@jai.kinvaio

[kestrels]

> you are a weary adventurer, many years away from your home. you come upon the grounds of a ruined castle, and built upon the castle's flagstones is a fire. it seems to have been lit fairly recently, but it could use another log or two.

do you:

  > sit by the fire and let it smolder down
  > hunt around for wood to keep it going
  > keep to the shadows to see if whoever built it will return
  > choose your own adventure.



（ ooc: if you want to hijack someone else's 'story' to choose a different option, feel free to do that too! ）

Comments

[kestrels]

you ask your companion who they are, and whence they hail. they say their name is amberite, and they are from the far east. as they talk, the shadows appear to flicker on their face. even now that you are closer, you can't seem to tell what they truly look like, but they do not appear to be hostile to you. in fact, they seem almost grateful that you chose to sit with them and speak to them so plainly.

the wood is curiously black, with veins of red sap running through it.

do you:

  > ask your companion what they are doing here?
  > put the wood on the fire
  > tell your companion your own name and place of origin
  > choose your own adventure

[northerndragon]

A person can do more than one thing at a time. I put the wood on the fire. If it had been white, I might have thought twice, but I might have fed it to the flames nonetheless — fire is life where I come from.

When I do that, I tell Amberite who I am. It does not sound like they’re from any place in Essos that I’ve ever heard of. Do they know my name when I say it?

[Most people do, by this point — most highborn. And this kind of game is unfamiliar to Jon. To him, this castle is somewhere in the North. The wood is a little like weirwood, a little like ironwood; he would rather it were pine, but it will do well enough.]

[kestrels]

as you put the log onto the fire, there's a distant sound of wood splintering that seems to come from the same direction as the old tree you took it from. perhaps it's nothing.

when you introduce yourself to amberite, they appear to be aware of your name. there is a flicker of recognition on their face, there and gone as quickly as their faces change. it seems as if they war with themselves to speak, but finally they ask if you're here to slay the monster.

do you:

  > tell them yes, certainly.
  > ask them of which monster they speak
  > ignore the conversation and go to investigate the strange sound from the tree
  > choose your own adventure

[northerndragon]

It would be better if there had been no sound from the tree, but I would ask what sort of monster. I would know what I must fight.

Ghost joins us by the fire. He is a direwolf. White, with eyes as red as the sap, and my truest friend.

[Really, he’s just dismayed that someone else got a wolf. He misses Ghost. This world is no place for him, but Jon misses him nonetheless.]

[kestrels]

amberite looks at you for a long time, as the fire crackles and pops with the red sap from the tree, and then says, 'why, me, of course'.

your wolf is there, i guess.

（ the inclusion of the direwolf, like a security blanket, says a story all its own. ）

do you:

  > draw your blade to fight amberite
  > ask them what makes them monstrous
  > choose your own adventure

[northerndragon]

I ask them what makes them monstrous. I ask them who wants them slain.

[kestrels]

amberite laughs, and pushes their hood back. for the first time you can see them clearly — the landscape of their shifting faces, the sharp edges to their teeth. like a wolf's teeth, almost.

it could be, they say, that i lure weary travelers by firelight.

they give it a moment, and then laugh as if delighted by their own joke. the sound echoes in the courtyard, a rising swell of voices all varied in pitch and tone. or perhaps people see what they wish to in a foreign face. that is not for me to decide.

  > choose your own adventure.

（ this is the part where morality really starts coming into it. the thing jai's paying attention to the most. he could be doing this for shits and giggles, but the fact remains — he's learning about people without having to give much away about himself, and that's pretty much the superhero ideal. ）

[northerndragon]

I tell them that it could be, but so far, they haven’t tried to do me any harm. I ask them where they came from. I ask them who their people are.

Why would I slay them if they have not shown me steel? Teeth are only teeth until they are at my throat, or the throat of a friend. I have sword and dirk at hand. I will not say that the whole thing leaves me easy, but neither would killing them for having a wolf’s mouth.

If they are truly an enemy, Ghost will be on guard. It’s his way.