01:23 | 31 Online Users
Login
Station
Login
Catalogue
Story Bestiary All Pets Database Colors Rules Cosmosdex

STORY

STORY

Home > Expos > Event 10 > Page 52
WORDS OF SERVANTS▼
WORDS OF SERVANTS
[Howler's Dell – Roadwarden]
Old Shepherd
The Helper tailed felt old.

He was old, of course. But sometimes his limbs shook, and his tail stump ached, and his mind wandered from its tasks. Such was the tiring of age. Why, just a few days ago, he'd gone into the witch's tower and berated that silly notail child with such seriousness, and gotten the flippant responses any child would give. It didn't seem so important, now.
Old Shepherd
2025-10-30 17:43:45
Old Shepherd Profile
Posted by ID #276
Last edit: 2025-11-17 14:42:46
Right now, he felt a different desire. Since being brought here, he'd roasted animals over firepits, or worked out in the fields, or helped repair clothing or carry messages or stand to attendance, any of a dozen things that being a servant to house Drakken involved. And right now, he wanted to do... nothing.

To be born under the Helper was to toil and labour and spend one’s life on others… But no one was a perfect servant. Sometimes, you simply needed a break.
Old Shepherd
2025-10-30 17:50:24
Old Shepherd Profile
Posted by ID #34
Last edit: 2025-10-30 17:51:10
The tailed prayed for his goddess's forgiveness under his breath as he put down his latest burden, a repaired saddle he was returning to the stables. He rested on his cane for the moment.
Leaping Star
2025-10-30 17:56:49
Leaping Star Profile
Posted by ID #107
Last edit: 2025-10-30 18:41:15
The Leaping Star stepped out from Gretel's stall, hanging her head. She worried for the distance running off with Bela would put between her and the dragon. There was little the tailed could do for her already, yet Leaping Star worried for what fate might befall her all the same. That she might be trapped in the moving pieces of the schemes running through the Drakken estate.
Leaping Star
As she looked up she did a double take, surprised to see her fellow tailed. Her ears perk up and she happily saunters over to her elder, suddenly free of the worries that raised her shoulders just a moment before. "Old Gray!"
Leaping Star
She licks her thumb and begins to smooth down some of the patchier bits of fur around his head. Even the elderly ought to look nice. "It's been weeks since I last saw you, how are you faring? They're not working you too hard, are they?"
Old Shepherd
"Leaping Star." His straightened a little upon seeing her, for she was a familiar face in this land, and a rabbit would raise the spirits of any soul. He pats at her hand a little, but doesn't push her away. "I amn gladenned ta see ye are as joyful as evar, en havnae been harmed by this place."
Old Shepherd
"I amm... well enough. Bu' I am tired, an' done for the day. An... woul' you accompany me while I res'? Though ye'need not."

Leaping Star
2025-10-30 18:16:09
Leaping Star Profile
Posted by ID #107
Last edit: 2025-10-30 18:41:02
She glances back towards Gretel's stall. There were still a few jobs she had yet to finish, but the air in the stables had grown heavy with an ill-feeling.
Leaping Star
2025-10-30 18:18:32
Leaping Star Profile
Posted by ID #276
Last edit: 2025-11-17 14:45:36
"My pleasure!" Without knowing the way, she takes the lead in exiting the stables, presuming the helper tailed would follow and direct her as needed. "It'd be foolish to turn down a chance to rest."
Old Shepherd
2025-10-30 18:21:47
Old Shepherd Profile
Posted by ID #34
Last edit: 2025-10-30 18:41:33
He followed after her. "Thank ye. An' there is one other I woul' seek to join us. Cea. A servanmt who has bor'nn his du'ies for ever so long, tha his teeth mus' suremly grind with the strain."

That was the way of it, he thought. It was not selfish, so long as it was done with others, for their sake as well as his own.
Old Shepherd
He'd seen the klannec throughout his time here, holding a position of authority among servants. Many didn't survive the years he had beneath the Drakkens. The words they'd exchanged until now had been formal, practical, a conveying of orders and how to carry them out. The tailed hoped he wouldn't mind this.

It was the hour of the vampwelf when they had found Cea.
Cea Jasper
"Oh dears, taking a walk at this hour? I suppose it's both the safest and most dangerous time to be out and about. Do you need a place to shelter?"
Old Shepherd
"Nay, Cea. We are simply finding a place ta res'. I ask, will you join us, an' for a time forget the heavy weights upon yen soul with company and con'ersation?"
Cea Jasper
"Oh deary, I don't think there's any heavy weights on my soul. I wouldn't mind sharing the time with you two."
Cea Jasper
"Especially if you packed the lunches."
Leaping Star
"You packed lunch?" She turns to the old shepherd, hands folded behind her head. Either the hour had slipped her mind, or she simply paid it no mind herself; either way she was relaxed.
Cea Jasper
2025-10-30 18:53:48
Cea Jasper Profile
Posted by ID #276
Last edit: 2025-11-17 14:47:12
"If you didn't, we can head to an inn. I mean, there won't be any vampwelfs in them right now."
Old Shepherd
"Mm. Somethin' of the sort." He had raw vegetables, picked from the farms.
Old Shepherd
"Bu' let us fin' the inn. Drink will go well with us.
Cea Jasper
"Long as one of you pay the bill."
Cea Jasper
"I especially have been hearing whispers from the others that Leaping Star over there has been coming into quite a bit of money. What's your secret?"
Leaping Star
2025-10-30 19:01:27
Leaping Star Profile
Posted by ID #276
Last edit: 2025-11-17 14:48:09
So much money, in fact, Timothy had made her invest in a coin purse. No more carrying around meagre wages wrapped in her bare hands. She held up the little pouch between her fingers, jostling it to jingle the coins.
Leaping Star
"Oh... I just spent the night with Bela Elzenstein."
Cea Jasper
2025-10-30 19:03:57
Cea Jasper Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2025-10-30 19:04:33
"Oh. I didn't know you were a lady of the day. I had just assumed you stolen it. I suppose that explains that weird perfume you're wearing right now."
Cea Jasper
2025-10-30 19:06:09
Cea Jasper Profile
Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2025-10-30 19:07:24
"Just be careful, dear. Many such ladies go out for work and never come back." He warns as he pushes open the doors to the inn. "I've considered the profession myself, but it's much more taboo in this backwards planet for women to hire men than it is for men to hire women!"
Cea Jasper
2025-10-30 19:06:24
Cea Jasper Profile
Posted by ID #276
Last edit: 2025-11-17 14:48:51
"Also, I was told I was "Too tall.""
Old Shepherd
"Hmmm." The tailed had heard rumours as well, though there was only one thing that concerned him. "I hope this Bela does trea' you well."
Cea Jasper
"Look at her! Her fur is so shiny! Clearly if anything she's improving in quality."
Leaping Star
"Maybe a proper meal put some life back in me..." She relished the memory of the many, many sugar plums she'd helped herself to the other day.
Leaping Star
"Although, too tall? Surely there's someone who would, you know..." She pokes two fingers into Cea's arm and 'walks' them up to his shoulder.
Leaping Star
Without taking her hand off of Cea she turns to face the old shepherd. "And quite so!"
Cea Jasper
"You would think so wouldn't you! Who doesn't love a tall man? But no, I've been told such....oddities as "Men feel too tall these days." Bah! What do people mean by this? Men being too tall? I think they should be taller!"
Duchess Lorelei
"I agree!" Duchess Lorelei chimes from her table.
Cea Jasper
"Apparently short men are in style for this reason."
Old Shepherd
"Hmm. I cannae say I hav' much opinion on tha mattern, though heigh' is good in a partner. Bu' let us get our meals, yes? It wou'd be a shame to not keenp a rabbi' well-fed."

Cea Jasper
"Well, seeing as you're a rich man's lady now, Leaping Star, you wouldn't mind me ordering something nice and expensive. It'd be nice to live a bit more normally for once."
Cea Jasper
"Plus, you cannot believe how hard it is to eat thick porridge with teeth like mine."
Leaping Star
2025-10-30 19:17:55
Leaping Star Profile
Posted by ID #107
Last edit: 2025-10-30 19:19:13
"Not at all!" She waves off his concerns. "And you too Old Gray! Please, get something nice for yourself, who knows how long you've got left for the finer parts of life."
Cea Jasper
"Oh, dear, please don't say such things at the table. People are dying left and right. You'll cause his death by saying such things."
Old Shepherd
"I shennae fall from tha simple stating of the truth. Long have I waited, an' only the Helper knows when my time will finnally be."
Cea Jasper
"You sound a bit too eager for your death." Cea denotes after putting in his order.
Old Shepherd
"Mmm. I did thinnik for a time, that I might sacrifice myself for some grea' purpose before long... That I migh' leave through tha Neo's teeth, to save another. Perhaps I still will. Bu' I am conten' to let my end be as it will, an come when it may."
Old Shepherd
"I'm nae one ta deserve a gran' passing. Only a follower of the Helper."
Cea Jasper
"Maybe such things are common where you come from, but that's wishful thinking here. Death comes in the form of a hungry vampwelf for most workers. If you want death, you just go into any of their castles at this time of day. Else death will come suddenly, like a heart attack. One moment you are there, the next, a vampwelf has darted out a dark corner and ripped your neck to pieces before dragging you off to a dark corner."
Leaping Star
2025-10-30 19:28:19
Leaping Star Profile
Posted by ID #107
Last edit: 2025-10-30 19:33:35
Cea's warning had left her silenced, now listening intently between the juxtaposed approaches to death as she slid the necessary coin across to the barkeep for their food and drink. Plus tip.
Old Shepherd
The tailed places a hand on Cea's arm. "Do ye mourn them, Cea? The servants taken by their hungry masters?"
Cea Jasper
"I get tired of mourning. We live in Drakken lands. Maybe if we were with the Elzensteins such deaths would be such a rarity that it'd be worth crying over, but here? In worst lands of the vampwelfs? No. I can't mourn."
Cea Jasper
"Mourning would just disallow them any chance of their souls gaining freedom."
Cea Jasper
Cea pauses, before whispering. "Do you people know what the vampwelfs mean when they speak of the Old Gods?"
Leaping Star
She looks to her fellow tailed, hoping he could answer on their behalf as she raised her tankard to drink.
Old Shepherd
"...Nay. What I hear confusens me, in tru'th."
[Igorrr - Problème d'émotion]
Cea Jasper
2025-10-30 19:41:46
Cea Jasper Profile
Posted by ID #276
Last edit: 2025-11-17 14:52:11
"Well, it's terribly confusing! In fact, I've only been able to gather a few clear answers from Lumii. The mad man wants to stitch together old history, which I think is a fool's goal, but the darling did ramble to me about a few things he found from old temples."
Cea Jasper
2025-10-30 19:42:54
Cea Jasper Profile
Posted by ID #276
Last edit: 2025-11-17 14:52:43
"Basically, in the old days, the vampwelfs and those that they murdered had 18 gods."
Cea Jasper
"Why they didn't add 2 more to round it out? I do not know. 18 is such a....rough number."
Old Shepherd
2025-10-30 19:44:03
Old Shepherd Profile
Posted by ID #34
Last edit: 2025-10-30 19:47:38
The 18 halves of the Limbo Gods, he thinks to himself, but does not interrupt. He eats slowly as Cea continues.
Cea Jasper
"There's barely any information on any of these gods. Though usually when a vampwelf says "Old god" they mean a particular god or two who their house honored."
Cea Jasper
2025-10-30 19:48:13
Cea Jasper Profile
Posted by ID #276
Last edit: 2025-11-17 14:53:44
"Lumii, that dear idiot, told me about the only one who didn't seem so erased was the god of the Morning Sun. Its flames were said to preserve bodies, mummifying them. It's why so much information about the god could be preserved. From what I understand, so many of the other gods engaged in the destruction of their history. Just sections missing where they should be."
Cea Jasper
"I wonder if this is the god the Dawn Knights speak of, but I cannot be sure. The god doesn't seem very.....Dawn Knight like. It's as if the sun was seen as a symbol of death, even before vampwelfs."
Leaping Star
2025-10-30 19:46:56
Leaping Star Profile
Posted by ID #107
Last edit: 2025-10-30 19:52:06
She lowers her tankard just enough to speak, foam sticking to the bottom of her faceplate. "To which old gods do the Drakkens and the Elzenstein's devote themselves to?"
Cea Jasper
"I'm unsure. Maybe it would have been easier to explain if I had actually listened to him most of the time. I had ignored his drunken rambles unless I was particularly bored."
Cea Jasper
"I think he wanted to find the god of the morning sun for some reward? But I have no idea who would pay for such a thing."
Cea Jasper
"I mean, look around you! Looks clear as day that there's no god who would touch these lands."
Leaping Star
She rests a hand on Old Gray's arm, her voice something between mournful and relieved, "Perhaps this is why the Helper hasn't come for you yet."
Old Shepherd
The tailed tilts his head a little. "Were tha' I was a pries', who knew the gods and their signs well, I woul' understanne the meaning of such thinns. Bu' I cannae speak in sureness of the pas'. Only tha' the gods will never leave any land for good."
Old Shepherd
"A curse shows their presence as well as any blessing."
Cea Jasper
"Well that's all nice and dandy, but I haven't seen anyone's prayers be answered in a long time, sweety."
Cea Jasper
"Maybe the gods will come back around, but they're not here right now, and are unlikely to be back anytime soon."
Old Shepherd
The tailed shrugs. "It nee' not concern us, here an' now."
Cea Jasper
"Well what's going to happen if you die and another god scavenges your body?"
Old Shepherd
2025-10-30 20:09:17
Old Shepherd Profile
Posted by ID #34
Last edit: 2025-10-30 20:12:12
The tailed snorts. Once his soul was with the Helper, the others could have their pick of his body. "The gods do as they will, an' we live on. If ye will not mourn the dead, then Cea, will ye a'leas toas' the living with me? For all who work and cower and yet survive in the shadow of this en'less night." He raises a glass.
Cea Jasper
"I'll reluctantly give a toast. Having hope is tiring in a land like this, but I suppose just for tonight, we can wish that the living will feel some sort of joy in this terrible kingdom. A toast to the living." Cea raises his glass.
Leaping Star
Leaping Star sheepishly raises her glass. She would have to pretend to drink with them, as her tankard had already been emptied.
Old Shepherd
"For those who toil and serve, may their work be known by Her if no one else."

He tips his head back, and drinks long and deep.
Leaping Star
After giving herself ample time to 'finish' her drink, she sets the tankard down with an exaggerated breath. "Mr. Cea, how long have you been here?"
A bell tolls. The sound of vampwelfs swooping through the air fills the inn.
Cea Jasper
"Long enough to know that its easier to not count days when you're never going to be free."
As the night goes on, the conversation turns to other things...
Wildermyth OST - 05 - Wistful Wanderer (Storytelling)
Old Shepherd
"...As for my brother, he was born benea' the Mirage, an' might still live longer then me. Bu' I hadnae heard fromm him in years. I knew his nieces well though, an their children. What of ye and yenn family, Leaping Star, if I may ask'n?
Leaping Star
Leaping Star propped her head up with her hand, arm rested on the table. She hadn't been shy with her drinking. "M'from one of those big clans, the uh..." She looks to Cea, remembering that aliens tend to keep their names much shorter.
Leaping Star
"The clan of the stars, a star clan, something like that," she mumbles. "Big, big family. Several families, actually."
Leaping Star
"Spent most of my life with them, until they started passing me around to priests and such."
Leaping Star
"You think your family is big Olden Gray, but I don't think you've seen family like mine."
Old Shepherd
He chuckles. "Their celebrations mus' be a sigh'ta behold."
Leaping Star
She laces her fingers together. "M'yeah, the hardest part is remembering all the names and the faces... I'd always find myself being reintroduced to people I'd already met."
Leaping Star
2025-10-30 20:46:09
Leaping Star Profile
Posted by ID #107
Last edit: 2025-10-30 20:47:03
"Grateful to not follow the cat and mouse, I'll say." She knocks twice on her skull. "What a disgrace I'd be!"
Old Shepherd
"Mmmm, I may've heard of yenn clan... All with names of stars and sky-things, aye? Perhaps i' is made harder for all ta be so similar in words."
Leaping Star
"Kind of. You could wander the halls and the streets for days and you'd struggle to meet with everybody. By the time you'd get back around titles have changed, mates have been brought in, or someone's left on some errand and you're hardly sure they were even there at all."
Leaping Star
"Of course they were I just... Could never keep track of these things."
Cea Jasper
"Sounds like you were a real someone. It's not always as glamorous as one would believe being someone of importance. Too many hands that need shaking."
Old Shepherd
2025-10-30 20:57:51
Old Shepherd Profile
Posted by ID #34
Last edit: 2025-10-30 20:58:53
"Any family wou' be blessed be ha'e a rabbit born among them. Tha only other rabbi' I once knew came among a group of travellers, an' my village invited him to every house in turn, e'en my own family's."
Leaping Star
2025-10-30 21:03:01
Leaping Star Profile
Posted by ID #107
Last edit: 2025-10-30 21:05:11
She nods in agreement with Cea. "There were always events to go to. Ceremonies and celebrations for every birth, every marriage, the emergence of a new star, and even sometimes funerary rites. It seemed I was always wanted as witness to something, and yet other times I felt I had too much free time and nothing to do with it."
Leaping Star
"There's a special reverence for rabbits." She nods, pulling at one of her ears as if to remind them of what she is. "A special name, 'Leaping Star'."
Leaping Star
Her voice grows pouty, childish. "One of my sisters once said the Leaping Star wasn't actually a star at all, just some rock burning up in the sky."
Leaping Star
"When I asked her how she knew that she couldn't say, so I think she was just trying to be rude."
Old Shepherd
2025-10-30 21:13:47
Old Shepherd Profile
Posted by ID #34
Last edit: 2025-10-30 21:14:04
He puts a finger on her arm. "A tale I've known tells of a rock tha' fall from the sky, an a tailed the hatched from i' like an egg, an returned to the sky after a life among those dwelling on soil, if you'd wish to hear it. Perhaps a landed star is nae a poor thing to be."
Leaping Star
She leans in a little, interested to hear the old tailed's tale.
Old Shepherd
2025-10-30 21:16:04
Old Shepherd Profile
Posted by ID #34
Last edit: 2025-10-30 21:16:55
He orders another drink as he begins...
And a second drink turns into a few more as time passes...
Leaping Star
She stretches her arms out, fingers flared, grabbing for the attention of her drinking companions. "Okay, okay. Iffff you could be anywhere right now, where would you be?"
Old Shepherd
2025-10-30 21:24:22
Old Shepherd Profile
Posted by ID #34
Last edit: 2025-10-30 21:26:37
"MMmmmmmm. There was'ay hot spring nearm myn village. Could stan' uprigh', an yen head still be undawater. 'Bathes' are a pale reflention to tha'."
Leaping Star
"I miss hot water..." The old shepherd's memories capture her, she can almost feel the warmth enveloping her... Or perhaps it was the alcohol. "Any god should take me now if there was a hot spring on the other side."
Cea Jasper
2025-10-30 21:22:47
Cea Jasper Profile
Posted by ID #276
Last edit: 2025-11-17 14:58:16
Cea had refrained from drinking as much as the others, but was still quite chatty. "Well, on a lovely warm beach, somewhere with all sorts of cultures and species intermingling!"
Cea Jasper
"Those sort of places are where you'll find the cute ones."
Leaping Star
2025-10-30 21:23:35
Leaping Star Profile
Posted by ID #107
Last edit: 2025-10-30 21:29:44
"Cute ones...? Do you have a type, Mr. Cea?"
Cea Jasper
"Oh, well if I told you about my type, it'd take an hour explain, maybe more."
Cea Jasper
"Just when I think I've found the most lovely person of them all, I'll trip over another one. On those far off beaches I would give myself whiplash just checking around!"
Leaping Star
2025-10-30 21:32:01
Leaping Star Profile
Posted by ID #107
Last edit: 2025-10-30 21:32:12
"I'd imagine you were spoiled for choice," she laughed, gesturing to all of Cea's Cea-ness.
Old Shepherd
"Mm. I dinnae like beaches. Yenn aliens..." He pauses for a moment, as if the instinct to hold his tongue was trying to tug on him for some reason. Not that strongly, though. "Yenn too smooth, man'y of ye. I' is nae mattern when dressed, or jus' the head, bu' seein tha body withou' coverin'?" He shakes his head. "Unsettling."
Cea Jasper
"Sir, you know it's impolite to drink so much that you forget your manners."
Cea Jasper
Cea gets up from his seat. "Ugh....what is even the time? Dawn is approaching. The vampwelfs are going to wonder where I've been for so long."
Old Shepherd
"Mmm. I apologi'e, Cea. Mm." His mild experiences with locally made spirits back home had not prepared him for the brews vampwelves had spent centuries working on, it seemed.
Leaping Star
Cea's sudden urgency straightened out her spine, compelling her to join him in standing.
Old Shepherd
"If ye arn question'd, say I called on you to clear ou' a nest of pests."
Cea Jasper
"Don't worry, I know which lies to tell to which man who asks."
Cea Jasper
"You two are free to stay, but they'll notice if I'm gone. Plus, one of you has to pay the bill."
Cea Jasper
"It was nice to speak so casually. It's been quite awhile since I've been allowed such a thing. I hope you two enjoyed it as well, as well as one can enjoy some place like this."
Cea Jasper
"Maybe, one day I'll be able to see a warm beach again. Wouldn't even need to have people on it." Cea ponders before leaving.
Leaping Star
"Ah, wait Mr. Cea!" She bumbles her way out of her seat to quickly grab his hand, her body moving a little faster than her mind could keep up with.
Leaping Star
2025-10-30 21:49:21
Leaping Star Profile
Posted by ID #107
Last edit: 2025-10-30 21:50:49
"Sorry," she turns his hand over in her own, resting her other hand over the back of his own. "Earlier you seemed... Like you might be more comfortable with the Elzensteins."
Leaping Star
"If you'd like I could mention you to the Duke, see if he'd take you out of Drakken hands?"
Cea Jasper
"I don't think he'd take me........" Cea suddenly remembers something.
Cea Jasper
"Actually.....tell him I'm cute."
Cea Jasper
"Really ham it up, you know?"
Cea Jasper
"Everyone knows the duke has a taste for aliens, especially pretty ones. If you just tell him about how great I am, he might trade me from the Drakkens."
Cea Jasper
"Of course, I don't think I'll get as lucky as you, so I'll just have to enforce a look but no touch policy...."
Leaping Star
With what she felt was a 'Yes,' she sets him free. Her voice lowers in register, approaching a friendly flirtatiousness. "I don't think I'll have to embellish much for you, Mr. Cea."
Leaping Star
She clasps her hands together in front of herself and bows to him. "It was a pleasure meeting you, truly."
Flower Trove
"Mmm..." Still slow, he watches the exchange between the two with slight concern. It feels rude, especially after such a night of letting their responsibilities down for the moment... but they must always be picked up again. "An' I woul' hope, ye will ha'e a replacemen' for the Drakken household if ye ever thoug' of leavin, Cea? So the servants still behin' arnae hur' by yen absence?"
Cea Jasper
"It will not be my choice who the Drakkens pick as the new head servant. If you think I have any sway, you are mistaken."
"I might be the king of the servants, but my crown is more a noose than a right to glory."
No one is typing.
Back
Next