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    1. Krypteia 10 yrs ago

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This week is a shitstorm for me, too, so good timing guys :)
As they headed out of the town, Arria made certain to stay close to Havarr, if only so he wouldn’t have to chase her around, as she knew he would not leave her side. Though new to her, he seemed unshakably loyal, more so than many of the men that had been at her side for many months, years even. For all that loyalty, though, it seemed he could not yet grasp her thoughts without further explanation. He would need more time for that.

“I did not suggest we try to stop them by fighting them all ourselves,” she corrected gently, well aware that by fight them ourselves she was implying only the others in the party. “What I am suggesting is that this plague may not be a threat that can be solved by armies. Perhaps precision is needed, instead of brute force. A wound is stitched with needle and thread; it isn’t beaten with a hammer.” Beneath the white hood, her eyes constantly moved back and forth, looking for any threat. Surely nowhere was safe that these undead had been.

“Raising armies against them could very well do nothing but swell their ranks. It is my belief that a small number may be able to achieve more good, and draw less attention to themselves, than thousands of armored soldiers. If last night’s battle proved anything, it is that fighting this evil directly will bring only death.” Just then the beast returned, warning them of the potential danger beneath their feet. Arria nodded gravely. "Thank you for the warning."

She turned to the Templar at her side. “Perhaps you should lead, Havarr,” she suggested quietly. “I’ll be right behind you.” She did not imagine seeing the dead bursting forth from the ground would be a pleasant sight, but she had seen enough of them by now that she did not think she would be rendered sick by the sight of more. They walked in a somewhat uncomfortable silence for a time. There was much tension within the group, obviously, something Arria found moderately displeasing.

“If we’re going to be traveling together, we should at least know each other’s names,” she suggested to the group. “I am Sister Arria Valencia. I hail from the Capital, though I have traveled much of the Kingdom in the past few years, to better spread the Gift bestowed upon me by the Goddess.” She didn't exactly anticipate her words sparking a lively discussion, but it was better than nothing to relieve some of the tension when walking through this horrid landscape.
Arria could understand that the guard captain was in pain. He had lost his family, his entire life, as any other survivor of the previous night would have. Arria had lost many friends herself, Sisters that she had known, ones she had looked up to, and ones that had looked up to her. She’d lost all but one of her Templars, men she had traveled with ever since setting out to spread her gift. She was close friends with many of them, and now they were all dead. Havarr was relatively new to her detail, and she hadn’t yet had time to get to know him. Now it seemed as though he was her only remaining ally.

She was resolved to not become callous to the world like the guard captain, not while there was still a difference she could make. “I’m not going home, Havarr,” she said quietly back to him, as the captain stalked off. “I’m sorry.”

She followed some distance behind the captain, watching as this beast rejoined their company. Traveling the world as she did, Arria had witnessed a number of things most humans would deem strange, so she was not entirely taken off guard by the creature when he spoke, but she still found him curious. Magical, even. He seemed calm, at least, so she was willing to guess that he wasn’t a threat to them.

“Then we follow them,” Arria declared, when the beast stated which way the horde was heading. “You see, Havarr? We cannot simply go home. In time, this will find us again, and there will be no home to go back to, when this same fate befalls each city in its turn. We must do something. If we cannot find a way to stop them, then at least we can try to get ahead of them, and warn the Capital. They have no idea what kind of danger is coming their way.”

She would not let this darkness overtake the entire land and simply do nothing. Not while she still had life and breath in her.
Coughing and sputtering still, Arria wasn’t exactly in a position to sing a song, as Havarr had suggested when he scooped her up into his arms, but she did shut her eyes, at least until they were free of the temple. There was no escaping the images of death, not unless she struck out her own eyes, so she was resolved to look, to harden herself against it. This was what she needed to fight, in her own way. Not with swords and arrows, but in a more meaningful way. She would have to find a way to cure the disease, not merely treat its symptoms.

When she heard the voices of others, speaking to Havarr, she turned her head to see them, settling her blue eyes on the captain of the guard, a man she’d had scant interaction with since arriving in the town, as well as a smaller man with a small blade that she did not recognize. And there, bounding away towards the buildings, was a large creature of some kind, one that the others did not pay much heed to, so she assumed it was perhaps more intelligent than the average animal. Her mind was too clouded by everything else to really think on it.

“I’m fine now, Havarr,” she said quietly. “You can put me down. Thank you.” None of the living here looked to be infected, and Arria was glad to have found at least some other survivors. If they had been infected, they would probably be dead by now, and Arria didn’t know if she would be able to cure them, even just one of them. When she was on her feet again, Arria fretted with her robe a bit, smoothing out some folds and adjusting the hood. More out of habit than anything. There was little point in looking presentable here.

“We shouldn’t stay here,” she gently suggested, glancing around. “There’s nothing left but death.”
I'm headed to sleep now, but I will post probably first thing tomorrow morning.
Draping her white hood over fiery red hair, Arria fell in behind her Templar Havarr, soft leather boots echoing ever so slightly off the floor as they moved up the stairs and prepared to exit their sanctuary. Sisters would not fight, so in such matters she had to defer to Havarr’s judgment. The night before she had questioned it, wondering how many others had been locked outside when they sealed themselves in the inner sanctum. She didn’t bring it up, though. If they had opened those doors, they probably would have died. According to everyone around her, Arria’s life was somehow worth more than the others, for her gift. For a long time she had been tempted to agree with them. Not any longer, though.

When Havarr opened the door, the Sister was able to lay her eyes on the aftermath of what had occurred. There were so many bodies, most of them too torn and ravaged to even return as enemies. And there was so much blood. Arria had often gazed at terrible wounds, severed limbs, opened bellies and horrible diseases, and she had learned not to flinch at such sights… but this was another matter entirely, and it hit her heavily. The blood of children covered this floor, and her fellow Sisters. She felt sick.

“Goddess, no…”

Unable to stop herself, Arria braced herself against the wall, doubling over and clutching her stomach as she heaved. There wasn’t much to spill, considering that she had not eaten well the night before, but she coughed and sputtered all the same.

The sound, as well as that of opening the door, was enough to draw the attention of the still walking corpses in the room. Havarr would have to deal with them. Even if she were in a better condition, Arria did not fight. To do so would be to compromise who she was as a person, and taint the gift that had been imbued in her by the Goddess.
The Sister didn’t know what woke her, but at some point before dawn, Arria’s eyes shot open, and she sat up. Instantly she noticed the aching pain in her back. She’d fallen asleep at an awkward angle. She’d tried to stay awake, but apparently it was no use, and sleep had taken her against her will. Not that there had been any point to staying awake. She was useless down here, locked away by one of her Templars for her own protection, unable to heal anyone. But she’d proven herself just as useless above, unable to heal anyone there either. Just one effort had drained her of all her power, and then she could help no more. And that boy, and his mother…

Arria’s eyes were red from crying, though at some point there had been no more tears to shed. She’d been taken to what was probably the one safe place left in the town, so that she might survive while everyone else died. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. Her gift… it had been given to her for a reason, so that she could save the afflicted, mend the wounded, prevent death like this. But against this evil, her gift was nearly useless, and she felt a knife of guilt twisting in her belly. Never before had she felt so worthless.

But she couldn’t think that way. Now that she was awake, she realized she could not hear anything coming from above. Well, maybe there was something moving around, and her ears were admittedly untrained to detecting threats, but it wasn’t the horrible din of slaughter that she’d been subjected to for hours the night before. They couldn’t stay down here forever. They would starve, for one, but besides that, if there were people she could help up there, she had to try. That was the duty placed upon her shoulders.

“Havarr,” she whispered from where she sat against the wall, knees tucked to her chest. She did not want to make too much noise if they were still in danger. “Havarr, are you awake? I think it’s almost dawn. If it’s safer now… I need to leave the Temple. I need to help.”
Blackwolf said
Hey chain mail is pretty good actually and could easily handle a bite, as long as there aren't like 20 all biting at you.


Hehe... we kinda already had this discussion. I think these zombies are a little more effective than say Walking Dead type, judging by how they dismantled an army full of people in heavier armor than I was proposing giving to Arria.

And besides, it just wouldn't be worth the writing effort to have her go find some, find somewhere to change, etc. So I'm just gonna leave it out.
Cool, cool. Working on my intro now, then.
Is the posting order just going to be the order we intro in, then?

Also, I'm going to edit the chainmail part out of Arria's bio after all. If it didn't help an entire army, it ain't gonna help her, haha.
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