

It was almost like she were pulling herself along the Web as he did in his astral form. The wind rushed past his ears in a glorious, thunderous noise, and his body attuned itself to her gallop. That done, he pulled his soul slightly loose from its moorings so he could engage the Web more directly, pulling information from ahead to warn them of impending danger and, finding none, searching ahead for landmarks that would allow him to navigate the Sea of Grass toward home.

END