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 Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 2:09 pm
"Ah...we all bear scars, Friend Aleric. Some are physical, some are not so easy to discern. Life is about scarring, and healing, and growing. At least life has taught me that much, and I try to put it down in song and verse so that life's lessons can outlive my memory of them. " She tipped her glass to him before taking a sip.
"What it is that inspires you to fight? I know what inspires me to sing...it is the legacy that I might leave behind, that might go on in my memory when I am naught but dust. But what of your motivation?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 3:12 pm
He blinked, then shrugged. "It's a way of challenging myself to get better." He finally said, looking thoughtful. Of course, it was nothing like her grand dream of being remembered through the centuries, but it worked for him.
"Strength is... good to have." He finally finished, shrugging.
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Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 4:26 pm
Tessa ahhhhh'd softly and nodded her head. "The betterment of one's self is always a noble cause. To challenge yourself to become more than you are at current. I think I might like to write a more epic poem about you at some point, if you would humor this child of bardcraft with your permission to do so..."
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Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 8:15 pm
Her words startled a laugh out of him. "I'm no hero." He said simply. Merely another fighter. There are... several of us. Each trying to get better."
He frowned, remembering what they had said of the berserker. "Sometimes... growing stronger is not growing better."
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Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 6:22 pm
Tessa nodded her head slowly, her fingers sliding along the rim of the glass as she pondered the bear man's words. "Indeed, nor does strength always come bundled with intellect, or compassion, nor justice, nor honor. It is a striving to betterment as a whole which sets heroes apart from the rest."
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Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 7:59 pm
He shrugged. "Reasons and actions aren't the same." He told her. "A lot of people do the right thing for the wrong reasons... or the wrong thing for the right reasons." He finished off his drink. "Like becoming a berserker."
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Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:16 am
A brow arched and the bard glanced up from her drink. "A berserker? I am sorely unlearned about much to do with fighters. Lord Telperinquar was never much interested in arena combat. Do tell me more?" Tessa had the glitter of curiosity in her eyes.
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Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:29 am
"A berserker gets stronger. Can take serious damage..." Aleric said, looking thoughtful. "But when he comes down from it he..." He shrugged, not really knowing how to explain it. "Has to deal with the wounds inflicted during the fight."
"They die if it's bad enough." His words were soft, as if he was talking to himself, and seeing something that wasn't really there.
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Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 10:36 am
Tessa tapped a slender finger against her chin. "I see...very interesting. That sounds much like how a few guard dog breeds were trained, to continue attacking until the tresspasser was dead or immobilized, after which the blood loss and wounds would kick in and the animal itself would drop dead. But as long as it was fighting, something in it's body which would normally tell the dog it was dead and to lie down, disconnected from it's mind until the rush of combat wore off. Is this something similar?" She looked at Aleric with intense interest. It was more than evident that this woman lived and breathed to learn new things.
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Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 6:18 pm
"Yeah, that's about right." Aleric said, shrugging. "Take the sense from a fighter and you've got a dead man." He said, putting it bluntly. "But they have reasons... most of the time."
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Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 2:08 pm
The bard's nose wrinkled in distaste. "The only reason for that which I could see use for would be in light of fanatacism. A law man needs to have the presence of mind to discern friend from foe. The point of winning in the arena is to survive and move on, and not be the one killed, so I don't fancy that being a berserk there would help. I do hope it isn't something you're persuing, Aleric?" Tessa looked at the ursine over the rim of her glass with a quizzical expression.
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Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 6:49 pm
"Not fanatacism. Just revenge. And not me." He leaned back, looking thoughtful. "But a friend of mine." He noded as the waiter brought them seconds, not surprised when he was told Miranda had bought them.
He turned, glancing at the female in question, not surprised to see her surrounded by yet more males. Then he turned back to the bard. "There is an elf killing fighters for fun. Using magicked weapons. It drives the victims that survive..." He shrugged, not finishing that thought.
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Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 10:34 am
Tessa blinked, as that sounded very much like the beginnings of an interesting tale. "What happens to the victims? You have to tell me now, you can't just leave it half finished like that." She seemed to have forgotten all about the drink in her hands as she stared at Aleric with rapt attention. A murderous elf killing fighters with magicked weapons was the most interesting thing she'd heard all day.
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Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 11:12 am
"They want revenge." He replied simply, shrugging slightly. "A fighter's pride is an ugly thing." There was a small curve to his lips as he said this, showing that he knew that pride well. "And to be beaten by someone that hasn't been training for years... It's like being cheated out of something."
"And to have friends... or even sparring partners killed by someone that treats our work like play is enough to piss us all off." He finished, taking another drink.
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 8:05 am
The bard's head dipped in a nod of understanding before she drained the last of her tankard. "I think I grasp what you're saying now, friend Aleric. I wish you the best in resolving the matter. But the hour grows late and I must return to Lord Alcion's lodgings to see if he is in need of my services. It was good to talk to you though."
She gestured to her lute. "I may be playing again soon here or in the Marketplace. I do hope to see you again sometime, but if I do not, I shall be nevertheless rooting for you in the Arena contests."
The woman rose and with a little bow to the bestial, she slipped out of the tavern.
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