1. Walter Thornley

    Private Summer Wine

    As daylight slowly softened from the pale platinum into the bronze that streamed through the elm trees, he'd ridden off the main tract and down a narrow path into the woods. There, by the river, he'd built a small towerling of branches in a fire pit, dusted the drake blanket off and put his...
  2. Walter Thornley

    Private The Damage Roots Can Do

    "I think you could," he smiled. The mischief had dulled, somewhat, but there was something behind it, just a glimpse. Resolve. It tempered every bit of him, the childish bits included. "If you felt the whimsy to." Pain caused fear. Fear was potent, it sank deep. Sometimes, just getting hurt...
  3. Walter Thornley

    Private The Damage Roots Can Do

    "Naming things helps, I've found. Perhaps it's the bookworm in me talking, or an occultist, but it is easy to bring something where you want it if you can name it." As he walked in a straight line, Walter raised his eyes to the carvings on a section of the ceiling. Small bronze eight-pointed...
  4. Walter Thornley

    Private The Damage Roots Can Do

    He would let her think on it, ask her brother, sit with the weight for a little while. Sooner or later, she would have to commit to something, and sacrifice some other possibilities. Either way, it would be intriguing to watch, her decisions, or how her wit would try and rescue her from this...
  5. Walter Thornley

    Private The Damage Roots Can Do

    He could see the hesitation on her face. Not to worry. The logistics weren't too difficult - but he wouldn't be the only one inconvenienced, if so. If she wished to learn at leisure - it would be his leisure hours to be sacrificed, and as nothing was offered in return for that favor but a favor...
  6. Walter Thornley

    Private Winds of Wonder

    Shame closed around like armor. He waited until his throat could let sound through again, swallowed, and managed a faint smile. "Thank you. But I've been with this for seventeen years, and now I know. It all just came too suddenly. And you don't have to... you don't have to." Get the shards out...
  7. Walter Thornley

    Private Winds of Wonder

    The world returned from a kaleidoscopic blur, stopped swaying once he was on the sand. "No..." He pulled in a shaky inhale, tried to smile, failed, wiped his eyes. "No, no, nothing you said was wrong at all." His hand squeezed in return, in the grip, as if to reassure he wasn't about to fall...
  8. Walter Thornley

    Private Winds of Wonder

    His mouth was dry, and head full of cotton, all of a sudden. That wave was still a few ebbs and flows away while Malachai talked. "I think... I understand. There is satisfaction in just... making something worthwhile, with your own hands, something that would last a long time." The other beat...
  9. Walter Thornley

    Private Winds of Wonder

    Lord Thornley didn't join the musings on the cycles out loud. An oak may grow from acorn, but it would not be the same as the one that spawned the acorn itself. That old thing might be weathered, moss-covered and storm-broken, until finally it yields to some unfortunate disaster. What was he...
  10. Walter Thornley

    Private The Damage Roots Can Do

    She didn't catch on, or perhaps genuinely didn't. Walter relaxed in his seat. The damp clothes were echoing warmth only on the front, and have long since cooled all around. Water dripped in icy little pulses behind the collar and soaked into the fabric of the scarf. He nodded to the maid, took...
  11. Walter Thornley

    Private The Harvest Hound

    Good gods. Walter resisted the urge to sigh with his patience for this potentially dangerous magi running out. Walter made his conclusions on the fact that Netherwisp did give a useful answer only once - after proposing he had any authority to question the Hunt, trying to assume command and...
  12. Walter Thornley

    Private The Damage Roots Can Do

    "It is useful, knowledge is power, after all," Walter replied. He sat a bit straighter, head held a bit higher as he measured her with a look and continued, sternly, "but there is also a vulnerability to be exploited in you possessing information yet being powerless to do anything about it. In...
  13. Walter Thornley

    Private Winds of Wonder

    He looked up, and it was the elf's back that caught his eye. The stare lingered, drifting down the middle between the shadows of the vertebrae, swung to the top of the scapula, slipped down the side. He was standing in the cool shadow, but some sun's warmth must have lingered at his face...
  14. Walter Thornley

    Private Winds of Wonder

    The baron watched him talk, mind absorbing but also half-absent as it wandered over from the delicate elven features of the half-elf's face down the neck, and over the intricate patterns on the metal arm. They were just being friendly, that was all, not that he would enjoy the smooth, almost too...
  15. Walter Thornley

    Private The Harvest Hound

    He waited, the drake fittig gait to the slightly smaller, thinning horse. The lights in Walter's eyes wandered over to it, then dimmed. No. He didn't want to know if the beast was undead or simply altered to not be afraid of predators. It didn't matter. If the necromancer was lying to him, he...
  16. Walter Thornley

    Private Winds of Wonder

    It was but a prototype. A working prototype that would need an attention and insightful mind not afraid of pushing the limits of conventional understanding. It would need many corrections, and further development, trial and error, before it could be put to good use by the sailors. A mind for...
  17. Walter Thornley

    Private The Damage Roots Can Do

    He listened quietly to her response, hands idle against the arms of the chair as she spoke about survival. Ah, so it was something about survival. Good. It was a subject he was relatively confident in. Eyes tracked her nervous ticks - the puffed breath was familiar. But not the moulding clasp...
  18. Walter Thornley

    Dare Blur

    "I would have you know, Anira, that your welcome to this unfair establishment quite agrees with me for the moment. I don't partake, or know this particular locale. What's that they say, live and learn?" He breathed, deeper. Unfraying. Lips going back to muted red from slightly pallid almost...
  19. Walter Thornley

    Private Winds of Wonder

    Walter folded his arm behind, resting the knit together fist at the small of his back. Shoulders straightened, and he pulled dignity back over the confession. For a few longer moments, he was not looking at Malachai, or at the device. He was looking at the waves, the will'o'wisps still dancing...
  20. Walter Thornley

    Private Winds of Wonder

    Part of the answer came by itself. When the Shroud condensed between hands, there was a little more than just the slight wistfulness to the baron's face. Pinpricks of light in his pupils appeared without a single blink, and they were their own, not reflections by any source of light. His irises...
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