You Are The Worth Of Your Word

An elegant charcoal moth origami package wiggles slightly in your grasp.

You purse your lips pensively, gazing off into the distance as you carefully gather your thoughts.

With your mighty index finger extended, you poke an elegant charcoal moth origami package.

An elegant charcoal moth origami package unfolds and sings to you, "Hello, mister sir Xenthos. It is me, Aschwar! You may remember me, because I am your son Gurashi's bestest friend. I was hoping that maybe I could talk to you, maybe in that inn that is at the foot of the big mountain the Shofets likes to go to? They have a swimmings hole there! We do not have to go swimmings, though, I would just like to have a talk with you. Thank you muchly!"
A hatched glass of sunset garnet falls out of an elegant charcoal moth origami package and into your hands.
An elegant charcoal moth origami package flutters apart in wisps of vellum as the last of its contents spill into your hands.

You purse your lips pensively, gazing off into the distance as you carefully gather your thoughts.

Illyria creases her brow in a frown.

A fiery sunset smolders within this fine drinking glass, its garnet body
shaded from sanguine crimson at its base to sultry yellow-orange around
its rim. Precise beveled cuts around the entire exterior form a knurled
diamond lattice over the surface of the glass, creating a pattern of
geometric bumps around its outer wall. This texture, in concert the
glass's rim being wider than its base, ensure that only the most
inebriated drinker could lose their grip on the vessel.
It has 4 months of usefulness left.
It weighs 6 ounce(s).
It has been stamped with the seal of The Gossipers Bookbinding Cartel.
Sweet golden poppy tea sloshes about in it.
It has the following aliases: cup, glass.

"cup401609"                   a hatched glass of sunset garnet (filled with sweet golden poppy tea)

You have emoted: Xenthos sighs softly, then stares at the cup for a moment.

Evette tilts her head curiously at you.

You say, "Perhaps I should go listen - though I do not know I have much to say."

Emotionlessly, Scourge Evette Stormcrow, the Heartless says to you, "Would you like company? I'll only weigh your shoulder down."

You say, "When did you last speak with Gurashi? I have not since they broke their Oath."

You say, "It's been.. a while."

Emotionlessly, Scourge Evette Stormcrow, the Heartless says, "Directly..?"

Evette purses her lips pensively, gazing off into the distance as she carefully gathers her thoughts.

Emotionlessly, Scourge Evette Stormcrow, the Heartless says, "Around the same time."

You nod your head emphatically.

You say, "I think perhaps it best if I go speak with Aschwar alone for now... I'll manage."

Evette nods her head emphatically.

You say, "I will return shortly."

Evette ponders Ilistala, an enormous leopard thoughtfully, looking her up and down.

You give Ilistala, an enormous leopard to Scourge Evette Stormcrow, the Heartless.

Gazing about for a moment to get your bearings, you whip out the Silver Compass of True Directions and hold it aloft, focusing on where you wish to go. The dial spins wildly for a moment before pointing out a direction, one which you feel compelled to sprint in. The air about you begins to vibrate as you feel your compass begin to draw you through the aetherways.

You are drawn through the aetherways by the sound emanating from a milestone.
Ackleberry Triple Junction. (road).
Banks of clouds roil about here. A fresh breeze is blowing through the area. The road splits in three directions. To the north, a winding road heads towards the imposing height of Avechna's Peak. To the west, the Alabaster Road stretches off to the Serenwilde forest. And to the south, the Ackleberry Highway slopes down towards the Ackleberry Forest. The flattened earth of the junction speaks of pilgrims often stopping here, perhaps pausing to gaze up at the majesty of Avechna's Peak, perhaps pondering which direction fate will make for them at this crossroads. A milestone juts up from the ground here. Attached to a wooden post here is a large metal bell. Four pillars of sand flow onto a bed-sized slab of white marble which rises from the ground, surrounded by a nimbus of domotheon energies. A core of abyssal metal lies here, the only remnant of a massive weapon.
You see exits leading north, northeast, east (open door), southeast, south, west, and northwest (open door).

Within the spacious front lobby.
Flickering candlelight from the massive chandelier above casts a warm glow upon the walls of this airy antechamber, lending a muted yellow hue to the white stone. Two staircases of white marble spiral upward at either end of the foyer, each flanked on either side by curving brass bannisters. Directly opposite the main doors stands a receptionist's desk of ivory-painted wood; ledgers and scrolls stack high upon its black granite surface. Behind it, a round mirror, designed to appear as if it were shattered, hangs upon the wall. Low couches of white leather and accompanying tables in black are strewn throughout the room, offering comfort and relaxation. Surrounded by an aura of tranquility, Aschwar lingers here with an oversized katana clutched tightly in their left hand.
You see exits leading northeast, south, southwest, and northwest.

Xenthos inclines his head slightly in Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart's direction in acknowledgement.

Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart turns and smiles at you, giving you a small bow of greeting. "Hello!"

Radiant gold and inky black compete for prominence in the thick fur that covers this enormous tae'dae's body, the well-groomed hair shifting like fields of wheat and clouds through the night sky with each movement. Despite their thick limbs and eleven-and-a-half feet of height, an aura of well-being and contentment radiates off of their body, only enhanced by the gentle smile that is nearly always present on their muzzle. Glittering mis-matched eyes, the right brown and the left green, stare with a gentle warmth at the world around them, only inches below a pair of fuzzy ears with several notches missing from them. A brilliant red hieroglyph crackles in the centre of their forehead, flaring occasionally with small tendrils of red lightning. They are nicely dressed in a comfortable pair of deep grey trousers, held up by a burgundy belt of leather, and a three-layered tunic of bright red-violet cloth that fits them nearly perfectly. Light tan, a pair of strap boots are a stark contrast to their fur and have been decorated with little, hand-drawn moths. Shifting colours swirl around them in a small space, creating an aura of delightful serenity for all who pass through it. In their left hand, they wield a ten foot long scabbard covered in vines of living, scarlet poppies.
Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart has an air of extreme strength.

Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart adjusts their grip upon their scabbard as they rise back, looking down towards you with the same soft smile. "Are you doing okay? I have not seen you in...what feels like a very long time!"

The occasional patron wanders through the lobby as the tall faeling, sans his leopard, regards the tae'dae silently.

Xenthos makes a soft, noncommittal noise in answer to the question.

Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart gives a soft, almost sympathetic smile at that and nods, saying, "I suppose you have been doing lots of work, just like I have! I was building a..." They pause for a moment and then laughingly shake their head, saying, "I suppose that is not very important right now. I am glad you came, though, because I was hoping that I could find out how come you've been ignoring Friend Gurashi."

Softly, you say, "Gurashi left us, Aschwar, not the other way 'round."

Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart frowns and says, "But...they did not LEAVE leave! They are still in the Basin, and walking around, and I heard they have been trying to be kindly to you and they even asked the Shofets if you still..." Seeming to think better of the ending to that statement, they pause and trail off, biting at their lower lip as they clench their scabbard so tightly that it shakes the sword within at the edge of your hearing. "You already got Akuuko. That was supposed to make things better."

Xenthos frowns at that, then shaking his head. "You do not 'own' a person, Aschwar. They make their own choices. It is not about who one gets, or loses, it is about the choices they make. Gurashi made promises... and then was talked into shattering them by sweet whispers. Those vows trail them still, and will forever, for those of us who look and remember. We see who they once were... and it is painful to see that fall."

Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart frowns at that, and they stare for a moment. "N-no, I did not..." They knit their eyebrows and exhale through their nostrils in frustration, then plainly ask, "Do you not love them?"

Stated simply, matter-of-factly, you say, "I do."

Clearly confused, Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart says, "Then how can you let them hurt so muchly?"

You say, "'Let' them? I did everything I could to talk them out of this choice. I even spoke with your Shofets. But Gurashi made their choice, of their own free will."

Xenthos purses his lips thoughtfully. "And this is the first I am hearing of them hurting. I believed that they were fully enjoying their new life. But, Aschwar, a broken promise -should- hurt. If ever it stops... then you have accepted that your word is worthless. Rubbish, to be thrown out."

Perhaps a bit too harshly, Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart says, "There is a difference between regret and suffering. They love you so much, and they do not even know that you love them anymore. They cried, and they are so hurting that the Shofets offered to help them forget."

Just as angrily, stomping a foot on the ground, Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart says, "If you do love them, then how could you not know that they hurt?"

Not reacting to the stomping foot, but speaking mildly, you say, "When it comes to a broken vow, Aschwar, I would say that there is indeed no such difference. To simply 'regret' it is to allow it to slowly fade from mind. A broken promise should -hurt-. When you make one, it should be done with every intention to keep it, to fight for it, to make it true."

You say, "If casting it aside does not hurt, why bother keeping any?"

Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart stares in shock towards you, and there is a pain in their eyes that bespeaks the horrors of their past. Sorrow hanging heavy in their throat, they say, "Everyone makes mistakes, and does things that hurt other people. But you are their DAD, mister Xenthos. You are supposed to be there for them no matters what. That..." Their voice breaks and the anger that was so fierce is long-gone as they quietly finish, "...that is what families are supposed to do."

Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart says, "Do you love the promise they made more than them?"

You say, "You equate the two as if they are the same, yet they are not. You can love the person, but not their choices."

Xenthos pauses for a moment, frowning. "Are you saying that Gurashi made a mistake?"

"I am worried, now," Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart says quietly, looking down at the poppies adorning their scabbard, "That they did not. I cannot say that they did not break a promise. And that is a mistake, you are right. But they followed their heart, and just wanted to be happy. That is not a mistake."

Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart says, "And maybe it was an even bigger mistake, to keep trying so hard. Maybe they should just forget..."

Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart sets their jaw as the turn their scabbard over in their paw, a watery film filling their eyes.

Shrugging slightly, you say, "I wrote them a letter, back when the choice was made, that I saw three paths. And I still see the same three. One, to take up their vows anew. Another, to simply accept that their word is meaningless and empty. Forget what they were, and simply enjoy their new life to the fullest as if nothing came before. Forget family, forget everything."

Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart looks up, a single tear escaping from their brown eye as they await the third path.

You say, "And the third path sounds as if it is the one they chose to tread, though it is the hardest of all. To keep to their new path, but always remembering what once was. To let that pain instruct them, shape them, and teach them. To let it help them do better in the future, to be discerning about promises made, and to keep them. The past is still gone... but not forgotten. It will hurt. But that hurt means that they have not truly lost themselves."

You say to Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart, "Tell me. If Gurashi forgot everything that made them Gurashi... what would you truly think?"

With conviction, tears streaming from both eyes now freely, Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart says, "I would help them, and be kind. I would still love them, and help them become the bestest person they could be. The person THEY want to be, and because they love me too it would be fine, because love doesn't care if you don't know everything. Love doesn't care if people have done bad things. Love is stronger than all of that."

You say, "The 'bestest person' they can be? Or the bestest person that you shape them into? When you take someone's memory, you take away who they are, and leave behind an emptiness craving to be filled."

You tilt your head curiously at Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart.

You say, "Either way- they will no longer be the same person they were."

Between sobs, Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart exclaims, "So what? If they were not happy as the person they were, then why would it be a bad thing?! No one is ever who they were, not you, not me, and not even the Shofets!"

Quietly, barely able to be heard, you say, "And even if they forget, the rest of us are not so able."

You say to Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart, "Because you have then killed who they were, simply to make them something else instead. You destroyed the one you loved because you could not bear to see them hurt."

You say, "How is that truly love?"

Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart shakes their head and counters, "The Shofets did NOT kill me! They helped me be the person I should have been, and let me make my own choices! They just told me to be what I wanted, and gave me the help when I asked for it! That is not meanness, that is what a family should be! How is it love when you look at someone who is suffering and say it is their own faults, and they deserve it?!" They glare, and their tae'dae heritage has perhaps never been so evident as they point a golden claw at you and rudely state, "You do not deserves to be their dad, if you are so mean."

Shrugging slightly, you say, "That is their choice. Not yours, and not mine. And regardless of what they decide, I shall always see them as my child."

Crossing their arms, Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart says, "A child that you do not be nice to, and are mean to. You can say that you are loving them, but you are just hurting them. Ask them yourselves, and you will find out muchly you have hurt them. More than the promise they broke."

Xenthos inhales slowly, taking a long, deep breath. "And if the Shofets purged your mind of who you were, I do not think that you can claim that who you once were still lives. Without that memory, you do not know. You know only what you were told, what you have learned since then, and lost all the rest."

The scarlet hieroglyph upon Aschwar's head burns brighter at this comment and carries with it the scent of cayenne pepper, sparking and flaring out bolts of lightning that scorch the air about them.

In horror, Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart says, "Why would I want to remember him doing those awful things that hurt me so much? I know he did them, but I cannot see them no mores. I cannot feel them. Why would I ever want to keep all of thats?"

You say to Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart, "Memories of pain shape us. They define us. Without them, we are... a pale imitation of who we should truly have been. An unblemished doll."

Angrily, Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart says, "Not if they kill us first."

You say to Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart, "Black Sorrow, one of the Aspects of Brother Crow, teaches us to accept our pains. To learn to live with them. He tells us that by doing so, we learn to control them, instead of letting them control us. Instead of letting them kill us. That pain is part of what it -means- to be mortal. It is part of what it means to be -alive-."

Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart exclaims, "And the Shofets teaches that we should act in Love, and respect the Will of those who express it. Never bend another person to your own desires. Never place your own desires above Love. If someone hurts, you should help them. That is what it means to be alive, to be kind and help others!"

Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart says, "Otherwise, you are no better than the Black Empire, or the peoples who would kill someone for fun."

You say, "Are you not here attempting to bend me to your own desires? Telling me that my behaviour does not meet up to your own expectations?"

You tilt your head curiously at Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart.

Xenthos suddenly waves his hand, dismissing the question. "You do not need to answer that."

Softly, you say, "But I am, in fact, allowing Gurashi to express their Will. How much more painful to be with me and see reflected in my eyes their broken vow?"

As they knit their brow further together, Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart says, "I do not know, and neither do you. Only they can, and you won't even let them find out. They do not KNOW, mister Xenthos. They are afraid and scared, and all I want is for them to be happy. I do not care if you and me never agree on anything else, but if you really love Friend Gurashi then won't you please try? Even just once?"

You say, "I believe I will hurt them even more, Aschwar, and I will not subject them to that. I will not. Especially if they are already hurting as much as you say."

Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart stares at you for a long moment and then slowly lowers themselves to their knees, bowing their head, "Please, mister Xenthos. If you hurt them one more time, then maybes they will be able to choose a path. And it might be a path you like and I do not, or one that I do and you do not. But then they will be able to choose, and not be so...so stuck."

Xenthos sighs softly, shaking his head in negation. "They are my child," he states simply. "I have hurt them enough, and they have hurt themselves enough. I cannot add to it. This is a choice that they must make, of their own will, with their own mind. I will not be party to breaking them."

Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart's sword hand trembles, and they grip it tightly before rising slowly. "You do not want to hurt them, but you do not want to show them love. You...you are confusing." They offer you a respectful bow, and their voice is utterly heartbroken as they say, "I am very sorry to have bothered you, I just thought...that if I tried..." Shaking their head, they bow even more deeply by bending at the waist, and then rise. "I am sorry."

Softly, Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart says, "I love them, too."

Xenthos speaks one final thought before departing, bowing his head in response to Aschwar, the Ebongold Heart's words. "Thank you for telling me of them."

The world seems a little less pleasant as Aschwar departs to the south.

Before the Master Ravenwood Tree.
The dark heart of Glomdoring Forest is almost audibly beating in this, its shadowy centre. Tall, blackened trees surround this clearing, pressing together into an imposing barrier of rotten vegetation. Moulds and fungi are smeared across the plants, their pungent stench suffusing the forest. The branches are coated in dark slime, slick tendrils that hang downwards. Although a variety of trees might actually grow here, the black tar that coats them renders them indistinguishable. A thin black mist creeps between the trees, hanging low across the ground. The floor of the clearing itself is simply bare earth, cracked and dry. Overshadowing all is the Master Ravenwood Tree itself, jutting into the sky like a twisted fist. The sound of laughing crows echoes down from the treetops, a harsh sound for the ears below. The atmosphere vibrates with a palpable power. Lovely coltsfoot carpets the forest floor. A marjoram bush flourishes here, spreading its delicate scent. Sprays of chervil cover the forest floor. A sedge of galingale is firmly planted in the forest floor. The Master Ravenwood Tree towers over everything here, pulsing with an immeasurable yet dark power. Casting darkness all around, a shadow totem thrusts up from the ground, chilling the air. There are 2 armoured bats here. A crudely crafted shrine of harsh black crystal stands here, thrumming powerfully. Splintered from the Master Ravenwood, a massive branch lies here, spiders crawling along its rotting wood. A giant bat hangs here, wings folded about its body and one beady eye open. There are 10 shadowlord widowriders here. There are 10 dark nighthags here. In the shape of an open palm, a metallic sigil lies here. There are 10 illithoid scourges here. Brennan Stormcrow paces here, his cadaverous body twitching with sudden jerks. A rowan sapling clings tenaciously to the ground here. An animated skeleton stands here with a ghostly outline of a bat around its skull. An animated skeleton stands here with a ghostly outline of a wasp around its skull. An animated skeleton stands here with a ghostly outline of a spider around its skull. An animated skeleton stands here with a ghostly outline of a beetle around its skull. A delicate, radiant pink mare ambles about here. Leaping about after its shadow, a curious young kitten playfully wanders about here. There are 2 dusky brocade moths here. An adolescent vinestalker wobbles awkwardly here on four uncertain feet.
You see a single exit leading north.

Xenthos sighs softly, shaking his head at Evette. "I don't think it went well."