Ravik's conversation with Tommen

Narrator
You go down the stairs, and Ravik notices that indeed, there are only two cells. The one to the right is empty, while the one to the left has one single human inside. He looks rather young in spite of the shaggy unshaved beginnings of a beard, seems to be in approximately his 20s, and wears brown simple worker's clothes- likely from one of the many factories north of the Old City. Elbows on his knees, he is hunched over in a simple wall-chained cushioned plant that serves as a bed, and appears to have neglected a plate of food and water on the floor, just a foot away. The man weakly turns to look in your direction as he hears you approach, a dispassionate expression on his face.

Ravik
Ravik gets close to the bars to look down at the man. "Hello." he says.

Tommen
The man's cheeks sketch the beginning of a scowl, but it fades just as quickly. He blinks twice in succession, giving Ravik no other response.

Ravik
"I'm Ravik Jumalin." he says to the prisoner and sits down on the floor in front of the bars. "I've just come from from Mardon. Do you know where that is? Talked with the Vitral of Flames." he leans forward a little, eyes locked on the prisoners.

"How long before its time?" he asks Frozzimandias without looking away.

Tommen
The man squints as Ravik mentions the Vitral.

"Shard have him."

Frozzymandias Féannon
Frozzymandias digs into one of his little pockets, and pulls out a small clock. He squints at it, opens the glass like a hinged window, and pokes at one of the hands.

"Forty minutes, give or take."

Ravik
Ravik nods. "What's your name? You didn't like Walleh? Seems like some liked him better than the Vitral of Steel."

Tommen
The man looks down at the symbol on Ravik's chest, and that hint of a scowl returns.

"I-" his voice carries more anger.
"Do not have more words to give to one who follows an Usurper, and knows it."

Ravik
Ravik looks down on the symbol on his chest. "Yeah, I can't imagine you like this. We're kind of on cross purposes, aren't we?"

"But.. maybe you like..." he reach into his bag and take out the whale focus he's kept since the ancient temple. "this one better? I'm not here to force anything on you."

He holds out the whale out to the bars. "Maybe you'd like some comfort while you wait."

Tommen
The man doesn't move for a beat, before his hand lunges for the pendant. He seems surprised when Ravik actually lets go.

Returning to his seat, he grasps the whale in his hand to the point his knuckles start going a little white. His expression is stern, but it's almost like he's looking beyond Ravik.

"...why?"

Ravik
"You know what is awaiting you and I'm not here to be an asshole. I am just curious. And if you wish to die with the comfort of your beliefs, then I don't mind helping you with that. Its all most of us will hope for when our times come."

Tommen
The man's grip loosens slightly. He glances down and to the side at Frozz, who is barely standing out of view from the cage, then looks back at Ravik. Slowly, he places the amulet around his neck, pulling it under his shirt with a combined shrug that pushes the string into a more concealed spot. Practiced.

"Thank you."

Ravik
"Have you told them your plans for your remains. Do you have family nearby? I can make sure they have your things and can bury you as they would want?"

Tommen
"I don't have family, Finder."

He seems to stop and think, thumb rubbing on the side of his index finger in the way one might spin a ring.

"Throw me in the sea. If they let you."

Ravik
Ravik nods, not promising anything. "Can I ask you, how did you find your way into the ... what do you call yourself? The Cult of the Wandering Shard is what we call it, but is that your name for it too?"

Tommen
The man does not hesitate. There's pride and passion in his voice.

"We are the Wardens of Truth, the Keepers of the Shattered Path. We call Her the Wandering Shard, among other names, but we are no mere cult."

Ravik
"The Warden's of Truth." Ravik feels a little sick to his stomach, but he keeps his face passive. "How did you become a member of the Wardens of Truth? Are you from here, Nayora I mean?"

Tommen
"No. I'm... from Brindale. It's far west."

He resumes that finger-rubbing motion, looking down at his hands.

"They..."

He stops, breathes in. Composes himself.

"My family died in a fire. Nobody came to help. But the Vitral stepped in like it was nothing, and saved me from the flames. I owed him my life, and the truths he spoke just made more sense."

Ravik
Ravik nods. "I understand... ehm...." he shifts his position a little. "Will you share your name?"

"Was it Walleh that saved you?"

Tommen
"Tommen."

He just looks at Ravik.

"I know what you've done."

Ravik
"What have I done, Tommen?"

Tommen
He glances up over Ravik's shoulder. Ravik realizes what he's looking at- the hint of a wooden pommel sticking out.

"There will be a price, Finder."

#alex 5/28/25: Was Tommen aware of the seeding / transformation to come?

"Ravik sees the man hold both hands to his chest, where the amulet might be, and he closes his eyes"

Ravik
Ravik blinks for a second. Then nods. "Yes. We all pay the price for the things we have done."

He takes a breath, lets the silence rest awhile. When he speaks again, his voice is a little more solemn.

"**A gift, blood divine.
Dead shards, but full of life.
Her blessing strikes in silence.

I ascend to the stars tonight,
and see myself more than mortal.
Apostle of the Wandering Shard.
Knower of truths..."

he watches the man for a reaction.

Tommen
The words come almost like a reflex.

"...the weight of tomorrow.
The pain, regret and sorrow.
Lost to her breath, fragmented.
The guardian shatters all that cracked her."

Pause.

"How-"

The man shakes his head, and some air escapes from his nose, expression falling once more.

"Right."

Ravik
Something has been nagging at Ravik. The way the man had looked over his shoulder. And was he really speaking about the sword? The questions the man avoided. The way he stops himself from answering.

He remembers something from Mardon. Something he should have thought about before. He turns to Frozzymandias. "Was he examined before he was put in there? Under his clothes, stuff like that?"

Frozzymandias Féannon
When Ravik turns to Frozz, the goblin is in the process of picking his teeth.

"Aye. Nothin' on him."

Ravik
"Do you have magical protections on this place?"

He turns back to Tommen. "You asked me why. Why what?"

Frozzymandias Féannon
The goblin nods.

"Got enough barriers in this bad boy to make a diviner have an aneurysm."

He pauses, then shrugs.

"I got bored for a month."

Tommen
The man breathes in once, that same 'I just tasted something I don't like' beginning of a scowl on his face.

"Why him?"

Ravik
"Why Walleh? Why I am asking about him? Why we killed him? Or is the him someone else, Tommen?"

Tommen
He stands up, placing both hands on the cell's bars.

"Why does a good man have to die just because he knows something he shouldn't? Did you talk to him, Finder? Did you try to understand what he was doing? Why he was doing it?"

Ravik
"We never got the chance. I would have loved to have a talk with him about his reasons. Maybe you can tell me instead? You seem to know a lot. I know very little."

Tommen
He shakes his head.

"That is not Walleh. Did you even try to talk first, before drawing your sword?"

He takes a step back from the bars.

"Why is the malachite bad, Finder? It is potential. Why reject it? Why prevent the world from harnessing it?"

He shakes his open hand in Frozz' direction.

"That one. How many have his firearms killed? How many homes has his powder exploded? Yet that's allowed to exist, and we are not?"

Ravik
"Who is the good man I killed, Tommen? Help me understand... everything."

If not Walleh, who? Who had they killed on sight without a chat? Who had they not tried to understand? Questions race in circles as he see the man become animated and alive with his beliefs.

Ravik thinks about the things for a little bit, not quite content with how things are going. Could he be misinterpreting the man's words?
"Or, do you mean that Walleh wouldn't do that kind of thing? He saved you from the fire. But, Tommen. He also kidnapped a child and took him away from his parents. I do not doubt that Walleh was a good man to you. And I am not saying that guns and explosions and those who create them are right and just."

He leans forward a little. "When I came to Lavon and saw malachite for the first time, I ran. I ran as if Tiamat was on my ass. Because I have been taught that it is bad. That its mere presence will destroy me. I know that is not true. But, I had to learn that. Because I was told differently. So, what else do I not know, Tommen?"

Tommen
Tommen also leans in, grasping the bars once more.

"You killed a good, tender man. A savior. A healer. A researcher. You took the life of someone who only wanted to see a better world. What of this child? I know there must have been a reason. Was he sick beyond his family's understanding? Was he in danger? The Shard is not bad, Finder. It only helps us grow. Gives us direction. An end point to strive towards. And thought I won't see it, I know the world will be more beautiful covered in its green."

Ravik
"Covered in green and everyone dead." Ravik says. The fervor and dedication makes him sick to the stomach. "I killed a man who wanted me dead. Who stood in the shadow of the mind reaver and let it rule with its hate for the world. Walleh killed a whole village, Tommen. It was empty save for chaos of blood and gore. Husbands and wifes. Children. Mothers. Fathers. I don't doubt that he was a good man to you. But to others, Tommen, to others he orchestrated slaughter."

"Were you there? At the Howling Pit? Killing small kobold children?"

Tommen
The man flinches at the accusation, his fingers tightening around the bars. Just like before, he puts enough strength to make his knuckles pale and fingers blush. His voice trembles- not with fear. His eyes show none of it. Instead, with righteousness and certainty.

"I was there, Finder. And it hurt. It hurt worse than the fire that licked by skin. But pain means change. And don't you dare pretend this world is worth preserving the way it is. Walleh saw that. We all do. The Shard shows us what lies beneath the rot, what we could be if we cut it away."

He swallows hard, eyes bright as his face takes on a new scowl. He seems... frustrated, more than angry.

"Do you think I wanted to hold that knife? That I laughed while it happened? No. I wept, and I prayed. And they... they looked at me like they understood. Like I know you do. They knew what was coming. A world where no child has to suffer in their places, because we'll be better- we'll be beyond this."

He takes a step back, nearly whispering as his hand goes right over his heart- near the hidden amulet.

"The shards do not kill, Ravik. They transform. And one day, when the sky glows with green and your mind has known Her touch, you'll see it. And you will hope She forgives you."

Ravik
"I do hope for a better world. There are always things to improve. But, don't you think it is a little hypocritical to wish for a better world for all children when running a knife into child to make it happen?" Ravik asks. Sickened, but curious.

Tommen
"Better to let one suffer for the good of all others than to let it all stay the same."

The man sits at his 'bed", looking down once more. His thumb finds his index, and resumes the rubbing tic.

Ravik
Ravik looks at the man's fingers. How he spins an not-there ring. "Were you married, Tommen?"

Tommen
"...yes."

Ravik
"Is that who died in the fire. Your wife? And your children."

Tommen
Though he doesn't say anything, Ravik can see the pain in his eye, and by the way he slightly... shrinks.

Ravik
"I am so sorry, Tommen." Ravik says. And he is. His heart ache for the man who lost his family and the life that he was living.

Is it worth it? To cause the man even more pain to break the conviction that he wraps himself in as a warm blanket on a cold night? The thought makes him a little lightheaded. It is a cruel, cruel thing to do. Take a man's last comforts when he is about to die.

He sees Sardior with the look of wistful sadness as he watches the whale of smoke. There is right and wrong. And he is doing both.

"If the fire had not taken them on that cruel day. Would you have wanted the fate of the kobold children on them? Daenur's fate?" he asks quietly.

Tommen
The man does not stop rubbing his finger. He bumps his leg up and down, silent.

"What use is there thinking of what could have been? They are gone. They will remain gone."

Frozzymandias Féannon
After a few more moments of silence, the goblin taps Ravik's calf.

"Come on, big guy."

Ravik
Ravik nods. "I hope it is swift. I hope it is painless."

He gets to his feet and stands before the bars, head lowered, placing his hand on his heart.

"May the wind find what remains of your name.
May the stone remember only what was true.
May the end be swift."

"Thank you for your time, Tommen"

He turns to Frozzymandias and nods again.

Tommen
Tommen does not respond, seeming stuck in that same position Ravik found him in.