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[h1][b][u]Evette[/u][/b][/h1]
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Evette was perched atop a rooftop, staring down like a watchful owl at the dark village streets below. Not too long after her encounter in Korstone, she had heard unusual stories from another village nearby. A tragic murder, followed by people waking up with sore necks. Signs which often suggested the presence of a vampire. With nothing better to do, she had gone to investigate.

So, here she was, watching over this village whose name she couldn’t quite recall, as she waited for any signs of suspicious activity. Her glowing halo made it rather difficult for her to conceal herself, but hopefully if a vampire chose to walk the streets at night, they would not have the wherewithal to look upward. 

The odds of actually finding one were slim. But she was persistent. She would wait out this night. Then the next one. Then the next. In the day she would rest, then interview the locals and scout out possible hiding places. She would do this until at last she found her prey, or could determine that there truly was no vampire after all.

[colour=lightblue]”HEY! You!”[/colour] a voice blasted at her like cannonfire, and the moon above seemed to just briefly flash with white.

Her gaze darted back and forth across the village, searching for the speaker. She had been spotted, and it only seemed sensible that one might react in such a manner if they saw a strange winged human sitting on their roof. But nobody seemed to be out, save for the guards posted on the village’s fringes, and they had not noticed her. They had not even reacted to the strange voice at all, which was puzzling. Her hand grasped the hilt of her sword.

[colour=lightblue]”Hel-loooooo! Talking to ya here! If you could just-... No, nope, it’s not that guy. No, not that one, either! Look, it’s not the guards, okay? I am-...”[/colour] There was a pause. [colour=lightblue]”... Sorry, it’s just my… My pet dragon wanted some… Oh, are you hungry, big guy? Oh, yes, you are… Yesh, yoo aaaare…”[/colour]

“Cadien’s Grace…” Evette whispered. “Am I going mad?”

[colour=lightblue]”Well, you just might with how much you stay up all night! You know how bad that is for your health? [sub]Here you go, bubby, eat up...[/sub] Anyway, yeah, you should be sleeping right now!”[/colour]

“Show yourself!” she hissed. “Where are you?”

[colour=lightblue]”Where -I- am isn’t important - it’s on the moon, by the way. What -is- important is that you are on a roof when you should be in bed!”[/colour] The voice offered a passive sniff. 

On the moon? She looked up at the night sky, and her eyes widened ever so slightly. “Are… are you…”

[colour=lightblue]”Yeeeaaah, yeah, come on. Say it.”[/colour]

“Are you a goddess?”

[colour=lightblue]”Bingo! Name’s Gibbou - I live on the moon and watch people sleep! Wait, no, that didn’t come out right… I am the watcher of the sleeping… No, that still isn’t…”[/colour] There was an empty pause. [colour=lightblue]”I’m Gibbou.”[/colour]

For a moment, Evette was speechless. That a goddess would reach out to her so directly and so casually, over something so small. Then, the surprise turned to annoyance, and she pursed her lips into a frown. “I am Evette,” she introduced herself. “Daughter of Cadien and Champion of Oraelia. It is my duty to hunt down the creatures of the night, and I need to be awake to do that.”

The voice didn’t respond for a moment. Then came a sharp scoff. [colour=lightblue]”Pfft, yeah, alright. Okay, listen “Evette” - by the way, weird name - you do not talk to me like that. Here it is I who ask the questions and you who answer ‘em, capiche? Firstly, who are your parents and why do they say you’re a daughter of Cadien? Secondly, why do you call yourself a champion of Oraelia? And thirdly, how dare you?”[/colour]

The mention of her parents gave her pause, as she was forced to recall the unpleasant memory. “I… my father was Konrad, of Thyma Village. He was Cadien’s Herald, and had Cadien’s blood. He… died.”

The voice instantly lost all animosity. [colour=lightblue]”Oh, shoot, really? Ooooh no… Look, I’m, I’m really sorry, I-... I just tend to get all, y’know, when talking to mortals, and… Okay, okay, how about you just tell me what you’re doing out so late, hmm?”[/colour]

“After my father died, I was on my own. I was captured by a vampire, and he wanted to… keep me, so he’d have a constant blood supply. There were others, too. I was just a girl, and there was nothing I could do…” her voice was quiet and sorrowful. “Then Solus, Oraelia’s champion, saved me. He blessed me with wings, gave me a weapon of pure sunlight, and charged me with the duty to hunt down the vampires.” She looked back up at the moon, and her voice hardened. “That’s why I stay awake at night.”

Another long pause, broken eventually by a [colour=lightblue]”Huh.”[/colour] Gibbou sucked in a long breath. [colour=lightblue]”How about that… Well, as much as I absolutely hate the idea, and am frankly pretty offended by the fact that that sword is a thing, I suppose you’re doing your job protecting life and mortalkind in the night.”[/colour] She hummed. [colour=lightblue]“Tell you what, why don’t I give you this?”[/colour] In Evette’s right hand, there appeared a small, black stone. It glistened with a midnight glow, but looked otherwise fairly mundane. [colour=lightblue]”It might make the job a little easier for you.”[/colour]

“What is it?” she asked.

[colour=lightblue]”Oh, right - this is a Sleep Stone! They’re incredibly rare - this one’s the only one in the whole world! It should help you sleep better for shorter periods - so you at the very least can catch -some- z’s while you work.”[/colour] She sighed. [colour=lightblue]”Look, I didn’t mean to come in and be all mean and stuff, but… People should be sleeping at night. Bad things happen when darkness is prowled by those who do not belong in it.”[/colour]

“What sort of bad things?”

[colour=lightblue]”Oh, y’know, thievery, wolf attacks, murder… I mean, I -get- it: It’s hard to see, so it’s easier to get away with your crimes, and people are asleep, so they don’t hear you or pay attention, but, like… C’mon. Why would you ever wanna steal anything instead of lying in that soft, cushiony mattress and make out with your pillow?”[/colour]

Evette blinked. That was uh… too much information. “Thank you for your gift, Gibbou,” she said, trying to get the conversation back on topic.

[colour=lightblue]”Oh! Oh, that was no problem! I mean, phwah, it’s not like, like, eheh… Y’know, heh...[/colour] She cleared her throat. [colour=lightblue]”You’re welcome.”[/colour] There was a quiet pause. [colour=lightblue]”Ssssooo… Wha’chu doin’?”[/colour]

“Hunting a vampire,” she answered. “I believe there is one hiding in this village.”

[colour=lightblue]”Okay, cool, cool.”[/colour] There was a pause. [colour=lightblue]”There, uh… There isn’t, by the way.”[/colour]

“What? How can you be sure?”

[colour=lightblue]”Well, I -am- the Watcher in the Night, [sub]sister, that sounds so lame...[/sub] I know this stuff.”[/colour]

She sighed. “That is… both disappointing and relieving, I suppose.” She fell silent for a few moments, and then spoke again. “Can I ask you a question?”

[colour=lightblue]”Oh yeah, go ahead, go ahead!”[/colour] There came a watery trickle. [colour=lightblue]”You don’t mind if I have myself a cuppa, do you?”[/colour]

“I don’t know what that is,” she blinked. “I just… I want to know which god created vampires in the first place. Who would do something… so evil?”

The voice didn’t respond for a bit. Eventually, there came a gingerly sip of liquid followed by: [colour=lightblue]”Yeah, beats me. Must’a been some nutcase. Lotsa them around here.”[/colour]

“Do you mean other gods?” Evette asked. “How many of them are there? The ones that are… ‘nutcases’, I mean.”

Another sip. [colour=lightblue]”Oh, uh, y’know, a couple. There’s this one chick who’s completely sick in the head. You know Neiya? I could call her a bitch, but I doubt even dogs would wanna be around her.”[/colour]

“Isn’t Neiya the Goddess of Love?”

[colour=lightblue]”Wow, she -still- sells it like that? Give. Me. A. Break! She is to love what tapeworms are to people.”[/colour] An angry sip. [colour=lightblue]”Nuh-uh. She’s the goddess of suffering and death of hope...”[/colour]

[hr]

The sun was just cresting over the horizon, and Evette was still on the rooftop.

[colour=lightblue]”... and like, who does that, am I right? Who gets a divine gift from their creator without saying thank you? Promise me this, sister, if you ever get together with this guy, dump him in public for everyone to see. It’ll be hard, sure - he’s really handsome and caaan be pretty cute every now and then, and sure, his hair’s pretty nice… But no, he’s actually a jerk! That actually reminds me of this -other- guy I woke up up here. Boy, he was weird…”[/colour]

“I see…” Evette said numbly, while within her mind she was struggling to fight off an existential crisis. These were the issues gods concerned themselves with? “This ‘Twilight’ man sounds unworthy of your favour.”

[colour=lightblue]”Oh, I swear, sometimes I wish I could just wring him apart, but… Oh, when he has his moments, he just…”[/colour] There came a soft hum. [colour=lightblue]”He’s not all bad! Sure, he never does anything right, shirks his duties and hasn’t talked to me for six years, but…”[/colour] Another pause. [colour=lightblue]”He -can- be a nice guy.”[/colour] There came a sniff. [colour=lightblue]”Oh sis, I sound like such a loser… Why am I like this, Evette?”[/colour]

“Maybe you should just… move on?” Evette suggested. “If he doesn’t appreciate you, find someone who will. Maybe, the reason he shirks his duties is because he thinks you’ll keep taking him back?”

[colour=lightblue]”I couldn’t do thaaat! He’s precious to me!”[/colour] There came a clinking of glass and a rush of liquids into some kind of bowled container. [colour=lightblue]”Shoot, that’s too much… You won’t tell on me, right?”[/colour] 

“Who would I tell?” she asked. “You’re the only god I’ve ever spoken to. But, if you wish to keep this a secret, I shall. Now… I think I should be on my way. But may I ask one final question?”

There came a series of [i]glug-glug-glugs[/i], followed by a loud gasp. [colour=lightblue]”Urk, that’s strong. Yeah, yeah, yeah, go ahead.”[/colour] The same sound of running liquid followed.

“What is Cadien like?”

[i]Sluuuurp...[/i] [colour=lightblue]”Hmm… He’s really nice, actually. Sure, I think he has terrible taste in women, but as a person, I admire him. He has this charisma and motivation to improve stuff that’s so rare in gods nowadays… Why, you interested in knowing what your lineage’s like?”[/colour] 

“I just…” she sighed. “My father claimed to be his champion, but… I know nothing about him beyond what my father and the priests of different villages have told me. He never has never answered my prayers and I have never felt his influence. Do I truly have his blood, or were those just stories? I know… I wasn’t normal, even before I met Solus, but…” her voice trailed off.

[i]Glug.[/i] [colour=lightblue]”Oh, that’s just uncalled for. Of course, you’re related. I’d know that divine scent wherever - divine as in holy, by the way; I don’t mean as in… Anyway, not answering your prayers? Dick move, but girlfriend, listen: You’re, you’re a pretty nice and righteous lady. Don’t let these kinds of thoughts pull you down, okay? You’re stronger than that.”[/colour]

A wave of relief washed over her. “Thank you,” Evette whispered, as she wiped away a tear. “And… I would say the same to you, Lady Gibbou.”

The reply came mid-drink. [colour=lightblue]”Hmm? Sorry, didn’t catch that.”[/colour] It was followed by a burp. [colour=lightblue]”’Scuse me.”[/colour]

“Nevermind,” Evette shook her head. “I think it’s time for me to get going. I would like to be alone with my own thoughts while on the road, if that’s alright with you.”

[colour=lightblue]”Aaaw, really? Nah, I, I, I… Sssh, here it comes. No, I understand. You, uh, you stay shafe--safe, okay? Yeah?”[/colour]

Evette nodded, and dropped down from the rooftop. The villagers, now roused and awake, stared at her as if she was mad.
[hr]
[hider=Post Summary]
Evette is hanging out on a roof like batman, trying to hunt a vampire. Then Gibbou contacts her and demands to know why she isn’t sleeping. At first Evette is confused, but eventually peaces together that she is talking to a goddess.

Anyway, Evette then tells Gibbou that her purpose is to hunt creatures of the night. Gibbou is offended by this, but after Evette explains herself further she manages to guilt-trip Gibbou into giving her an artifact instead.

Anyway, it turns out the lead Evette was following was a dead end. So she spends the rest of the night listening to Gibbou gossip. Morning comes, and Gibbou is ranting about Twilight. Evette then asks Gibbou about Cadien. Also, Gibbou starts drinking. Again.

Evette then decides to end their little skype chat and head back to Korstone.
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[hider=MP Spendage]
Gibbou 5MP/5DP
1DP (discounted to 0 with Respite portfolio): Create artifact - Sleep Stone: A small, black stone with a midnight glow that carries the following title:
[list]
[*] A Good Nap I: While this stone is on the body of its user, any rest shorter than 8h, but longer than 4h, feels as refreshing as a full night’s sleep.
[/list]

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[hider=Prestige Summary]
[u]Evette[/u]
Beginning: 14
+5 for 10k characters
Ending: 19
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