Apple Pie Apology
Log Info
- Title: Apple Pie Apology
- Emitter: Schara
- Place: Temple of Daeus
The Alexandrian Temple District, late afternoon.
After a brief return from Am'shere, and a visit with her friend Warrick, Schara was made aware of one fact. That she really needed to apologize to Andelena after that last job.
If she really was a devout follower of daeus, then she would still have to make her way to the temple of Daeus, rain or shine right? Even if it was a torrential amount of rain.
A brown haired elf stood out under the entrance to the temple of Daeus, fur lined cloak pulled tightly over their head. One wooden arm held an umbrella that jostles in the wind and rain to always face the proper direction, while her other equally wooden hand and arm was held close, balancing a large pie precariously in it as she scanned the plaza for the cleric she was looking for.
Luckily for Schara, it doesn't take much peering into the Temple of Daeus to find the exact cleric in question. Dressed in the same white cloak and the mithral armor as the excursion into Am'shere, Andelena stands tall as she speaks to another Sunguard, although the other cleric is not quite so impressively armored as herself.
"So anyway, that's when I told him to go fuck himself," Andelena quips, and the two laugh.
"You're all heart, Andelena," the other Sunguard says. "I have to get back to rounds. See you."
And so the other Sunguard departs, leaving Andelena alone in the main chamber, looking over across the way at the open doors. She blinks. "Come in out of the rain, yeah? It's too damn awful for you stand out there like that."
The elf at the door blinks once when she realizes that Andelena was already inside of the temple. Pride and perhaps apprehension had led to the artificer not actually asking anyone if Andelena had already been inside of the building. "Oh, hello, misses Andelena." The elf greets, taking a few slow steps inside of the building, carefully balancing the pie on her arm and hand. Presently occupied, she waves the umbrella back and forth a few times in lieu of a wave, spraying a some water on the floor. "It is not too bad out there, at least if you aren't on a boat. Why were you laughing about telling someone that?"
"Oh, because the guy was an asshole," Andelena answers simply, like it's the most obvious question in the world. "Nobody expects a Sunguard of Daeus to have a mouth that sounds like it came out of a latrine--which I'll readily fuckin' admit to, it's arguably one of my best traits. So when I tell someone to fuck off, it's, for one thing, deserved--and secondly, it's the funniest thing, and with this storm, sometimes you gotta tell someone else a funny story to keep their spirits up, especially if you're about to go back into the howling wind and rain like that poor guy was."
She eyes the pie that Schara's balancing, but doesn't immediately ask about it. "What brings you by the Temple today? I am capable of doing Sunguardly shit in addition to telling fun stories." Andelena grins broadly.
Schara tilts her head to one side, and nods slowly. "No, no one expects a sunguard to talk like that in public, you are correct. Usually it is only in private, which leads to plausible deniability but- ah, sorry, I'm sorry, I'm generalizing again and I didn't come here to make things worse." They continue rambling, only stopping to correct themselves with a shake of their head.
"I'm, yes, I'm sorry, that's why I came here today even though it's very uncomfortable and unpleasant." They answer finally, stiffly holding out the pie forward.
Andelena blinks as the pie gets held out to her. She looks up from the pie at Schara for a moment before she reaches out to accept it. "Hey, it's like I said," she replies. "There are lots of people who serve the gods out there. Some of them are assholes, and I'll admit that there's definitely a Sunblade or two that I've met with a polearm up their ass. People who serve the gods are just as imperfect as any other person who casually walks into a Temple."
She smiles broadly again. "But I appreciate the apology. Sometimes doing what I do is pretty fucking thankless work. It's nice to get a kind word or gesture every now and then. Thanks, Schara."
The elf blinks again, and the wooden arm swings back down a bit lamely as the pie is taken. The top was dusted with coarse sugar, and it smelled faintly of coarse sugar. "Oh, yes, I'm sorry, it's me, Schara, and I don't think you know what I look like, I'm sorry." The artificer answers finally. "I just realized with the help of my friend that I was really unnecessarily rude and unkind to you for no reason of your own and just my own prejudices and stress, when you were doing your best to help everyone in the ways that make sense to you."
"I don't know if there are a lot of bad people in the churches, but I know there are some at least, and that made me assume the worst, but you really did save my friend Aelwyn's life and everyone else several times." The elf continues with a glance at some of the walls. "I guess I am very much imperfect walking in here."
"I recognized you by the voice," Andelena says, still smiling. "People hiding their faces and shit like that's part and parcel with Guild jobs, so I'm used to it. But like I said--we're all imperfect. Not a single person who walks into this Temple is perfect. I just try to be a decent person, even if my mouth drives my longsword and some people nuts from time to time. I swore oaths to keep people safe, and--that's what I do."
She smiles. "Or try to do, anyway. I ain't perfect at that, either. But since that exploration, I've learned a few things to be better at making sure everyone gets out alive. We had way too many close calls."
Andelena looks down at the pie. "Hey, this looks pretty damn good," she says. "What's in this?"
"Oh, I thought that I had it set up so I wouldn't sound anything like myself when I had that armor on or, ah, right, there was a moment where I had to take it off, right." Schara considers, the elf's head tilting off to one side again. "It's not like I really am trying to hide who I am I guess anyways."
"It was very dangerous, and I should make sure that I do what I can to keep helping everyone back there. And, well, I thought that I needed to make sure an apology is sincere, since that's what my parents always said to me, and a gift given with one is usually a way of showing that intent. It's just an apple pie that I made, the filling is apples from last fall with a moderate level of malic acid in them, that I stewed with butter, sugar, and ground cinnamon." She answers. "It's good to make oaths, but it's more important to uphold them, since I know there's nothing stopping people from just ignoring them."
"We can't ignore them, not forever," Andelena says, once she can manage to tear herself away from the description of the apple pie. The phrase 'malic acid' clearly piques her interest in that she looks mildly confused in the way that someone who's never heard a certain phrase before might be. "An oath, that is, like the kind I've got to Daeus. You might be forced to act against it, or you might be an idiot and infringe on it accidentally--and those instances are typically forgiven, although there might be something you do for it later."
She shakes her head. "But knowing full and well that you're breaking an oath--and doing it anyway, of your own volition, and that you ought to know better--that's a fucking problem in of itself. That's what results in a god abandoning someone who's made an oath. If I go out there tomorrow and I start kicking orphans and shit just because I've turned into an asshole overnight and I know it's against Daeus's will, then that's grounds for the Knight to drop my ass. Does that make any sense?"
"Malic acid, it's the acid in apples that makes them sour. Sour apples are good for pies, but I don't know what kind of apples you like so it was better to go with ones that have a more balanced level." The Artificer answers suddenly at the confusion, only to stop, and tilt her head. "Some people I met in town said that the gods don't do that, but you're a cleric, so I think you understand it well, too."
Another tilt to the other side, as the elf seems to watch Andelena for a moment. "But that feels contradictory unless it was not actually against any oaths, so I don't know if it makes sense. Is it because by the technical interpretation, as someone who wronged a priest, they had no obligation to heal me that they were able to keep using Daeus's magic? Is that how it works?" They ask, frowning just a bit as they went on.
Andelena narrows her eyes at Schara, or something that Schara says. "Okay, wait, hold the horn," she replies. "Did someone--refuse to heal you? A Daeusite? Because we're expected to have Compassion for everyone. We don't torture people, we don't deny people healing--none of that shit. Now it can vary a bit from region to region and place to place, but where I was taught and where I took my oaths, I swore to express Compassion for all, and I would only seek justice against those who had done evil. Not vengeance. Vengeance is easily mistaken for justice. If we do kill in our pursuit for justice, it has to be for something that merits it--a serial killer, for instance. On the flip-side, a Daeusite shouldn't kill a thief who steals a loaf of bread every day out of hunger."
She looks at Schara a moment more. "Now, that being said--and this does happen from time to time--there are people who will claim to worship one god but actually serve another. It happens, typically in small and more isolated communities where they're the only healer or holy figure around. If you're a cleric sworn to a god of the dark, it's easier to masquerade as a cleric of someone else. I don't know if that's what happened in your scenario, but--it's a likely explanation to me."
"What horn?" Schara asks, taking a look around for the horn in question for a moment before she stops and sighs. "Ah, yes, a figure of speech." She adds quietly, not wishing to interrupt any more. The small frown of the elf only deepened further. "Those teachings you're saying sound correct, misses Andelena. Those are what they were always talking about in the church, when people came over." The elf nods once. "That's why I couldn't believe that he wouldn't help me when he refused to help me when my arms were crushed."
Schara closes her eyes for a moment as the artificer found a pillar nearby to lean against. "It was because I refused to sleep at his place, I don't know if he's a follower of some evil god, or not."
Andelena stares at Schara for a long moment. There's a look in her eyes like she's trying to register if she heard Schara correctly, and then she gives just a little nod. A little thing of conviction.
"Schara... Do you happen to remember this fuckhead's name?" Andelena asks quietly. It's the kind of quiet that's burns with a tiny little mote of anger, like a mother who's deeply unhappy and is about to give someone in her family a real bruising of the ear canals. "Where he lives, even? Because... That ain't fucking right, and you deserve your justice, because that is wrong. Completely against the book. No Daeusite should behave that way and get to keep their position and the powers granted to them by the Knight."
There's another head tilt again as she opened her eyes again. "Of course I know his name, or, well, you can't know that, but I wouldn't forget it since he grew up in our town." They answer after a pause. "Sorry, that's not helpful, what I mean to say is, yes, I remember their name and it would be difficult to forget. Thraven Elmsdew, he took over the temple back home in Llyranost."
"Is that true that what he did shouldn't be allowed by a cleric of Daeus? I thought that it was fine since other clerics came by and nothing happened, but that could be because he denounced my family to the town, so no one listened to anything I had to say." They wonder, sounding genuinely curious, and slightly hopeful.
Andelena looks even angrier now. "Yeah, that cleric--Thraven Elmsdew--he must have manipulated everyone against you. That's... Ugh. That's against everything that the Knight stands for, Schara. I know you have zero fucking reason to believe me considering how completely and utterly you were failed, but..."
She shakes her head. "Okay. So I don't know anyone in Llyranost, and I don't think they'd listen to someone like me. But I know that the elves up in Mythwood aren't as poncy assholes like a lot of the nobility in the courts of Llyranost seem to be. Telamon Lúpecyll-Atlon, the sorcerer--if you've ever met him--he's a friend of mine and my husband's. He might be able to shake up the tree there. There's got to be someone higher up who will listen to you. Someone's got to investigate that fuckhead. If he's done it to you..."
The Sunguard looks deeply unhappy. "He's probably done that to someone else."
"You're right, I don't really have a reason to believe you. For all I know, you could go up there, tell him that I've been talking about what he did to other Daeus followers, and then I'd be punished for doing that." Schara answers, pausing for just a moment to shake her head. "He didn't seem like a bad person at first either, but you saved Aelwyn's life, and everyone else's probably, and Warrick said you're a good person and I trust his judgement much more than mine, you seem like a very straightforward person, and I guess I do want to trust you too."
"Oh, I know mister Lúpecyll-Atlon, I tried to sell him a device to regulate temperature several months back, and I met him in Am'shere as well." They answer with another nod, only to freeze up suddenly, and frown. "I, I don't know, I hope not. I really don't want them to be harming someone else, but I've not considered that for some reason."
"I really hope not, either, but it's a possibility I can't ignore," Andelena says grimly. "People in positions of power and authority can abuse the trust that's placed in them by a community. And... As I told you, everyone in a temple can be an imperfect person. Even the people who serve a god. Maybe he's a Daeusite. Maybe he's a servant of an evil god and masquerading as something else. I won't go looking for justice without your consent, but if you want me to help in any way--let me know, yeah?"
She smiles a little. "I'm glad you want to trust me despite what you've been through at the hands of another who claims to serve the Knight. It means I'm doing something right."
"Sunguard Donnelly! Come look at this," another Sunguard calls over, and Andelena looks over her shoulder.
"Be right there," she says, before looking back to Schara. "Well, thank you for the pie, and if you ever want to come talk or anything--I'm usually here, yeah?" Andelena smiles broadly again.
"Well, I guess that's what worries me about that, I wasn't able to tell what they were doing, since I didn't see them much after that, and I didn't want to." Schara admits. "Well, yes, I want to trust people again, and I don't want to treat people like they don't deserve."
Schara looks over as someone calls for the sunguard, and she nods once. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to talk so much, I did just come here to apologize." They state with a glance to the way out. "I'll keep that in mind even if I still feel uncomfortable in here. Thank you for listening to me still, even if I didn't intend to talk so much."
"Hey, that's one thing we got in common then," Andelena says with a little laugh. "I curse too fucking much. So, there you go. Maybe the more you visit, the less uncomfortable you'll feel--but don't push yourself to do something you don't wanna do."
With that, the Sunguard gives a little wave and goes over to see what her fellow Daeusite needs of her.