🔥 laudna

[ablazement]

Comments

[undread]

[she's very delighted that karlach played along.]

I'm not that much of a gentleman, don't you worry.

[laudna smacks him lightly.]

Pâté, stop it. Behave yourself.

[ANYWAY she nods and looks at her seriously.]

Your heart?

[ablazement]

[she gives them both a little grin, and winks at pâté.

but the heart question gets her to pause, and she sighs.]

Yeah, that's the one. I've got it, and you can see it if you want, since you said you were interested, but - promise you won't touch it, alright?

[there's a like, zero percent chance she'll get to have it belong to her again, it's just meat. she knows that, but... still.]

[undread]

Yes, of course. I won't put my hands anywhere near it. Let's see.

[ablazement]

[she grabs her box! and shows her.

it's a real heart! fleshy, looks perhaps like it was ripped out. maybe a little bigger than a human one. it's just sitting there limply, and it's starting to decompose.]

[undread]

[whoooooooa.]

Interesting. [she doesn't touch it, but she smiles like she's looking at something pretty and unique.] Whose was it?

[ablazement]

[she relaxes just a little.]

... Mine, I think. I can't be sure, it's not like I know what it looked like, but... who else would it belong to.

[undread]

Yours was replaced, then? Did you die? Or were you just altered?

[ablazement]

[she bangs her fist against her chest - it makes a metal sound, thudthud.]

Replaced, yeah. [...] I don't think I died. If I did, it wasn't for long. Things are weird in the Hells, and I barely remember it other than it fucking stung like you wouldn't believe.

[this is an understatement]

[undread]

You're from the hells?

[unlike some people she's a little surprised because she knows tieflings do exist.]

I take it you didn't want that to be done to you.

[ablazement]

I'm from Baldur's Gate.

[she says, firmly. but not mean or unkind, just. that's her home. it'll always be her home. it registers somewhere that laudna recognizes the hells, or some form of it, but she doesn't quite catch it at first.]

And no. I didn't. I didn't want any of this. But I'm free now, and I'll die before that's taken from me.

[undread]

[she doesn't know what baldur's gate is, but she understands the sentiment.]

...Good for you. Getting free isn't so easy.

[ablazement]

[she clears her throat, sniffs. and then:]

It isn't. I got lucky, I know I did. [...] As lucky as I'm ever gonna get.

[undread]

[aww, man. there's a story there, huh. and karlach is so sweet.]

You never know! But... more often than not, there aren't all that many chances. I died years ago, you know. The life I lost out on is like a dream some other person was living. But what I've had since isn't so bad, either, even if one of these days it's certain to run out.

[ablazement]

[there is a hell of a story, yea (badum tshhh). she glances up, watching laudna with a pretty significant amount of empathy. and curiosity, too, and... well.

a beat.]

You take what you can get while you've got it, right? [...] I won't pry, so don't answer if you don't want to... you died? So you're...

[???]

[undread]

[she starts giving a little smile, lacing her fingers together.]

Heh heh. I'm not quite sure. I'm undead, of course, but I couldn't tell you exactly what sort of variety. I'm just me.

[ablazement]

[fair enough! it seems like she likes that answer, though. karlach gives an answering little smile, tail flicking back and forth.]

Yeah, that's right. You are just you. [...] Well, it doesn't bother me, you know? Not that you should care if it does or not, I'm just saying.

[undread]

[that's very sweet.]

It does bother some people. A good many people. And not without reason, so it is nice to know. I'm not bothered by someone with time spent in the hells, particularly. You never know what's led someone down a particular path, I believe, so it would be pointless to assume the reasons without asking.

[ablazement]

[she reaches to gently pat laudna on the shoulder. she is very, very warm.]

That's how I like to do things. I've got no idea how people got to where they are, and as long as they're not mass-murdering fuckheads, I'm pretty alright with just getting along.

All of you are better than demons and devils, anyway. Talk about a tough crowd.

[undread]

[laudna is pretty cold to the touch.]

I've met a couple. Here and there. They're not all that nice, but I don't know whether celestials are much of an improvement.

[ablazement]

I met one of those once.

[...]

Actually, about all I know about her is she's stacked as shit and loves her lady enough to tell me to fuck off to my face so they could go at it.

[love you aylin]

[undread]

[in a beautiful world she'd have met yasha and could say "same" about aasimar but she's only met stinky beau and caleb.]

Oh. The one I met was just a big glowing angel that yelled at us and tried to kill us for telling some priests they should stop persecuting peasants and deal with the actual problems in the world. Yours sounds much more fun.

[ablazement]

[that's so unfortunate who would ever want to meet them]

Gods, what a buzzkill. Maybe if we get out of this place I can introduce you. She's fun. Swings a sword so hard it sounds like your eardrums are getting knocked out.

[undread]

...It does sound fun.

[she's a little uncertain, though.]

Holy magics and I do not always go well together. Even our cleric - he wouldn't intend on it, but sometimes he'd accidentally make me start walking in the other direction.

[ablazement]

Ahh. We'll keep you away from Shadowheart.

[sweats.]

Wait, you've got clerics too? That's rare in these parts, I've noticed.

[undread]

[nodding a little awkwardly. he is dead so. technically no.]

They aren't so rare for us. Those chosen by the gods and granted magic.