The Shield of the North [IC]

[Breitheamh]

Aupti"Pie? Maybe later. Too much of it imbalances the humors of the body. Or, as I was told before all this fancy learning stuff, it's bad for your energy levels later when the sweetness wears off."

"Well, yeah! I mean, that's kinda the point of an indulgent celebration after victory, isn't it?!" Shad gives Aupti a genuine smile and a clap on the back. "At least come get some kinda breakfast with us, yeah?"

Me pleasure lass me pleasure. Uh... speaking of the fighting... did you happen to notice anythin strange during the fight with them wee demons? he really hopes they hadn't and begins thinking up a lie he could tell. He's still a bit on edge about that thinking at any moment he may have to flee.

"Strange?? Oh! You mean BESIDES the screaming monsters of nightmare and Aupti nearly dying? No, can't say anything particular strange about any of that!" Shad gives sort of a sideways look at Hasgraek, the kind that says, "what are you talkin' about?"

As fer the pie tho... checks his pockets still fresh out of cash... sorry tho id really love to.

"I'll buy it for you then! I've got..." she gets sort of distant for a moment as her face falls and she frowns slightly, "Well, at least I can buy a couple slices of pie."

As you make your way out of the Keep, a weary Beatrice Prochaine approaches you.

"Good morning, all of you. Well done last night."

"We've made it through another year, and the city owes you a debt."

She gives each of you a coin or a medallion, minted with the name of the year and the crest of the city; bell, book and candle. The coin is steel. "This will find you goodwill in this city, and anywhere people honor our sacrifice. If you return next year, you can present it at the armory to be outfitted."

"Folks who go through this kind of trial come out the other side stronger. You'll be capable of more than you were. If you return to test your strength again... we'll be glad to have you. If you never come this way again, you'll still carry our gratitude. Gods be with you."

Around the courtyard, you can see similar half-solemn, half-exhausted presentations happening with other groups.

Shad tries to catch the Devises and Verglas before they leave and invite them out for pie and breakfast as well, continuing to awkwardly fumble her way through polite conversation and constantly feel like she is shoving her foot in her mouth.

As Beatrice presents them with their medallions, she examines the marker closely. Steel felt right for something like this. Gold or silver was what the nobility give each other to inflate their egos. Steel was a soldier's honor; earned, unbroken, modest, and direct. She rubs her thumb over the engraved year's name, and realizes, this coin now marks everything for her...

She cannot stop herself this time, and begins to weep, desperately holding back the sounds clumping in the back of her throat as tears stream down her face. She tries to excuse herself, but the sound is choked in her mouth, and as she turns to leave she stumbles slightly and ends up sitting hard on the cold ground, curling up with her arms around her knees, and just rocks for several minutes. She tries and tries to stop herself, taking deep breaths, like her wetnurses and governess' had taught her. Noble women don't cry, but she wasn't even a noble woman anymore. Soldiers don't cry though, right? Wasn't she a soldier now? No! She was just... what the hell was she now?