Tanuchan

Millie added meat to the stew, and then went over to check the seasoning of the soup. Bread was almost ready, its smell drifting towards the tables where patrons sat, mostly whispering. She sighed, aware of the content of the whispers; there had been no other talk in the village, after all. She couldn't stop wondering either... what was the meaning of having an exiled nobleman in the village? ~~~~~~ OOC: voting for Venefyxatu/Ezekiel Sorry for posting in a hurry... not much time tonight

Millie was tired. So much to do, so much to think about, and people dying and running away and... Chaos. Burned away burned inside burning around red death with wooden claws a death god loose in the fields screaming in glee as chaos reigns. She stopped writing, noticing she had done it in her recipe book. She looked around, at her once well-organized, clean, working kitchen. Today it was drab - not in looks, for everything was in place and as they should be. But the people were drab, felt drab... looked drab even when they wore their normal clothes. Millie wondered again what could be done. She pondered about the people she knew. And she found out that at least one of them, she did not know at all. Could it be possible that the reason behind a nobleman's exile was... that? ~~~~~~ OOC: ok ok... very busy and crazy days, sorry for the lateness and the short post... voting for Venefyxatu/Ezekiel. Sorry

His name has always reminded me of "manipulate"... I'm sure it's an anagram of something like that Nice RP, Crypt! Edit: wait... read the name backwards lol

Ahadrios looked at Millie in a strange way, almost accusingly. Or maybe it was really accusingly. Millie breathed deeply, and called to her mind the idyllic scene of clouds hovering in the sky, a river behind her, the scent of a grassy meadow... his brother telling stories, and her mother taking care of her herb garden that was just on the other side of the hill. She could still recall the scent of that herb garden, and it all made part of a scene that she always used to control her temper. She sighed, shaking her head and turning her back to Ahadrios. It's not going to help anyone, acting like this... accusing just based on gossip, or to retaliate an accusation. Anyone here could be the beast, and act normally during the day... Though what was normal, she couldn't say anymore. Would a beast try to be normal, or be weird and kept that behavior to hide his true nature? Would someone actually risk that much? Her thoughts wandered toward Xander and Enipul, always accusing each other, both of them immersed in their own world, hiding in them. Alcohol, and dangerous herbs. Could one of them be the beast, and even so be accepted among them just because they had always been so strange, so apart, that nobody cared anymore? Millie gazed at Xander, then at Enipul. She had always accepted Enipul so much easier than she did Xander. Enipul was almost coherent most of times, Xander was almost absolutely incoherent most of times. Would they be dangerous? And in this case, who would be more dangerous? The one who has a brilliant mind behind all the weirdness... and it shows. She stared at Enipul, frowning. ~~~~~~~~ OOC: changing vote to Enipul/Cryptomancer

Millie was stunned. In shock, maybe, but she had always been the most resilient of her siblings since a tender age. Waking up to see Samuel torn to pieces had in her a different effect than the previous morning when she had seen Preston. She had been completely unmade by Preston's death. He had been her boss but also a good friend, and she had enjoyed cooking for him as well. But Samuel was only an occasional friend, someone she did not use to talk at all; the previous afternoon had been the first ever that they had spent chatting. Maybe that was the difference, or maybe the third death had awakened in Millie her carefully controlled temper -- but whatever the reason, the net result was that now Millie was angry. And as Aharios pointed at her, she just snapped back. "So it seems I'm being framed and the beast wants me to be an obvious link to the deaths? Well, I might have not been able to do anything for my friends, being just a simple cook... but that does NOT give you the right to point fingers at me! Learn to have concrete proof before accusing so lightly!" And to herself she wondered, Accusing so lightly... so ready to follow what's starting to seem a framing... I wonder if he is not the one planning it. Who knows where he is from and what he was before settling here? ~~~~~~~~~~ OOC: Vote for Ahadrion/Hjolnai

Millie woke up slowly, first just listening to the soft sound of someone sweeping around, then setting tools in their places. Then she opened eyes and couldn't avoid a smile -- it felt good to be able to relax, and she realized how much she had needed and enjoyed that afternoon talking about something that was not food or gossip. Samuel looked embarrassed, and stammering a bit he made an invitation. "Listen," he started, "It's getting to be pretty dark out and what with the recent events at the tavern i thought you might.... well i got a spare bed and all, it ain't been used now for... well for some time now. Anyways if you wanted a place to bed down for the night, you are more than welcome." She blinked in surprise; she had not noticed at first that it was after sunset, and then she would never have expected Samuel, always so quiet and close when coming to women, to offer her a place to stay. She considered it for some moments, gazing at the window -- she could again see the moon, rising against the dark sky. "It is very considerate of you, Samuel... but I don't want to intrude... " The blacksmith swallowed a sigh, and told himself that he should have expected that; obviously Millie was not a girl who would accept that kind of invitation from a person she was not close to... "... though... tonight of all nights I don't feel like walking out there... nor staying alone at the tavern... if you really do not mind me staying at your place.. " She blushed slightly, and that surprised herself; she had at times spent a night or other at a friend's house, and on occasion even shared beds with someone. But she felt shy, maybe because of Samuel's own reaction. They left the smithy not much later. And at Samuel's, Millie made a point of cooking supper -- after all, she had in her pocket a pack of her spices, and it was nothing more than a small thanks to his kindness, in her own words.

Millie gazed at the painting, raised eyes to Xander -- finding him gone -- then around herself, seemingly lost. Then her eyes were drawn again to the painting, so with an effort she concentrated on it. The white of the clouds against the purest of blues made her sigh, bringing memories of perfect Summer days from long ago. She used to lay on the grass near the lake and gaze at the sky, while her older brother pointed at shapes he could find and invented stories about them, using the whole sky as a stage. Unconsciously she looked at each cloud, trying to put a name to its shape. Wings... a bird? Bird of prey maybe? Hunting down... a curled-up duck... waves in a sea, blue sea... while from behind a rock on the shore something waits... something.... She blanked her mind at the shape her mind would see in a second more, and turned back to the yellow flowers. They carpeted the field, yellow-against-green, all gazing towards an unseen sun. Darkish center, bright yellow petals mostly, some in the shade of others... still, all sunflowers worshipping something distant and grand. Millie's fingers followed the line of flowers, while she stared as if hypnotized. A voice intruded, piercing through her shaken mind, and she looked up now to see Giles. He seemed to be worried about her, his face and gestures conveying sympathy at her loss; but she could not put meaning to the movement of his lips, as the words did not reach her mind. It was a monstrous effort for Millie to pull herself together enough to answer Giles, and she let him put his arms around her in a concerned embrace. Someone else offered her some scented tea, which she took gratefully. A while later, she went to Xander. He seemed to be quite lost in his own thoughts, but blinked at the plate being pushed in front of him. "Thank you for the painting, Xander. It brought nice memories back." She tried a tired smile, and just nodded towards the plate. "I fear this isn't my usual food, Cathy made most of it... but I hope it helps you through your day." Millie could focus enough on the smell of the food to know that it was slightly amiss, the seasoning not exactly what she would have chosen for the occasion, but she also knew that it was the best she could do for then. The tavern was full, but for once people were not demanding food or drinks, just trying to offer what help they could and also point fingers at each other. Millie knew Preston would have wanted "his" folk to have a chance to relax and think with their minds and not only with their hearts, and in his memory she had gone to the kitchen and, thanks to Cathy and Shawn, managed to put a simple meal together to be served to the townspeople. As someone asked her what she would do, and what would happen to the tavern, she just shook her head. And she answered before she knew what to answer, and then blinked in surprise as her heart agreed with her and something told her it was the right thing to do. "The tavern's routine will be kept until someone comes to run it as Preston would have wished. Other than that, I don't know." Leaving her helpers running the kitchen, Millie left the tavern. Voices raised behind her, and she could hear names being called, accusations being flung. She needed to breathe, she needed a calmer place where people would not shout all around her, or keep asking questions about the tavern and Preston. She needed a bit of clarity, she needed to stop her own mind that was looking for suspicious behaviour in the folk she thought she had known pretty well. There is a bit of weirdness in everybody... no one is completely free of it... Her wayward mind jumped immediately to other people, who she would not usually see at the tavern. Sisie, who was the terror of the boys. Jem, who sometimes did the odd job delivering goods to her. Can children be turned into beasts? Scenes of an uppity girl tormenting the boys her age came to her mind, associated to the smell of flour from the Mill. I bet the boys would say that yes, they can... She forced a breathe in, scowling at herself. Stop it. Next, you will be shouting mostly baseless accusations like those people at the tavern. A distant clanging sound then reached her ears, rhythmic and clear, a hint of order in the chaos of her mind. She paused, took her bearings, then followed the sound -- she knew what it was, now. Samuel hammered and hammered, lost in the rhythm of it, apparently following some image only his mind could see. Millie stood at the door, and after some hesitation stepped in. It was warm, the forge's heat welcoming her mixed with the cool spring air that came in with her. The noise of metal against metal was loud, but a welcome change for Millie: sometimes human voices were too passionate, too loud, too intrusive. She sighed in that small haven, thanking whatever god there was for that respite. And as low as it was, that sigh reached Samuel's ears and he looked at her, surprised. "Sorry, Samuel... I don't want to intrude... but can I just sit here in the corner? There is peace here that I cannot find in the tavern today..." Not today, and maybe not for a long time. ~~~~~~~~~~ OOC: Vote for Harmony/Sisie Dean

lol... that *was* a surprise Tell me, are the yellow flowers sunflowers by any chance?

Millie sat at a corner of the tavern, stunned and speechless. Silent tears still surfaced now and again, after the crying crisis she had had in the morning. She had been ready to go downstairs, to open the kitchen; then she heard the terrified yelling of Cathy, who was always the first to arrive at the tavern and usually did it a few minutes before Millie herself appeared with the keys. The stench of blood reached her at the top of the stairs, and she ran down praying it had not happened. Preston... no, not Preston... why him, why would a beast tear that gentle heart out... it was here in the tavern tonight... not late when everybody is asleep but while it was still being cleaned... why not me, why him, I should have been helping him but he saw how tired I was and sent me up ... why him, why? Her thoughts ran in circles, in the verge of madness, as she hid the face in her hands. Sorry for letting you alone, Preston... should have stayed, at least you wouldn't have been alone, maybe in two there would have been a chance... even though a girl would never be a match for a beast... Finally the whispers around her found a way into her mind, and she heard Enipul. He was almost chanting about Xander's blood, the same blood she had cleaned the day before, the same blood that could have been Preston's... but no, that had been the previous day. Another dead friend. Xander... Xander? He should be harmful only to himself, have I ever seen him actually going against anyone but himself? But... he's hallucinating most of the time lately.He lives in his own world. What happens in his world? She gazed towards the crowd, rested eyes on Enipul for a while then started searching for Xander. He was nowhere to be seen yet... or maybe he was just in some shadowed corner? A corner of his mind? Millie felt like screaming, or running away towards the fresh waters of the lake not far into the woods for a dive to cool her feverish mind. She struggled for calm, and wished for someone who were not madly whispering or even shouting about the kill and the beast and how they should hunt it down. A hand came to rest gently on her shoulder, and she looked up in surprise. ~~~~~ OOC: no vote yet; feel free to be the one who interrupted Millie's thoughts... it might have been Cathy otherwise

In the cold of this night moon bright moon bite Pale face, silvery light world wrapped in deceitful peace Howling nights, fearful nights humanity lost turned into frost Roaming the roads, mind lost riding, hiding, unknown host In the cold of all nights moon guile moon bile A chill breeze came from the open window, ruffling the page she had just written. Millie slowly turned her eyes towards the night and let the quill droop in her hand, glaring at the sliver of the full moon she could just see at the upper corner of her window. A distant howling could be heard, and she shivered. Chalice had been another victim, just it had not been wolf fangs that had killed her. She hoped that somehow there was a turning aside, that the beast chose to kill among the forest beasts and not in the village. She hoped that guile was not in the beast, just in the moon. Trying to mute Chalice's screams and pleas in her mind's ears, she closed the window with a prayer to whatever gods there were that somehow the beast could be thwarted and punished. And, being more practical, closed and barred her door as she heard the noise of Preston doing the same below, securing the tavern as possible.

Millie acknowledged Samuel with a nod, wondering for a bit what had made him look at her in that way; then she realized he had been also looking at Chalice. She sighed and shrugged, hoping no evil would come from her uneasiness about the weird girl. Then all of a sudden she was flooded by orders of dishes coming from Preston, almost like a full party of villagers had just arrived. It didn't take more than a few minutes to recognize Ahadrion's voice, and she wondered what the racket about food meant. Obviously she did not have a chance to find out more about it, for when she had the time to peek out of the kitchen it was just in time to see the architect leaving in a hurry, arms full of packages, and Preston staring in wonder at a golden piece. Then someone slurred a few words right behind her, making her jump. "Xander! Do not sneak behind me, I told you how many times that one day I'll end up hitting you with the spoon in pure self-defense reflex?" She then looked at him from head to toes, and frowned. "What on earth have you been doing besides disgracing my cooking abilities by throwing up in front of everybody?" Her voice was softer, though, and she quickly grabbed a cleaning rag from Cathy's hand and dragged Xander to a corner. "Why do you keep doing this to yourself?" She cleaned part of the blood from his arm, frowning at the possible meanings of that in that fateful day. However, she also knew that he had been sinking deeper and deeper into a hallucinatory world made up of his own fears. "You should have some sense left... somewhere... " Sighing, she gave the wet and now bloodied rag to Xander and turned back to kitchen, from where Shawn was calling her about the soup. "Go take care of yourself." She hurried in, though the image of the blood on Xander's arm gave her goosebumps. "Will be there in a min Preston, soup is almost done," she shouted over the din when she heard Preston calling her. "CATHY!!" She could made herself heard over a crowd when she wanted, without appearing to be rude or impatient, and her voice carried to the back door where she could see Cathy's back. "Done with it? Come, I need you -- do wash your hands, girl!" she added as she came straight back to the table. Soon the smell of food permeated through the tavern, and she managed also to sneak something strenghtening for Preston who seemed to be getting a bit frazzled over all the noise and excitement on his tavern.

Millie was busy in the kitchen, for it seemed half of the village had decided to gather in the tavern to share the news or get some comfort. She prepared a nice batch of warm food, spiced in a way that made some people remember the full spring days; she also put on tables her new bread, and kept an eye on the bar to see whether Preston would need a hand in there -- not that she would go, but she could most of times spare one of her helpers if it got really pressing in the bar. Her kitchen and cooking were well-planned, and she could work harder to make up for one pair of hands less. While she cooked, though, her mind also wandered to the morning's find. Johnny Caster had been one of her few close friends, a nice young man who always had fun stories and sometimes gifted her with fleece in winter. She would miss him, and was more angry than anything else that the Beast had chosen this village to harass. She had spent the little time she had free in the morning to write a short memorial for Johnny in her notebook, and planned to have it etched on his tomb if she could spare the money. Then, while going to the tavern she had intently but discreetly scanned the people on the streets, and even those she could see through windows. Her mind stored each impression they gave her, and tried to sort out through feelings -- they were, after all, her neighbors and friends, and she couldn't really believe one of them had dared to intrude in that friendly village. "Cathy, give me a hand here! We'll need more of that broth for lunch, the way people seem to have decided to hang around here to talk!" But who could... who...? There were all either born in the villaged or settled in here for so long... how could they avoid this until now? And why now? Millie sighed, and being practical did what everybody else was trying to do -- hoped this would be just a single attack, something that would happen maybe only once in every generation. And pushed firmly aside the image of one of the weirdest person she knew in the village. ~~~~~~ OOC: Accusing Chalice Tantrella/gabrielcharon

After agreeing heartily with Preston about getting a good deal out of her goods suppliers, Millie went to the kitchen. There she checked two rather big loaves of bread, and smiled satisfied at their appearance and smell. She then cut a few thick slices, put then on three plates, and went back to Preston. The smell that came from the plates made everybody in reach almost drool, and Preston looked at Millie with a questioning face. "What's this now, Millie?" He reached for one of the plates, tested the softness of the bread and examined the stuffing, restraining his desire to just take an unceremonious bite out of it. "Just a new recipe of bread, I thought it might be nice to have it for breakfast menu. Please, what do you think of it?" She smiled at Preston's reaction after one bite, and definitely grinned as he almost wolfed it down in a couple more bites. "Delicious! What did you use for the stuffing?" The question was a rhetorical one, since Millie never fully gave her recipes to anyone they knew of, and Millie just glossed over it. "So I think I can go on with the usual way and then start serving it in maybe a couple days?" "Surely you can, Millie -- thank you!" Jonathan and Enipul kept their eyes on Millie, or rather on the other two plates, trying to be discreet -- or not that much, on Millie's eyes. She silently served them, and went back to kitchen. Millie took some notes on ther trusted kitchen notebook, and waited for the rest of the feedback on her new recipe. For this was the usual way she did it -- first serving it to her helpers, who had long since got used to expressing freely their feelings about her food so that she could improve it. After that, going to Preston and whoever was talking to him at the time; and, after getting his approval, sending "samples" to a few selected customers to have their opinion. It usually helped her to adapt the recipe to the more general taste, while keeping its uniqueness, while of course spreading the news around the village. It almost always ended up with lots of patrons in the following week, until everybody got used to the novelty and incorporated it to their habits. Millie quickly cut and wrapped some more thick slices of her new bread specialty, putting them aside while calling Cathy, one of her two helpers. "There, please deliver this to Samuel, Giles, Ahadrion -- yes, the weird architect guy, you know who he is -- and Jem. Do not get lost in the way looking for guys, mind you! Then go to Mrs. Abbott and get the goods, the list is here." She put everything nicely on a basket, tucked the shopping list and the needed money in Cathy's apron's pocket, and wrapped another thick slice of bread in a napkin. "Yes, this is for you to eat on the way. I expect you back in an hour at the most, be a good girl!" Cathy, always striving to be efficient, reassured Millie that she'd be back in time for the pre-lunch kitchen peak hour, and left by the kitchen door in a hurry.

Another one with ale at this time in the morning... Millie muttered something under her breath, but perked up at Jonathan's next few words. "White wine, you said?" She ignored the ale order, as Jonathan knew she would -- she was proud of her position as cook, and would rarely serve people at the bar -- and turned her full attention to him. "Tell me, is it very strong? Sweet or just mildy or not at all? I need something special for these days." She smiled charmingly at the farmer, apparently ignoring his frown at having his talk to Preston interrupted.

Millie peeked out from the kitchen, arching an eyebrow. With a somewhat loud "tsk", she went back in for a moment before coming out with a tray. Unceremoniously she dumped the contents in front of Enipul Mai, a "don't-dare-to-say-no" look in her face. "Good morning, Enipul. Instead of that stuff, what you need is something to warm your stomach in this chilly morning and prepare it for a day." She pushed the bowl towards him, nodded with finality, and turned around to Preston to talk about the need of goods for the day's cooking. Preston smiled, that morning bowl to Enipul having been Millie's random offering for quite some time by now, and turned his attention to Millie. "I need some special ingredients for tonight, I hope there's no problem about sending Cathy to Mrs. Abbot to buy them. Also, we need some white wine; I know you prefer reds but whites will go better with what I'm planning for next days. And you better talk to Joe, the quality of the meat he's sent last time was below the norm."

Millicent Avery, 22, the cook at the tavern where Preston is the bartender. Millie is single and orphaned; her father has vanished one night when she was 10 and her mother, the old schoolmistress of the village, died of fever a few years ago. By then her older brothers had moved out to make life in a bigger town and never again contacted her. She's an exceptional cook, and known to make dishes to the taste of clients she likes; on the other hand, don't cross her if you ever want to taste really good food in the tavern again... she won't ruin a meal for it would cost her the job, but she knows how to make it taste funny if she wants to. She'll also serve food "on the house" for a selected person or two who, in her eyes, need healthy food at least once in a while -- Enipul Mai being one of them. (It doesn't really mean that they'll always like the taste... healthy is not always the same as delicious ) In spite of her good looks, for she's pretty and has caught the eye of more than one young man in the village, Millie prefers to hide in the kitchen or in her small but tidy room in the attic of the tavern, or walk in the woods that surround the village. She nurses a secret wish to become a writer, and spends most of her free time putting down on paper what she observes around her.

I'm in. Character to come *hugs Mynxie*

ditto ^.^ Mith says he could play too And I can try to drag Finnius into here too... *starts planning some traps for another one or two possible players*

Well, this year has been hectic for me... I probably won't have time to mod a game in the next two months, though I would gladly participate in one if a mod appears. How many people are still interested in playing this game? We have new people around who have never seen or played a Werewolf game, at least not here... (rules are stickied in this forum). It's always worth remembering that we need a minimum of 7 players to have a decent game -- and the most, the better.

Done Poke if I missed something!

1. [male pennite] - Venefyxatu 2. [female pennite] - Ayshela 3. [adjective] - stratospheric 4. [another female pennite] - Tralla 5. [adjective] - morose 6. [item of clothing] - mites 7. [adverb] - clamorously 8. [almost dragonic product] - Almost Dragonic LemonoAid ™ 9. [adjective] - sneaky 10. [creature] - giant kraken 11. [adjective] - insane 12. [body part] - earlobe 13. [yet another female pennite] - Tzimfemme 14. [sickness] - plague 15. [event] - NaNoWriMo 16. [shape] - toroid 17. [speed] - 19.99 light-years/second 18. [feeling] - elation 19. [body part] - tongue 20. [game] - cricket PS. Please let me know if something needs fixing, not thinking completely straight tonight

*chokes in laughter* Didn't have time to post here yesterday... shame I don't have the chance to RP in full when at work (when some of the above happened)... simply brilliant, dear Necromancer! *goes plot revenge*

1) Name of Female Pennite - Mynx 2) An Object - stick 3) Verb, ending in “ing” - mooning 4) Adverb - impressively 5) Noun - saucer 6) Adjective - bloody 7) A Number - 1.23*10^-9 Name of Male Pennite - Wyvern 9) Adverb - wolfishly 10) Adjective - surprising 11) Type of Laugh - evil laughter 12) Adjective - slow 13) Adverb - greedily 14) Plural Noun - glasses 15) Part of Body - ear 16) Adverb - long 17) A Color - teal 18) Verb, Past Tense - trekked 19) Plural Noun - scissors 20) Verb - launch

Well... things didn't change much from my last list/comment...

Seara glared at Marisia, but for this time did not say a word. It was not fit for a lady of Ryswell House to be talking to merchants in the middle of a road, but she had to bow to the fact that she herself was feeling worried with the last killings. She looked around, more than ever wishing she knew more about the people around her. The death of that poor farmer had shocked her, but having a warrior being killed made her feel faint. If they could not defend themselves, would they be able to defend the travelers? As her eyes fell on a lone figure walking near the soldiers, she wrapped arms around herself and whispered softly to no one in special. "He gives me the shivers... all in black, never speaking... what kind of men is willing to serve at the Night's Watch?" ~~~~ OOC: Vote for Akallabeth/Wolfram Waters