warforged | [OPEN] The Redsworn Reception

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[OPEN] The Redsworn Reception

Who: The Redsworn of Ruby Sanctum + Guests [OPEN TO ALL FLIGHTS]
What: ~~Carolina~~ The Redsworn have invited everyone to dinner! Let's see how well diplomatic relations between the flights can be improved, eh?
Where: The Ruby Sanctum
When: Forward dated to 6th June.
Warnings: Fires, ~~food poisoning~~ cooking for all, shenanigans, possible bad language.
OOC: Come gets some cross-flight CR! c: Some setting options below the cut, or go ahead and make your own.

A: COOKING FIRE SHENANIGANS

Feeling peckish? Have a delivery to make? Or just want to try your own hand at serving up some grub? The Redsworn's usual cooking area has been expanded for the evening, with two extra firepits dug out to cater for additional mouths. Over one fire burns the now "traditional" starter meat of bear flank, something any newly sworn (red or otherwise) will have the pleasure of sampling first. There's also several baskets of berries, fruit and vegetables, while a pot obtained in trade from Silverglen bubbles merrily.

B: FIRESIDE MINGLE

The redsworn of the Ruby Sanctum have claimed a corner of their own beneath one of the larger trees. There's a smaller fire here set for warmth and ambience, and have logs set about for seating for those who don't like perching on rocks or roots, or don't find the comfy grass comfy - park yourself and have a chat!

C: OPEN/MISC.

Choose Your Own Adventure! Just remember: wander alone at your own risk, non-redsworn, for the Red Dragonflight will have their eye on you.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Well this isn't the furst time I've worked with others either. There was a game... that word seems wrong but I don't know what else to call it. Anyway, me and eleven furriends of mine had to work together to beat the game and get our reward. And survive. That worked out okay, but they were trolls I'd known as far back as I can remember. This is so different... You know I didn't actually remember how to talk to people I don't know when I arrived here."

And that was embarrassing as all get out to admit, but somehow she didn't think Mar would judge her for it.

"You did fine as far as I'm concerned. Of course, we did immediately go get into a fight with demons," Mar said as he stroked his chin, casting his mind back to that chaotic day. "So that might have helped. Actions speak louder than words and all, right?"

He shrugged. She was quite right; he certainly wasn't going to judge her. "I'm starting to wonder if I'm not the same, these days. It's a far cry from the glory days..."

"Yeah that's true. Talking to strangers might be hard, but I'll always be able to hunt and fight!" She laughed a little, amused by the thought that taking on a squad of demons is an easier thought than talking to someone.

"What do you mean? You seem to be doing purrfectly fine chatting with efurryone around here."

"Oh, most people very quickly dismiss me as completely insane," he said, with remarkable self-awareness. "Of course, that's entirely true, but not for the reasons they think and not in the ways they perceive."

Nepeta actually looked a bit affronted for a moment. "But you're not-"

She paused a bit, and thought over what she was about to say and how Mar had acted so far.

"Okay so maybe you are a little crazy, but you seem to have the important things down."

"Of course I'm crazy. No sane person would voluntarily stand in front of the greatest evils Azeroth has to offer and very deliberately take their blows." Both in the literal sense and the vast, metaphorical sense, Mar's philosophy had always been to take all the suffering on himself so that no one else had to endure it. "But different things are important to different people."

"Well I purrfur to dodge, purrsonally, but I'd fight them with you. I guess we're both crazy." She giggled a bit at the thought. Crazy was probably a word most non-trolls would apply to their whole race, really.

"Why thank you, my dear." What about that statement wasn't a compliment, after all? "But you can't dodge them all, so please, let me take the blows while you deliver them. Preferably from the back," he said, jabbing his wrist forward to mime a vigorous shanking.

"Only if you purrmise not to die on me." She raised her hand and pointed directly at his nose. "And by purrmise I mean promise, so you know I'm serious!"

Smiling broadly, Mar shook his head. "I can't promise that. Some things are worth dying for. But I do promise to make it as hard as possible for our enemies to kill us, because I would much rather our enemies die than me!"

"Mmmm... okay, I guess I'll have to accept that."

She slumps, pretty obviously displeased with the answer, but she knows full well that some things you just can't guarantee.

"You do seem purrty hard to kill, after all."

"I have to be, when my duty is to take hits so other people don't have to." Despite his light tone, he was as serious as could be. "The fewer I can endure, the more others will suffer if I fall."

"I guess that makes sense. You have to be strong so you can purrtect your friends." And apparently everyone else around him but Nepeta had difficulty grasping the concept of caring about people you didn't know. Then again, caring about people you did know was pretty up there in empathy for a troll.

No one else here had ever known the loss of ninety percent of their race in one day.

Oh sure, the draenei had lost two-thirds to the Burning Legion, but that had been a betrayal, not a loss. It had driven them to flight and to attempt to set things right, not to grief that coalesced into a desire to protect others.

Add to that the fact that being thrown together with comrades you had to trust simply because you were thrown together with them was a daily occurrence for the paladin, and understanding his cheerful acceptance of this situation became easy.

"I have to protect everybody. And most likely I will die doing that, because I'm not going to let an almost certainty of death stop me from fighting a battle that needs to be fought. So far my record has been pretty good, though. I've only died once to date that really counted. We all did, but the trapped spirit of a dead king restored our lives."

"Purrtect efurrybody..." She repeated, trying to envision it. "I... I don't think that's pawsible though. It's too big. One purrson can't do that much. I mean if you said efurrybody in the red sanctum, sure. Maybe even the other sanctums, I'm not sure how many people that is. But efurrybody efur?"

"Of course it's not possible, but as soon as you begin compromising in your thinking --" He tapped one temple. "--you begin compromising in your doing. And sometimes one person is all it takes, to inspire others and to lead them on. Ten of us alone took on one of the greatest evils of Azeroth, back in the good old days. That was all it took. Ten people who were willing to risk everything to save everyone."

"It only took twelve of us to beat the game too..." She thought it over, then gave him a little grin. "Well hey, that means with you and me we're a sixth of the way there! Or a fifth... but the more the better, right?"

"We only took ten people to take down the Lich King," Mar said, one hand on his chest with so little modesty it was obviously a joke, "so I am worth a whole fifth of a team, clearly."

Well it got a giggle out of her if nothing else. "Then I guess we're closer to winning this war than we efur realized! We just need a few more like us and we'll be invincible."

Which got a laugh out of Mar in turn. He liked this troll. "So long as one or two are healers, that would help immensely."

"Too bad Feferi isn't here. She'd join us in a heartbeat, and hopefully she'd have her healing abilities unlocked in this world." Thinking of her friend made Nepeta wistful, of course, but more than anything it gave her a bit of hope. The others were still out there, and maybe... maybe she'd see them here.

Mar settled back down, getting comfortable again. Good luck figuring out how he can do that in his armor, but he looked pretty content. "Oh yes, I could certainly get behind more lovely troll ladies showing up," he said with a grin. "It would be nice to see my squire, or some of the priests from back home, too. At the very least, they'd understand all this too."

That got another laugh out of her. "Be careful what you wish fur! Some of those troll ladies could be very dangerous. Of course, the dangerous ones could also be really helpful."

She herself was dangerous at times, but she didn't think she held a candle to say, Vriska. Or Terezi. She still didn't understand why Terezi wasn't here, she'd love the chance to hang with dragons.

"Didn't you just describe yourself?" Sure, he might have echoed her thoughts, but he'd seen her in action and at rest. Dangerous and helpful might as well have been her guild name and title.

"Some of my furriends make me look like a harmless kitten." An exaggeration, and easily a downplay of her own abilities, but when one of said friends is literally referred to as "god-tier", it's a fair statement.

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