(1875-01-23) The Comfort Of Faith
The Comfort Of Faith
Summary: Alia wakes Ludovic at an ungodly hour for a bit of godliness. Also breakfast.
Date: 2019-01-23
Related: A Road Divided
NPCs: None
Players:
Alia  Ludovic  

Imperial Paras
An inn, a church, the streets.
1875-01-23

Winter sun came late and fell early. And so, for most, it was sometimes impossible to know what time of the night or morning it was, when there was no sun in the sky. For Ludovic? Perhaps he had spent enough days in the dark and in places that lacked the comforts and familiarity of routine, that he would still gauge it to be about four in the morning, when the knock came at his door. First a louder one, from one of the guards, and then a softer, more feminine one.

-

Ludovic stumbles out of his bed and starts towards the door, tugging trousers up over his lower body as he moves but paying no mind to tousled hair or even covering the stylised mountain on his upper abdomen that declares his sorcerous talents. The doors yanked open with a gruff question, his gaze first aimed at where he'd expect his man's eyes to be. "What is it?"

-

"Down here, Dovi." Alia's voice was soft, in deference to the people who were still sleeping, but also amused, as she took in the state of him. As slight as she was, her eyes were on the level of his mark, but they did not linger, instead rising to settle on his face. She was dressed quite a bit more carefully than she usually was, erring towards the side of a beautiful gown, rather than her usual riding skirts. "I am sorry it is so early, but your presence has been requested." She gave that a moment to settle, "There is time for you to change, but not much."

-

Ludovic turns his head the few inches required to identify Alia before flicking his gaze back up again to identify his mans status in the background. Whatever he sees evidently reassures him because he mutters "S'Alright Faith." to his attentive warhound before stepping back into his room. "Whats going on?" This is asked from inside, through the still open door, as he sits to tug boots on.

-

As soon as Dovi had stepped back into the room, Alia stepped inside, immediately hunkering down to do her due diligence to the elementi, hands finding the perfect spots behind each ear. "It is almost time for morning service. And the priests have bid you to attend. Not an order, but an invitation to take comfort in the service, and to see the practice of faith."

-

Ludovic leaves her to entertain the hound, seeming unphased by her presence, as he deals with first shirt, then cote and finally his sash before picking up his czekan with one hand and pushing back his hair with the other. "Alright. I'm as ready as i'm gonna get without breakfast" He gestures for her to lead the way and then gestures for his dog to move to his right before rethinking it and asking the hound to wait instead. As the door clicks closed behind the two of them Ludovic turns his head to give Alia a warm smile. "I can't believe I never thought to ask to join service here before."

-

Alia was more than content to wile away the time while Ludovic dressed with Faith. She had developed quite a affection for the hound, and he was always, seemingly, happy to have the attention. Once Ludovic made his pronouncement though, she bid the hound farewell with a final scritch, before she moved back to the door, stepping out to wait on the other side before she spoke again, "Breakfast after. You have my word." She lead the way back out of the rooming hall they had been settled in, and through the city streets, moving in the direction of the main church. "You would have been welcome then, as you are welcome now."

-

"It feels stupid now." Ludovic is still making small grooming actions such as scrubbing his beard into place, fiddling with the knot on his sash or straighten out his hair as they move and talk. "But it felt like it would somehow have been wrong." He glances briefly to one side. "Seems kinda early. Is it usual to do the ceremony before dawn?"

-

"I suppose I can understand why you would think so. But the One is the One, no matter how he is worshiped, and their practices are not so different from the Western Church, and indeed predate them." Alia kept the pace comfortable, allowing Dovi time to put himself together, "This is the service for the soldiers. Early enough that they can have their prayers, eat their breakfast, and then go to their duties as the sun is rising. The days are too short otherwise."

-

"Of course." There's a spring in Ludovic's step that suggests he's actually rather looking forward to it. "Makes sense. I wonder how many of the saints are shared. I expect they've not had the opportunity to hear about all of the ones that rose up in the west yet. Much like we've no doubt never heard of some of the ones from the east."

-

"Well, it will be a good thing for both Hellsmouth and Paras that they will soon have an opportunity to share and learn." It was not far now, before the reached the church, "I had an opportunity to speak to Darius while you were off to your meetings." That was what she assumed Ludovic had been going to Paras for, "He has agreed to the priests putting together a small mission to Hellsmouth. Three priests and their acolytes, to offer services within the County."

-

Ludovic gives her another pleased looking smile. "Good. Good. No man should have to go without confession and I'd like to see my people given something other than horror stories about me." He reaches to pat a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for making this happen so quickly. I thought, for sure, that it would either take months or never happen at all."

-

"There was some concern, I will admit, because they are priests of the Eastern faith journeying to a land that practices the Western faith, but at the end of it, the truth is, that people need the guidance of their priests." Alia slowed, only for a few steps, as they were nearly to the church, and they could already see, mostly soldiers, but also citizens and a few early risers making their way through the doors, "It will take a few days before they are ready to depart for Hellsmouth."

-

Ludovic gives Alia another smile before heading inside and finding a suitable spot from which to experience the service. He's attentive throughout the whole thing, clearly soaking in everything the priests say and appropriate in his displays of faith. Unusually he seems to be happy not to talk for the whole time. Of course, the minute they step outside the walls again, he immediately looks to Alia "That wasn't as different as I expected. So did you get anything else when you spoke to Darius? Do you know how he feels about my request for a non aggression pact?"

-

Alia seemed to be familiar with the rituals, as though she had spent at least a few services here, since her time coming to Paras, and she was attentive and respectful for the duration. She too, waited to speak until they had escaped the service, and she turned to lead Ludovic towards a place where he could break his fast. "Do you wish to stop and bring Faith?" She understood that he might not be comfortable without his companion or his men around him, "I did not speak to him directly about that, since I felt that the need for the priests was more pressing. But he was not adverse to the idea, or unwilling to offer you the mission. And I think that speaks well of his eventual feelings in that regard. I felt it was best to tackle one problem at a time."

-

"We probably should head back to the inn." Ludovic agrees after a moment. "Its not that I don't feel safe. Know that almost anything that can take down me on myself is gonna take down those two as well. Just that they'll worry." He offers her his right arm. "You can walk on my right if you'd like?"

He nods a little at her talk of the priest being more pressing. "They are and they aren't." he admits. "Whole reason the priest left, I reckon, is that I sat down and confessed everything. Been real good to get it all off my chest." a quick grin is given to her. "But I suspect he didn't appreciate it all that much." A shrug. "Course he could have been telling the truth when he said he had pressing business back home."

He nods again at her talk of one problem at a time. "Well. Maybe the consul will see it happen." he makes a small sigh. "Know that not every meeting results in an actual outcome but its real frustrating when you get nowhere."

-

Alia nodded, settling into Ludovic's right side, a hand resting carefully on his forearm. "Very well." And so they did, following the same path they had taken to get to the church to return, "I believe you will find, in such cases that you will have an easier time with the faith in the East. They do not demonize our kind." Alia shook her head at talk of the priest, "You are well rid of him, if he could not find it in himself to stay and minister to those most in need. But then, perhaps you are better off that he left and was not perpetually trying to find ways to cleanse you of your evil." As for Pompey, Alia shook her head, "The Consul is a skilled man, but he has his own prejudices. I will speak to Darius when I see him next."

-

"I do tend to feel like the ball in a game between the two of them." Ludovic says after a pause. "Its one of the reasons I keep getting so annoyed with it all. One minute Darius is a man who wants to rule the world and the next my only savior, then its the senate I should be looking to because that's where the true power lives.." He turns his head all the way across so that he can actually look at her down there in his blind spot. "Am I being played with?" A bit of a grimace as he turns his gaze back to where they are going. "Could you even tell me if I was."

-

Alia walked in silence, listening and then taking her time to reply, as if she were choosing her words carefully. "What I know to be true is this. Darius is a soldier, a diplomat, a king in waiting, an emperor to be, not only born to rule, but worthy of it, in word and through his own deeds. He seeks to defeat the Qatunax and to restore the Empire. He has always been kind to me, generous in word and deed. He offered me trust when others might have turned me away. But, I do not think most would consider him a kind man. He is ruthless when he needs to be, but he never forgets to reward the service of those who serve him. He is just and fair, but also passionate and quick to temper, as you sometimes are. He is, I believe, the future of the Empire."

She paused a moment, before she considers, "Pompey is a man driven by the need for power and glory. He seeks ever to supplant others and to place himself at the center of all. He follows Darius' rule because he is told that he must, but he seeks ever to supplant him, and he will use whatever methods he believes will help him to achieve his goals, from lies to duplicity. He thinks always of himself. His goals and his power and he will tear down and weaken everyone and anyone he believes could challenge his eventual claim. He is a skilled master of coin, and an able steward, but he is no Darius Firebrand, and I believe that knowledge eats at him like a cancer."

-

"One of the first things I remember about the imperials" Ludovic admits to Alia. "was the day that Darius rode up to our lines and demanded our surrender. He said we were to give our military to him as auxillaries, our lands and taxes to support his war efforts and that he held us to the oaths of our forefathers in the days before the Empire abandoned us. He was exactly what I always felt a King should be. Even now, with our arguments over lands and trust, I still think he's what a King should be." He gives a short laugh, aimed at his own thoughts and not in a way that suggests humour, before saying. "I must be hungry." he gives her a smile although he does not move his head enough to be able to actually see her response. "I'm hoping to go on the attack soon. Its what i'll be discussing when I arrive in Galenthia."

-

"He is everything that a King should be. An Emperor should be. He believes in his power and his cause and he draws in those around him and lifts them all up as a result. He looks at a people divided and sees the potential for unity and strives to create that unity." Alia stepped in first, as they returned to the inn, though she allowed Ludovic to lead the way back up towards his rooms, knowing that he needed to check in with his men. "No doubt you are. Praying is hungry work." There was amusement in her voice, as she walked up along the stairs. "It was good that I thought to travel back with you, or else you would have been gone again when I was finished in Hellsmouth"

-

Ludovic gestures for her to enter his room and then spends a few moments talking with the two men before he enters behind her. "I'm going to be very busy for a few days yet." He starts going through one of his saddlebags, putting papers down on the bed besides him and finally drawing supplies before bringing the log to the table with him. "There are lots of things that need changing, supplies to buy, people to track down and everything. Sure I can hand some of that off but some of it, like trying to get that pact, I really cant." He sneaks a bit of jerky to his dog and smiles to her. "Speaking of things that gotta be done by me. What sort of tribute do you think Darius is most likely to take heed of?"

-

Alia stepped in as she was inviting, moving over to sit at one of the chairs so that Ludovic could tend to his business, "You spoil him every bit as much as I do, Dovi." She glanced to the hound, "Doesn't he, Faith?" Whenever Alia spoke to the hound, it was never in that odd way that people often did with their pets, as though they were babies or children. She always spoke to him as though she one day expected him to answer her. "I know that he likes good wine, but that is unlikely to be a good gift, as there is not a taste for wine from the West in Paras. He loves a beautiful weapon, but no doubt he has many…He may have an appreciation for a good steed. Knowledge interests him. I will have to try to ask him, subtly, if I can. But it seems like you will have the more difficult job."

-

"He deserves spoiling." Ludovic tells Alia with an unrepentant grin. "He's my loyalist friend." A hand is lowered to scratch the dogs head. "Except when he's pining for your attention anyway." he looks amused at that. "And I leave him behind far to often."

"I remember how pleased he was when Jasmina gave him a bottle of old imperial wine." Ludovic says thoughtfully. "I don't have any but perhaps there is still some available in the markets of four corners. Thank you. You've actually given me more to work with than I reckon you know." Another smile. "I'd accept that offer normally but I wont ask it of you this time. I dont think i'll be waiting long enough for you to get me an answer."

He rubs at a shoulder for a moment, glancing towards the door in expectation of foods arrival. "I am not looking forward to getting on that airship. It's not Cervantes, I like him just fine, its the damn flying part."

-

"If only there were some way for him to be in two places at once, he could have the best of both worlds." Alia made sure not to take up space on the table, so that Ludovic could set our his work, and the meal, when it came, could be placed there as well. "You should try not to leave him behind, though, the lands are dangerous, and he is better protection than most men, though I know I do not need to say so." She offered a dip of her head, "I am glad to have helped you a little. Darius is an easy man to admire, an easier man to fear, but a truly difficult man to know. I have no doubt that you will find something suitable." She did offer a look of sympathy to his plight. "I wish there was some way to alleviate your discomfort with air travel."

-

"You're right." Ludovic says. "I don't leave him behind so much anymore." His work seems to involve sorting through scout reports relating to the hellsmouth area. "I used to feel he'd just get killed in the field. That there was no place for him in a cavalry unit. But , after seeing that elementi glowing as he store into the vampire, and knowing how he helps me control the flow of a fight about me, I need him by my side more than I need to protect him." A smile is offered. "Never hurts to tell me the obvious. Besides. I think its sweet that you care."

Breakfast arrives and he turns his attention to the arrayed food with typical eagerness, pausing part way through to grin at her. "Found two so far. This." a tap to the head of the czekan "And this" for that he taps his eye. "Who'd have thought losing an eye would ever be a good thing?"

-

"If I can't be around to look out for you, I must have someone. And he isn't like to give away all of my secrets." Alia grinned, as she rose from the table, sneaking a bit of cheese, easily large enough for two, and slipping down to sit cross-legged on the floor to share the bit of a treat with Faith. A piece for her, a piece for him. "He knows you better than any of your men, and he can be your eyes when you need him." She did nod, at his words, "No one truly understands their power, and that must truly have been one that none had seen before." Her expression grew thoughtful, as she looked between the weapon and the eye, "Both of them made from stone from your own lands?"

-

"The eye is shaped from rock taken from hadres." Ludovic agrees with a nod. "but the czekan is not really from any one place. I had to find enough cassiterite of the right quality that I could bind it all together. That said." he strokes the head of the hammer much like one would a lover. "I could swear that every time I use it, it becomes a little bit more a piece of me." He lifts his hand away to reach for food instead. "I imagine that the day I use it in a challenging fight, where my life is truly in risk, is the day it will finally be finished." He gives her another unrepentant grin. "I honestly love it more than my horse." Theres a moment where he just watches Alia before he says. "I would really like to be able to make you one."

-

Alia nodded, looking between the eye and the weapon, "It is an interesting thing, if having things of the earth make you feel more settled when you are in the air. It might be worthwhile to see if there are ways you can add additional pieces, useful or decorative and test whether having more with you increases the effect. And perhaps the weapon is no different than Faith. Because of what you are, it bonds to you and becomes an extension of yourself and your will." And that brought a thoughtful look, "Have you ever tried to make it heavier? With your sorcery?" She did smile at the comment, as she finished the cheese and uncurled from the floor, returning to her seat, "I appreciate the offer, but I already have a weapon."

-

"Taking a bag of rocks helps too." Ludovic concedes. "But its really hard to explain away. Too obvious." Again his thumb goes to touch the blunt head of the czekan. "Don't you find being surrounded by your element comforting as well?" he asks her, watching with evident interest. "And being removed from it uncomfortable at best?"

"Its because of the weapon that I got from the qatunax champion, Tavat." Ludovic explains. "He had a weapon made of black stone - not the same as this - but it cant have been far different - with fire magic somehow infused right into the stone. It cut right through my pauldron like nothing I've ever experienced although I hear sidhe steel is much the same." And his own axe might be able to do it too once its finally truly been tested. "Heck I still have the scar." He picks up some more of the cheese. "And its that what I want to make for you. A weapon made by combining my magic and yours."

He glances down to his czekan and then back to her. "Once in a while I wonder what would happen if someone else used this but I cant bring myself to give it up and see. I'm too worried it would shatter." He shakes his head on the question of weight. "I can change it though." He picks it up. "Even mid swing but I don't really like to. Its right like this." there's a frown. "I don't think I can make it heavier."

-

"So don't make it a bag of rocks. Find other ways to decorate your armor, or a doublet, a coat. If it can be ground stone dust, work it into the paint you use to mark your armor." Alia gave the question serious thought, she began to put together a small plate for herself. "No. Not, I think, in the way you mean. I think…I feel the fire within me, but once it leaves me…I don't feel connected to it. It's only fire. And I spend most of my time trying to do the exact opposite. I try to keep it away, I try to prevent it from coming out of me."

She gave his weapon no small amount of consideration, before she looked from it to him, "If you made such a weapon, Ludovic? Would you truly be able to give it away? Making a thing is one thing, giving it away is another. It took me many years to be able to accept that."

-

"I think I will." Ludovic tells her with a smile. "I'd not thought on it before but theres so many things that could be stone. Even this." he hooks a finger over the little bit of horn that fastens his, shaking his head at himself even as he does so. "Whys this not stone?"

He gives her question a serious bit of thought before saying "I never made anything before I started trying to train my powers but I've made things and given them away before. It would be the same. Surely? I mean the czekan wasnt important to start with. It just got that way after i'd started using it."

-

"I suppose it is the scholar in me. To wonder how one can push their abilities. For example, when we took Candeo, Darius was burning with heat. He did something I had never seen before. He channeled the heat that builds up in all of us if we use too much of our fire, and he used it to destroy the door we had to get through. I had never seen someone do that before. And so, it makes me wonder. Could you use it in bursts like that. Not make the weapon heavier all of the time, but only just before you struck, not heavier for you, but make the impact harder. So many ways it could be applied." She ate slowly, thoughtfully, as she spoke, a hand pointing to the same fastener he indicated, "Yes, precisely. Small things, hidden things, things that no one would thing twice about." A moment of consideration, "I am also wondering if the weapon was more cutting because it had been made with magic, or if it also required him to push his magic into it, if you understand what I mean."

-

"I wouldn't know how." Ludovic says. "I don't know how to make a stone heavier." He grimaces at his words. "But if you've got an idea then i'm willing to try. I can see how it would help. This." he touches the czekan. "Is not as heavy as i'd like."

Again he thinks about the question before answering. "I am almost certain that tavat has no magic of his own. You can kinda feel it when its used against you and I felt nothing. n fact, when we were fighting, I thought it was sidhe steel. But, when I picked it up, I knew, instantly that it was stone magic."

-

"You don't know how yet. But that is the onus of being a sorcerer in the west. There are no books to learn from, no schools, really, to teach you the limits of what you can and cannot do. You spend half of your life hiding and half fumbling in the dark. And maybe there is no way to do it. We would have to study and practice and hope. I will help you if I can."

"Well, it might do well to attempt to make something of the sort, even to pick through the weapons that you take as spoils if you do dive back into the war against the Qatunax and find more who might have such a weapon."

-

"Alright." Ludovic says "You know I like training with you. And maybe i'll think of something better than shouting 'get heavier' over and over until it gives up. Wouldn't be the first time I've found I can do something I hadnt imagined I could." He nods at her agreement that it might be worth trying to remake or steal more qatunax obsidian-axes. "I've been trying to do that for a while but it means working so close with another sorcerer that its real hard to find the opportunity."

He pops the last piece of bread into his mouth, chews away and then gestures at the map type documents he's been annotating. "Any of this stuff you didn't know?"

-

Alia's response might have sounded glib, if her tone had not been absolutely serious. "Perhaps you should look for a sorcerer who is not hidden away in the West, or, one who would be willing to work with you and would also remain with you in Hellsmouth. No, better, someone you could add to your retinue, so that even when you travel, they could accompany you." Alia leaned down, offering another nibble to Faith, before she turned her attention to the maps, "Quite a lot actually. Whether that is because the Empire does not know it, however, or simply because I am not privy to the councils of its commanders, I could not say. But is is information I will gladly add to my own maps."

-

"They are all to scared." Ludovic tells Alia honestly in return. "Or they are occupied with chasing fables or simply not willing to trust enough to allow me to even ask. Putting more than one sorcerer in the same place. It does more than double the risk of being caught out but starts putting whole communities at risk. I'm hoping things will change. But right now, simple fact is, you're the only fire sorcerer I have access to."

He nods at her answer and starts gathering the documents up into a neat bundle. "Will you show me the best officer to give this sort of thing to? I think my previous offerings got stuck somewhere in the snare of bureaucracy." or politics

-

"Then I will try to help you as often as I can. We are not stationed so far apart that we could not schedule regular meetings. So not as the war does not interfere." Which it would, but they could hope. "And it may be that the fear of what the King has done might, rather than push sorcerers apart, urge them to look for safety in numbers." Alia did consider, before she nodded, "In all honesty, Darius is the best officer to give this to. But barring that, I know a Centurion that I can pass it on to and he to Darius. I find that, too often, if you give a bureaucrat something, he will not pass it on until he has wrung every once of good he can from it, and by the time the information reaches those who need it, it is worthless."

-

"That's what I suspect might have been happening." Ludovic glances to the window. "I need to get moving." He moves to his feet. "I'd be grateful if you'd show me the centurion. Its rare I can just walk right up to Darius, and rarer still that one of my messengers can."

-

Alia nodded, setting aside the remains of her meal, as she rose to her feet, "Of course, Ludovic. I imagine you need to catch the airship." She glanced down to Faith, "Faith, walk me out like a gentleknight?" The elementi did, in point of fact, stand, but it was clear it had nothing at all to do with her request and everything to do with the fact that Ludovic was rising to his feet and preparing to leave. Still, it seemed to amuse Alia to no end, "This way. He isn't stationed far."

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