The War for the Rose: Book One Complete

[Cadorean]

Pros:
- You already have friends
- Instant access to preferred occupation
- choice of missions
- you know what to expect

Cons:
- Ten Knives be crazy
- dirty smelly rapists and thugs
- Branded an outlaw


If we're saying "knife or masked and nothing else," then we'll get rid of the ones that have to do with both options.

Damn, this list is a lot shorter.

[OnBackorder]

Voting for Koffie's version of Laughing Spire.

Join the Knives or join the masked. What about option three, join the Ornegians? The surgeon is awesome.

Hiding: Already heard your friends joining up stories. Want to hear Ten Knives'?

[alexthewhite]

Laughing Spire: "But therein lies the problem! If you're not merciful, then you're exactly the kind of terrible ruler that will only inspire more rebellion and unrest. Showing mercy isn't a sign of weakness- it's a sign of strength! You can forgive these traitors while still keeping your thumb tight on 'em. Killing them, though, sends EXACTLY the wrong message."

LEAPING GRANITE: Hmmph. The infamous Spire mercy. And if this mercy leads to a second rebellion?

LAUGHING SPIRE: You've proved to them that rebelling just leads to death and suffering for everyone involved. They won't do it again.

Laughing Spire: "These are people caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Common folk don't care much for high politics; all they wish for is their lives. They saw this rebellion as their only hope to not die horribly, so they went for it. If you kill them all, sure, they can't rebel from their graves. But their relatives can. Their countrymen can. What would you do then, kill them too? That won't be keeping any peace. If you let them go, you give them reason not to rebel."

LEAPING GRANITE: ...Fine. I'll spare them, once and only once. You best thank the Airwalker, Sandstone. If it wasn't for the Spire brat, you and all your followers would be missing your heads by now.

BOWING SANDSTONE: I don't doubt it. Fly me to the prison. I'll get Lord Mud and the others to surrender.

LAUGHING SPIRE: Uh...

BOWING SANDSTONE: What? What's the problem?

LAUGHING SPIRE: We, uh, kind of. Hmm. We sort of destroyed the entrance to the prison?

BOWING SANDSTONE: ...Oh. That could be problematic.

LEAPING GRANITE: Looks like there'll be no need for a trial after all. This whole conversation was pointless.

Hiding Spire: Ask Ten Knives what lies in store for the life of a Knife.

TEN KNIVES: Wealth, power, preferable weather, boys if you like boys, girls if you like girls, allies who like and understand you...a lot of good stuff. I have big plans, not the kind I'm going to talk about here. Suffice to say that I don't intend to stay in Southflight. I got what I wanted from this city.

HIDING SPIRE: And that is?

TEN KNIVES: Join up, and you'll find out.

BHARATA: Lady Spire, don't trust this mercenary bitch. I've seen her type before. Bandits have no honor to anyone but themselves.

TEN KNIVES: Quite true! But so long as Hiding Spire helps me get what I want, I'd be very happy to get her what she wants. When she comes with me, do me a kindness and tell Lord Spire I'll take good care of his daughter.

Join the Knives or join the masked. What about option three, join the Ornegians? The surgeon is awesome.

That reminds you...the Ornegian is nowhere to be seen in this battle. He was in heavy armor; you thought that was exactly what Ten Knives wanted.

HIDING SPIRE: Where's, uh, the surgeon?

TEN KNIVES: His wound was infected. I had a half-dozen men hold him down. He's going to need it cleaned and bandaged, before it spreads and kills him.

HIDING SPIRE: That's...kind of you.

TEN KNIVES: I had a price.

HIDING SPIRE: Naturally.

TEN KNIVES: He and I have a similar goal. He's also looking for someone. I don't purport to understand why the Ornegians do what they do, but they only send their agents into the rest of the country when there's something important they need to do. They don't like outsiders much at all. That storm was not natural. I suspect it has something to do with the sinking of that Ornegian ship, the Ovellian.

Hiding: Already heard your friends joining up stories. Want to hear Ten Knives'?

TEN KNIVES: There are two members of my organization who know what I did before I founded the Knives. You want some hints? Ask that Masked agent of ours, Crushing Force. Otherwise, join up and I'll tell you in a couple decades.

HIDING SPIRE: Big secret?

TEN KNIVES: Few bigger!

[alexthewhite]

==>

There's a glint as a man in glittering gold emerges onto the deck of one of the ship. In his hand is a beautifully crafted sword, sparkling with rubies and sapphires. In three strokes, he slays three Knives.

???: TEN KNIVES!

TEN KNIVES: That would be the Golden Man. Pardon me.

Ten Knives charges off to the edge of the waterfront, her feet just inches from the ocean.

TEN KNIVES: Golden Man! I challenge you to single combat!

GOLDEN MAN: Graaaah!!!

The Knives all back away from the Golden Man as he turns to face Ten Knives. He's bald, with what looks to be a crown on his head. He's a large, muscular man, to the point that the dozens of pounds of gold he's wearing in addition to the fine set of armor he's in. He's splattered with blood, and is roughly twice Ten Knives' size. The Ornegian is larger, you think. The Golden Man is about Setting Sun-sized.

WHISPERING DUNE: ...He looks strong.

HIDING SPIRE: You know, I have yet to see Ten Knives fight.

The Golden Man stands back as Ten Knives climbs the ramp onto the ship. Once she's aboard, she bends her knees and twirls her blades.

GOLDEN MAN: You're dead, cunt.

TEN KNIVES: In time, perhaps. At least I can die knowing I outlived the Golden Man. Shall we begin?

GOLDEN MAN: Of-

Six or seven Knives fall on the Golden Man, striking at any weaknesses in his armor; the joints, the lightly armored sections, everywhere. In seconds, he's on the ground, flailing and screaming. Seconds after that, he's still.

TEN KNIVES: You didn't actually think I'd duel you, you fucking idiot, did you? Dead men always seem to fall for that one.

She cackles at his corpse, then gestures for her husband. The Ninth Knife comes over, his face free of blood. You didn't see much of him during the fight; odd for a man of his size.

She whispers something in his ear, and he cups his hands to his mouth.

NINTH KNIFE: ALL FURIOUS FOOLS, STORM RIDERS, AND SHINING SONS! THE GOLDEN MAN IS DEAD! LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIVES!

The man's booming voice can be heard at impressive distances. You hear swords and other things (was that a squelch?) hit the ground on both the adjacent ships. As Ten Knives had predicted, the battle had gone quite well for her.

TEN KNIVES: Oh, Spiremen! Come aboard! I have something to show you!

Tentatively, you and your comrades ascend the ramp. Your men hold their swords out, and you don't blame them; there are quite a few bloody Knives on the deck.

A burly Knife carries a chest and drops it in front of Ten Knives feet. She walks over to the bloody mess that is the Golden Man and pulls something from a neck. It's a key, a golden key encrusted with gems. She opens the chest with it.

You've never seen so much gold in your life. Ten Knives takes two handfuls of the coins and jewelry and tosses them into the crowds of her men.

TEN KNIVES: Anyone who pulls their knife over this gold gets disemboweled!

She forbids blades, but that doesn't stop several fistfights from breaking out on the deck as the men try and get as much gold as they can. Ten Knives, meanwhile, reaches to the bottom and pulls out a golden, spherical object.

It looks kind of like the weathered head of a life-sized statue. Judging from Ten Knives' posture, it's heavy. Thirty pounds or more of pure gold.

TEN KNIVES: The golden head of Rising Sand. This would be worth a lot if it was just pure gold, but the Sands will pay a third of their treasury to get this thing back. Add that to these three warships and the rest of Malamara's money, and I'd call this campaign a success, wouldn't you?

BHARATA: Your intention was money?

TEN KNIVES: Always was. I have a need for it. Don't worry, Sergeant, this money will go to better uses than paying amoral mercenaries and funding unjust wars, the way Malamara used it.

BHARATA: And what will you use it for?

TEN KNIVES: Paying moral mercenaries and funding just wars, of course. What else?

[mellifluousMastermind]

Hiding: This, if anything, should convince you to never, ever become a Knife, ever.

[absoluteCertainty]

she could in fact be meaning the Knives with her last sentence. :v
and i have a feeling that there's quite a big timeskip coming up
if Hiding doesn't become a Knife she'll probably just be a run-of-the-mill spy which is awesome in itself but has less stabby time
re Whispering: there are other boys, and she's... 14?

basically, if we join the Knives, we have a decent guess at what the rest of the adventure will be like
if we don't, we don't
until the part where Ten Knives and her ridiculous pirate army shows up and murders half of Honit for no reason of course

[Koffie In Blik]

I oppose joining the Knives on the basis that doing so is a) borderline suicidal, and b) constitutes a betrayal of the vast majority of everything and everyone Hiding Spire has ever known, all for the promise of riches and stabbings. The promise of them, not even the actual things. The Knives are just tools for their leader; I sincerely doubt they get much of anything at all in the long run, especially after seeing this. The Knives even own you for life if you join them, meaning you're stuck no matter what you actually think of serving Ten Knives.

>Hiding Spire: Your original mission in the waterfront's pretty much done. Do hold the Knives to their end of the bargain and get back to the fleet.

>Laughing Spire: Head over to the prison, Sandstone in tow. See what the Sages have been up to.

[Askia]

i have to admit ten knives is awesome.

But yea dont join them

[alexthewhite]

>Laughing Spire: Head over to the prison, Sandstone in tow. See what the Sages have been up to.

After tying up Lord Sandstone and convincing Granite that you should be the one to deal with him, you order your men to stay here and occupy the camp while the Spire's Revenge and the Crimson Thorn join the Sage fleet.

You've heard very little from the prison. Almost no cannon fire at all, and now you see why. The fleet is untouched, hovering around the prison.

However, a gigantic crowd of tens of thousands has assembled in the roads and courts outside the prison. As Sandstone had said, many of them are civilians. Many, in fact. Only about one in three or four is in a Mudman uniform.

There are some bodies on the ground, and the prison is shaken, but it still stands. It looks like Mud ordered a full-scale retreat as soon as the fleet showed up. It's an interesting tactical choice, but a smart one. Mud had no real counter to their ships.

The roof of the circular stone building that is the above-ground portion of the prison is filled with civilians and soldiers. They are flying a huge banner, adorned with the Granite's minimalist symbol with what looks to be a wheelbarrow's worth of mud splattered on it.

BOWING SANDSTONE: Hmm. Looks like it's already in motion?

LAUGHING SPIRE: Hmm?

BOWING SANDSTONE: The plan. You didn't think Lord Mud didn't believe other lords would eventually come to crush him? We've been anticipating you.

LAUGHING SPIRE: Fat lot of good that did you.

BOWING SANDSTONE: The barracks was to slow you down.

LAUGHING SPIRE: And the waterfront gate?

BOWING SANDSTONE: I couldn't tell you. Those men went rogue, and we have no idea why. What will you do now, Spirelord, now that you've "won"?

>Hiding Spire: Your original mission in the waterfront's pretty much done. Do hold the Knives to their end of the bargain and get back to the fleet.

HIDING SPIRE: Now will you get us out of the waterfront?

TEN KNIVES: Ah, yes, a bargain is a bargain. That reminds me, I still need to pay you all for your service.

HIDING SPIRE: ...Isn't helping us get out of here our payment?

TEN KNIVES: No. I'm doing that because I like you.

Ten Knives shows you her teeth again, then takes a handful of gold from the chest.

TEN KNIVES: I believe this is...about twice as much as you five Spiremen will make all year put together, right?

SUJAY: ...More. A good bit more.

TEN KNIVES: Ah, perfect! I do believe in returning favors to a value more than they were worth to me. A good way to make friends. Hold out your hands, Spiremen.

Tentatively, each hand except for Bharata's comes up.

BHARATA: I've no interest in your blood money.

TEN KNIVES: Suit yourself, Sergeant. A new blade, then? Or perhaps a buckler for your free hand?

BHRATA: ...I lost my shield in the airship crash.

TEN KNIVES: Oy, you. You heard the man, he lost his shield. Get him a new one!

A Knife runs off to find Bharata his shield, while Ten Knives pours gold into the four soldiers hands. When she comes to Sujay, he hesitates.

TEN KNIVES: Something wrong?

SUJAY: Err...yes. I would like a different payment.

TEN KNIVES: Oh?

SUJAY: Membership into the Knives.

TEN KNIVES: ...Sure! You're handy with a blade, and I like the look of you. I'll have to test your loyalty some, of course, but we'd love to have you aboard.

Sujay pulls off his helmet, revealing a mop of thick, curly black hair. Shaking it, he walks over and joins the rest of the Knives.

BHARATA: ...Traitor.

SUJAY: Tell the Spirelord I'm sorry. Or don't, he probably has no idea who I am. At least with the Knives, I can be more than fodder for a Honitian blade.

TEN KNIVES: Quite true! Ah, Bharata, your shield is here.

The shield is fine, steel and circular with silver trim. It's certainly much better than whatever wooden buckler Bharata had earlier.

TEN KNIVES: Now then, rewards for my two young friends here...Whispering Dune of House Dune. I know exactly what to give you. Somebody get me a quill, ink, some paper, and my seal.

The Ninth Knife produces all four items and gives them to Ten Knives. As she writes, she looks up at you.

TEN KNIVES: And Hiding Spire, you deserve a reward most of all. My love, there is a blade under my left tit. Kindly remove it and give to Hiding Spire.

The Ninth Knife's hand reaches into his wife's robe and produces a gleaming dirk in a brown scabbard.

He walks over to you and presents to you one of your father's own knives.

TEN KNIVES: That's one of the set. I'll return the second to you on the condition that you join me. Aaaand...done.

Ten Knives seals the paper and tosses it at Dune, who catches it and starts to unravel it.

TEN KNIVES: Ah-ah-ah, not yet! Present that to a woman named Crushing Force. She's still in the city. You'll get what you want from it.

WHISPERING DUNE: And what do you think I want...?

TEN KNIVES: You'll see. Well, Hiding Spire? Are you going to accept your payment or not? I'll still take you and your ever-dwindling group of companions out of the waterfront either way.

You hesitate. You do want your father's knife back, quite a lot...but it feels somehow wrong to take it back. Every deal you make with Ten Knives feels wrong.

[Cadorean]

I understand why we wouldn't join the Knives. They're bandits and thugs trying to make a name for themselves. They kill people for the pure sake of not getting killed first. But that's what Hiding Spire is. She was put on this mission originally because of her unnessecarily wicked beatdown on Dune. Her first blood was on an unprovoked Mudman, who she could've easily not engaged. She has been given many chances to take the noble, pacifistic road, but time and time again she chooses the more violent, empowering option. As mmuch as Hiding would have reservations about joining the Knives, it's where she needs to be.

Plus it'll be a kickass book 2 to have a fallen noble in with a band of rowdy and capricious vagabonds as our cocaine heroine.

[OnBackorder]

It almost feels like Hiding is doomed to join the Knives at some point. Though I find it slightly more romantic to have Hiding and Ten Knives oppose each other with each holding half of a knife set. The set is destined to become whole one day, but at the price of conflict between the wielders. Final conflict showing a noble and a criminal basically on the same level using the same tool is also ticking high on the poetry meter.

On the other hand, having the whole set at the end of Book One seals the story nicely. First the girl gets awesome knives, then loses awesome knives, until she recovers awesome knives. Ten Knives is no idiot, she handled the shiny guy with an ambush after all. Taking anything from her without a band of thugs of your own is suicide. It's also calming to know there isn't a shadow organization out for the heroine's life.

I'd take the first knife for now and head back to the fleet, but I'm leaning toward joining them.

[Cadorean]

Ten Knives wants you if you know what I mean and will make it worth your while to join her band of rowdy and capricious minstrels [read: furious fools] vagabonds.

[alexthewhite]

The Spire's Revenge hovers over the prison, and while the Mudmen look upon your battered vessel, you send Sandstone and three of your best men down with the Tip of the Tower. Your men guard the docked ship from the fifty or sixty Mudmen on the roof. Sandstone talks to several Mudmen, then he heads inside.

Five minutes later, he comes out, free of the shackles you put on him. He reboards the Tip of the Tower and, about ten minutes later, is in front of you.

BOWING SANDSTONE: Lord Mud would like to speak to you, Lord Spire, in person, before he consents to a trial.

LAUGHING SPIRE: And I should agree to that...why?

BOWING SANDSTONE: Because he says his people can stay standing for longer than your fleets can stay airborne. When you dock, he'll lead them out of the city. This is half the city's population or more right here. Lord Mud also says that if you cannot trust him to not kill you while you are his guest, how can he be expected to trust you enough to give him a fair trial?

I'd take the first knife for now and head back to the fleet.

HIDING SPIRE: ...I need some time to consider your offer. But I'll accept my knife back.

TEN KNIVES: Of course. Don't take too long, I don't plan for there to be a single Knife left in this city by the time the sun rises tomorrow morning.

WHISPERING DUNE: What about Priest Divot?

You, Dune, and your three remaining soldiers all exchange glances.

TEN KNIVES: What about him? I told you I'd help him. If he pulls through, you'll get him back safely. I might have no honor, but I'm not a liar.

WHISPERING DUNE: That shiny corpse behind you suggests otherwise.

TEN KNIVES: The Golden Man? I challenged him to single combat. His exact response, I believe, was "GRAAAH". That's not an acceptance.

BHARATA: Of all the...

TEN KNIVES: Shhhhut up. I'm a very busy woman, so I'm going to delegate the task of getting you out to...Kalila! Come meet Hiding Spire.

Dilara's mother saunters over, and you make note of the fact she is one of the most beautiful women you have ever seen. Even under those robes, you can tell she's buxom and athletic, with a browned face the shape of a peach. There's a long scar under her eye, partially covered by her orange tattoo.

KALILA: My lady.

Her voice is rich and exotic, reminding you of spices you've tasted only a few times in your life. Like Zulf, she's a Southern Islander, and yet her daughter is a great deal paler than her.

KALILA: My daughter has told me much about you, Lady Spire. She is quite furious with you.

HIDING SPIRE: Oh, that's...bad.

KALILA: Potentially. She has hatred in her heart that I hope she may one day be free of. It is my fault for not being there for her.

TEN KNIVES: Yes, yes, enough waxing, my sweet. Take these Spiremen to the...southeast passages. The ones under the Evenerian Fabrics market.

KALILA: My empress. Come along, Spires. We will move quicker if it is just myself and the six of you.

>Be someone else for a bit.

You are now the Ornegian.

You have just killed three Knives. The first two was with your bare hands, while the third made the mistake of pulling his blade on you.

What's your name, again?

[OnBackorder]

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.
John Amend-all
John Carter
Richard Shelton
Throgmorton
Daniel Brackley

[mellifluousMastermind]

Ornegian: Your name is Wario.

Laughing Spire: "Surely you're joking."

[TheRealSolitair]

Loyal to the Council of Seventeen
Alfans DeClario

[alexthewhite]

Laughing Spire: "Surely you're joking."

BOWING SANDSTONE: Am I? I hadn't noticed. Give me your response, Lord Spire, we don't have all day. Or more accurately, you don't have all day.

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.
John Amend-all
John Carter
Richard Shelton
Throgmorton
Daniel Brackley

Wario

Loyal to the Council of Seventeen
Alfans DeClario

Oh, that's right, now you remember!

You don't have a name. Maybe you did, long ago, but you've forgotten it.

Your superiors call you sninende; surgeon. Those at your station call you guowine; friend. When you were in training, though, they called you brand; weapon.

Brand seems to work well enough for you.

You return your courage to your back and walk over to the Sandman in the white robes. He's one of their claenseres, you think. He's suffered a wound that you judge to be fatal.

BRAND: You are going to die.

CLAENSERE: What?

BRAND: You are going to die.

CLAENSERE: Oh...[word you don't understand.]

The claensere puts his head back and groans.

CLAENSERE: Then I die doing my [word you don't understand.]

BRAND: Happy?

CLAENSERE: What?

BRAND: Happy? Do you die happy?

CLAENSERE: I suppose.

BRAND: Then a good death. Do you want to die fast or slow?

CLAENSERE: Fast, I suppose.

BRAND: Okay.

You seize the man's head and snap his neck. The life leaves his eyes in five or six seconds.

BRAND: Fast death. Goodbye.

You head out the room, hitting your head on the doorframe as you go. This bandage over your eye...you understand that you need it, but it's very annoying. If someone attacked you from your side, you might not see them.

A Knife notices you walking down the hall and starts shouting. You have a lot of fresh blood on your honor, so it's not that surprising.

BRAND: Quiet. I am leave. Slow me and I kill you.

The Knife's reply is to run away from you. You sigh and head down the stairs, being careful not to trip and fall.

As you walk out of the tower, you hear feet behind you. Turning around, you see eight, no, nine Knives running down the stairs to surround you.

They can run quicker than you because they have no honor. You just let them surround you, then sigh again. You told them that you wouldn't kill them if they left you alone.

Pulling out your courage, you point it at the Knife who looks to be their leader.

BRAND: Move or I kill you.

KNIFE: How about this? Put down your sword or I kill you.

BRAND: No.

You start to walk forward, your sword in front of you, listening for movement. At the last second, the Knife moves out of your way, and you don't pay him a second glance.

BRAND: I am leave now.

The Knives don't try and stop you, which is good for their health. Leaving the tower, you begin to walk in the direction of the waterfront gate.

You don't want to wait for the Sandmen to attack the ceapnicht. Deofolwitga will probably try and escape when they do, and if it leaves the city, you'll never find it again. Your superiors will have to order a Spild Dilignes, and thousands will die.

You don't want that. You like the Sand people. They're stupid, but you like them.

[Cadorean]

...Oh my. This is interesting.

I am going to say with this new bit of Ornegian information, the nomadic nature of the Knives makes them not only the more exciting choice, but also in a twisted way the safer choice.

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My understanding of the Ornegian so far is infantile at best, but context is teaching me.
ceapnicht - the vessel holding deofolwitga
deofolwitga - whatever that beast is that dead granite was afraid of
spild dilignes - murderous search

Alex, if you could be so kind, would you mind sharing the basic structure of the Ornegian language? Some friends and I want to flesh it out full and proper. If possible, write a paragraph or two in Ornegian, and a translated version in English. If you can describe a basic overview of the grammar, that would be fantastic. Also, what does Ornegian writing look like? Is it an alphabet, a syllabary, or maybe a pictionary? (Oh god I hope not a pictionary, that basically means it won't ever be written down.)
I want to learn Ornegian really badly if you couldn't tell.

[OnBackorder]

If you want to learn...

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It looks almost exactly like old-old english, like back when it was still called Anglo-Saxton.

I got a dictionary when trying to read Beowulf awhile back. Spild means ruin or disaster, and dilignes means destruction; whatever is happening, it's not a good thing to have happen. Deofolwitga is basically a wizard, or one who speaks with demons.

Ceapnicht is weird, as in I can't find the word. Ceap means cattle. Ceap-cniht means servent. Nicht looks like night. There is only one logical solution, a moon-cow holds the wizard prisoner.

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Darkside of the Mooooo~n.

==>

Alex, your story is the number five Google search result for Deofolwitga, and number one for ceapnicht.

[alexthewhite]

==>

You wander away from the tower. You've gotten a pretty good feel for the structure of this simple little city, as you've been here for over twenty suns.

You've had no luck finding your target, though. It is very elusive and very powerful. By now, there's no doubt that it's aware of your presence. It's thralls are everywhere.

But it can't plan to stay in the city. It can only leave by land or sea, and the land is a large, empty desert. You can't discount the route, but sea is far more likely. That would explain why so many ships survived its storm.

At the same time, north is where it will want to head. Far north, as far as it can go. And Ten Knife now controls the ships, so getting aboard without fighting the Knives will be difficult if not impossible.

You wish you had your ceorl! She could speak Sand very well, and it's been very lonely since she died. You've spent your time finding ceapnichts and killing them, but they are many and you are one. Ten Knife also separated you from the pale little girl, which is also a shame. You doubt you'll ever see her again.

You sigh and keep walking, no longer bothering with stealth. You see the occasional ceapnicht on the roofs, but you know that if you go after them, they'll just run off.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see something make a noise in an alley. Turning to face the direction of the sound, you see a young girl who has just tripped over her feet.

She's ragged and skinny, with dirty dark hair and destroyed leather clothes. Poor thing looks like she's starving to death. You walk over to her, but she tries to scramble away. It does her no good, she just falls over again and is unable to stand up.

BRAND: I will not hurt you.

GIRL: Please...help...

BRAND: Quiet. Turn over.

You ignore her weak resistance and turn her onto her back. You check her mouth and see that it isn't black, it's pasty pink. Good.

BRAND: You are good. Who are you?

GIRL: K...Khaya. Who are you?

BRAND: No name. Call me guowine.

KHAYA: Gu-o-wine.

BRAND: No, gwo-wine. Guowine.

KHAYA: Okay...guowine.

BRAND: I have questions. Can you answer?

KHAYA: I'll...try.

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Yeah, Ornegian is a mix of Old English and bullshit. Now that you've figured that out, I'm going to put it less Old English and more bullshit.

Reegan and Honitian are also based on real languages, while the priest's language is just some psuedo-Arabic crap I made up off the top of my head. Don't worry, I plan for there to be a codex at the beginning of Book Two that'll explain some stuff about the linguistics about the Rose, among a great deal of other things.

[Koffie In Blik]

This Ornegian section is just full of twists.

==>

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Actual constructed languages for the peoples of the Rose would be insanely awesome to an unprecedented degree. I'd contribute to making it happen in a heartbeat, were it a possibility.

[mellifluousMastermind]

>Wario: Ask the girl if she's seen any blacktongues about.

[OnBackorder]

Ask if she has good eyesight.
The little girl mustn't weight much. Strap her to your back, ta-da replacement eye.

[alexthewhite]

>Wario: Ask the girl if she's seen any blacktongues about.

Stupid question. Of course she's seen blacktongues, they're everywhere. She'd have to be blind or stupid to have missed them.

BRAND: Looking for...man. Tall. Blue robes, maybe.

KHAYA: I don't...I don't think so...do you have anything to eat?

BRAND: No. I don't eat big. How did you get here?

KHAYA: I, uh, was looking for something to eat...then a man attacked me and I barely got away. He got me in the leg but then stopped chasing me.

BRAND: Leg?

Sure enough, there's the shaft of an arrow lying broken at her feet. The girl, stupidly, snapped off the part that wasn't in her calf.

BRAND: That is bad. I will cut it out.

KHAYA: W-what? No, don't, it's okay, really...

BRAND: Do you want to lose leg?

KHAYA: No, but-

BRAND: Leave arrow, lose leg.

KHAYA: Would...would it hurt?

BRAND: Yes. But not as bad as lose leg.

You stick your finger in front of her face.

BRAND: Bite down.

KHAYA: On your...on your finger?

BRAND: Yes.

She does, and you feel nothing. You take off your other glove and reach back, feeling around for the broken arrow tip. You hear her moan in pain a bit, but that's nothing compared to the noise she makes when you stick your fingers inside the wound.

BRAND: Keep biting. Shut your eyes.

You hear her muffled shrieking as your fingers close around the arrowhead. Slowly, carefully, you start to pull it out. Her teeth are gnawing down on your finger, but all you feel is some pressure, no pain.

Finally, the arrowhead comes loose, and you pull it out of her leg. Without hesitation, you tear a strip of leather from her clothes and tie it tightly around her thigh.

BRAND: Will hurt. Do not walk.

Khaya says nothing. She just lies there, sobbing silently.

You don't really think she has much left to say.

[mellifluousMastermind]

>Wario: Carry on with your business, then.