"WHAT?"  Pisca had an inordinately loud voice relative to her size.  She cupped her hand behind her ear to better catch the hummie's words over the quite dauntingly loud noise made by the mill machinery.  "WHAT DID YOU SAY?  I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE STUPID MACHINE!!!"

"HERE."  The gnome grabbed the young human's hand and began towing him in the direction of the log splitter.  "HOW DO YOU TURN THIS THING OFF?" she shouted, releasing the man before he could answer and going off on her own in search of the off button, or the counter-lever, or the magic powerstone or whatever it might be that would stop the machinery and the awful racket that went along with it.

However, just as abruptly, the gnome changed her mind.  She turned and grabbed the man's hand once again, dragging him out the door to the mill and into the light of the afternoon sun.

"HELLO.  I'M PISCA NEEP FREEMISH," shouted the gnome, introducing herself with very much the same volume that she had used within the noisy confines of the mill's interior and causing her words to travel to the nearby buildings and to pretty much anybody even remotely within earshot of the mill.  "YOU MUST BE KATRINE VINDER'S BOYFRIEND.  SO NICE TO MEET YOU.  WE'VE BEEN LOOKING ALL OVER FOR YOU AND WE WERE TOLD THAT WE COULD FIND YOU HERE."

---

---

"Katrine . . ."  The man seemed genuinely befuddled.  "Look, I don't know where you're getting your information, but I am NOT Ms. Vinder's boyfriend."  He looked sternly at the pair of women.  "But I AM a manager of this mill, and I would ask you to please stop wandering onto the premises and harassing my employees about her.  Not only do I have a business to run, but the mill can be incredibly dangerous.  You could get yourself or one of my workers hurt."

The man gestured to the street.  "So please, if you wouldn't mind making your way elsewhere, I can get back to the business for which the Scarnettis pay me."  He crossed his arms and stood in front of the mill's doorway as he waited for the two to depart.

---

---

Liseth jumped when the younger man made his appearance in front of them; sheepishly looking down at the floor when he admonished the pair of delinquent girls.  By saying many of the same things that she had to Pisca just moments before.  She was about to stammer out an apology when Pisca beat her to the punch; again.

"P...Pisca!"  She tried to stop the gnome from barging into the mill by reaching for her arm, but Pisca was too fast for her.  "Ms Freemish!  Come back!  It's dangerous in there!"

When Pisca did return Liseth was only further discomfited; she could only stare wide-eyed, stunned as the gnome dragged the man out of the mill.  But she did hurry out of the mill after them.  By the time Pisca had made her supposition about the man's status as Ms Katrine's boyfriend Liseth's cheeks were already bright red.

She hurriedly nodded along with the mill manager, looking down in shame and fidgeting with her hands as he continued to scold them, "I'm so sorry that we bothered you!"  The thoroughly red-faced girl reached down to take hold of one of Pisca's arms and tried to tug her away from the mill, "We have to go, he wants us to go.  We can try to find Ms Katrine at the market, or at the Cathedral."

"But ... but ... you must be Katrine's boyfriend."  Pisca poked a finger in her ear to clear her hearing.  "You fit the suit ... Wah!"  Before she knew it, the gnome was being pulled away from the mill.  "THE SUIT!  EVERYBODY SAYS YOU FIT THE SUIT!" the gnome shouted as she was dragged away.  She struggled and stumbled along weakly in Liseth's grip until they turned a corner and left sight of the mill behind, at which point Pisca ceased her squirming and straightened her clothes.  With a glance, the gnome flashed the human girl an enigmatic smile that carried just a hint of mischief at the corners of her eyes.  Then she shrugged and said, "Oh well," before continuing on.

"One more place, Lysa.  One more stop for the boyfriend, then we'll go in search of Katrine.  Alright?"  From the lumber mill, Pisca wended her way south down to the docks.  Afternoon at the Fatman's Feedbag.  There were the regulars scattered about the tables in the large common room, but afternoons were not a busy time for the infamous tavern.  Unlike her previous visit, this time the gnome entered quietly.  It was, however, impossible to avoid the stares with Liseth at her side.  She made no eye contact this time, heading straight to the table on the opposite side of the room.

"Hai un bel lavoro qui, Jubrayl Vhiski," (Translation:  [Language unknown: Haoer tana i the ortiounotous olsi, Encureort Iveandsti.]) the gnome began in idiomatic and unaccented Varisian.  As with most Varisian, there was more spoken than the words themselves.  The greeting set the tone for the meeting.  It began on a footing of business.  "This is Liseth Thoradin," she said, switching to Common for Lysa's sake.  She didn't explain any further.  Jubrayl would know all about her.  Maybe even more than Pisca herself did.

"Per la merce più fine, passare alla più bella commerciante."  (Translation:  [Language unknown: Ter ers osalun rutvorectcomsta, m u ithne wasvirate weecwaro.])  The saying spoke in so many voices.  It spoke of requests.  It spoke of an exchange.  And it spoke of respect.  "Jubrayl , abbiamo bisogno di un nome."  (Translation:  [Language unknown: Ouloutpre, ic rea me ss.])  "Katrine Vinder is said to have a boyfriend who works at the lumber mill," said the gnome, switching fluidly back into Common.  The arch of her golden eyebrow asked the question.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:10, Thu 31 Oct 2013.

Liseth began to apologize for dragging Pisca away like that, only to become bemused by the gnome's sudden smile.  Deep down Liseth knows that she couldn't have done that unless Pisca let her; and how she is acting now only makes Liseth wonder if it had been part of the enigmatic gnome's plan all along.

The blonde girl nodded silently when Pisca mentioned trying to learn about Ms Katrine's boyfriend just one more time and stepped in behind her when she started down the road away from the mill.  Liseth was done with investigating today, she was just glad to be leaving the mill behind.  Anyplace else that Pisca wanted to go had to be better than that.

It was with some surprise that Liseth learned that this was not the case.

Liseth stopped outside the Fatman's Feedbag, reluctant to enter a place of such ill repute.  "Ms Freemish..." Liseth frowned as the gnome casually entered the tavern, "Pisca..."  Not knowing what else to do, Liseth followed her inside.

She felt the stares as soon as she entered.  Everyone within the tavern knew that she didn't belong there.  As uncomfortable as she had ever been, Liseth kept her head down and tried to avoid returning any of the looks that she was getting.  Her hands were clasped at her waist to keep them from fidgeting, but that did nothing to keep everyone from telling just how nervous she was.  Needless to say, the girl stayed as close to Pisca as she could manage.

Standing by silently while Pisca spoke, Liseth became only more anxious when words were exchanged in a language that she didn't even understand.  She merely nodded when her own name was mentioned, then continued to listen; nodding again when Ms Katrine was mentioned.  Liseth was not sure who Pisca was talking to, or even what they were saying to each other.  She just hoped that the gnome would learn what she wanted to quickly so that they could leave this tavern.

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The murmured conversation in Fatman’s Feedbag temporarily stopped as its patrons turned to regard the two small females entering the establishment.  Pisca, at least, was known to some there, but Liseth was a new quantity, and it looked like a couple of the Fatman’s toughs might be interested in sampling the new merchandise.

One of them, a largish man with a shock of blonde hair and a nasty-looking scar running from his ear down to his chin, decided to do just that.  “Hey there, girl,” he said, leering at Liseth, “why don’t you show us what you’ve got under that robe?”  He moved to block her further movement into the establishment, eyeing her up and down in a lascivious fashion.  “Looks like a hot little number to me, boys.  She’s demure now, but I bet she’s a wildcat in the sheets!”  He gave Liseth an unpleasant grin and moved closer, caressing her shoulder.

“Conor,” Jubrayl Vhiski appeared at the man’s shoulder and gave it a tap, “she is an acolyte.  We are not barbarians.  Leave the poor girl alone.”

Conor didn’t look happy about having his fun interrupted, but Jubrayl apparently wasn’t a man you argued with.  Conor gritted his teeth, but nodded and melted back into the crowd.

Jubrayl took a seat at a table that had suddenly vacated near him and listened without expression to Pisca’s presentation.  ““So, Pisca,” his voice was modulated, “you seek information, do you?”  He studied his nails.  “It is possible I know this name.  But I must ask what business it is of yours?”  He looked up over his nails, and his eyes flashed dangerously.  “You of all people should know that asking the wrong questions can get one in, how do they say, hot water.”

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This message was last edited by the GM at 20:56, Fri 01 Nov 2013.

The gnome glared after the man who's name was Conner.  She bit off an angry word.  It wasn't what she'd come here for, and Jubrayl deserved her attention.  Doubly so as he had just expended some of his influence to help Liseth.

"It's a matter of family, Jubrayl," Pisca answered.  "I ask on behalf of her father.  He's concerned.  But, as you say, sometimes it's best not to know some things.  Best for him.  Best for her.  Best for me.  You're Varisian.  You know family.  But you're also Jubrayl.  You know this business.  If you say this is not a healthy thing to know, how could I not believe you?"  The gnome gave a shrug, and stood willing to accept whatever the man decided.

Liseth tried to shut out the catcalls directed towards her; but when one of the men moved in front of her specifically to block her way, she found herself coming to a sudden stop just to avoid walking into him.  All at once the small girl's body tensed in fright while her eyes widened and her face blanched.  She felt herself paralyzed; her mind was in a panic but her body refused to move.

Cringing when he touched her shoulder, Liseth released a small, unintelligible, but obviously frightened noise.  One of her hands found its way to grasping the divine focus hanging from her neck; and just as a prayer of sanctuary was about to form on her lips another man stepped in and sent the lecher away.

"Th...thank you..."  Liseth stammered to her rescuer in genuine gratitude.  She looked up at him to see him take a seat; apparently he was the person that Pisca wanted to speak with.  She didn't exactly like the way that he responded to the gnome; even though the girl didn't know exactly what Pisca had said to him.

She tried her best merely to shrink and disappear, anything to get away from the leering eyes and frightful comments of the people within the tavern.  Liseth really hoped that Pisca would get an answer quickly so that they could leave.  She didn't know if she could handle another person accosting her.

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---

Jubrayl waved at Liseth as if his intervention was not worthy of mention, but visibly relaxed at Pisca's words; he gave a small smile as he settled back in his chair.  "I appreciate your wisdom in this, Pisca," he nodded.  "For you are correct.  I know family, I know business, and most of all I know Ven Vinder.  Mr. Vinder is very protective of his family.  And that protectiveness might interfere in others' business, yes?  In a way that might not be," he coughed, "healthy for anyone, do you understand?  Wisdom would suggest that you leave things as they are."

"Of course, it is possible that others," Jubrayl left the word hanging, "are not acting with similar wisdom.  But we deal with the hand we are dealt, no?"  His eyes darted to Liseth, then back to Pisca.  "And would I be amiss in suggesting that bringing the acolyte here was not your best idea ever?"  He glanced around the Feedbag.  "The wisest course might be to get her out of here quickly, no?"

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The gnome listened, nodding at all the important places.  Understanding?  Ascent?  Both?  The gestures themselves said nothing of their meaning.  Her eyes, though, spoke volumes.  They said that she was elsewhere, pulling together the strings of things she'd known before, weaving a tapestry upon which was the picture that Jubrayl saw.

When the gnome looked up, it was in response to the Sczarni's final question.  "The young must grow up sometime," Pisca replied with a shrug.  "And I knew you would be here."

"Thank you, Jubrayl.  I owe you much."  The gnome turned to glare at the one named Conner, then she bit back the words that she wanted to say.  "We will leave before we bring more disturbance to your place.  Come on.  Let's go, Lys."

"Well, that was interesting," said the gnome once the pair were back out under the sunny blue sky once more.  "Looks like trouble at mill.  One on't cross beams gone owt askew on treadle," she said, and without further explanation, continued on.  "Looks like we might be making more trouble for the Vinders if we find, and if we tell them the name of Katrine's boyfriend.  The question then becomes, what do we do now?"  The gnome, who had obviously not thought of the path in which she and Liseth did absolutely nothing, returning to Vin Vender and simply reporting their failure and walking away, replaced the Cinderlander hat on her head.  Then, the better to enjoy the bright sunny afternoon, she pushed it back off her head to ride behind her shoulders, secured by the chin strap.

"Our only choice is to try and convince Katrine to give her boyfriend up, Lys," the gnome said after a walk of around a hundred paces up through the town.  "And I'm not so sure that we can come right out and tell her that her continued liaison with this man will be dangerous to her family.  That doesn't sound like something she'd believe."

"You know her better than I do, Lysa.  I think you should do it.  Talk to her.  Convince her to give this man up.  Tell her there are better men out there.  Tell her, she should get an education first.  Tell her ... "

A light went on behind the gnome's violet eyes.  Nature created things in pairs.  Water rushes to fill spaces that are empty.  Kellan Storval was seeing Shayliss Vinder.  "Say, Lysa?" the gnome began in a voice that spoke of creeping up on the idea rather than rushing it with a terrifying roar.  "Do you think that Katrine Vinder might in any way be attracted to Cato?"

---

Knowledge Local for Scarnetti, please.

Staying silent and keeping her head low, Liseth met the gaze of no one; not Pisca, not the Jubrayl man that she was speaking with, and certainly not any of the other tavern people.  Her shoulders slumped just slightly when he told Pisca that the gnome should not have brought Liseth with her into the Fatman's Feedbag.  Not that the girl disagreed with him at all...but she couldn't stop feeling that her presence alongside Pisca was the direct cause for his reluctance to share the information asked of him.

When her conversation was finished and Pisca said that she was ready to leave, Liseth was more than willing to agree with her.  She turned and raised her head just enough to see the location of the exit and ensure that there was nobody trying to block her way out.  Upon seeing that some of the tavern patrons were still watching her, Liseth quickly put her head back down before she began walking towards the exit.  Much too quickly; in her desperation to be quit of the tavern she found herself limping in front of everybody, stumbling once as she nearly tripped over her own legs.

But she made it outside.  Not willing to stop just outside the door Liseth continued moving until she had reached the wall of another building.  There she leaned, breathing quickly and deeply as though she hadn't had any air since entering the Feedbag.  Once Pisca caught up to her Liseth pushed herself off of the wall, "I'm sorry...that I don't act grown up all the time.  But that man in there, he grabbed me.  And those things he said..." the short blonde started to shake, "Pisca, I don't like that place."

Stepping in next to Pisca when they started walking through Sandpoint, and notably away from the Fatman's Feedbag, Liseth let the gnome talk while she concentrated on breathing and calming herself.  Once Pisca had finished with her dialogue, Liseth finally had calmed herself to the point of replying.

"I don't know; I've only seen them both in the same place that one time in the square, with the goblins..."  Liseth glossed over the attack, then looked curiously down at her companion, "You don't mean that you want to try and get them together, do you?  What if Cato already has a girlfriend?  And Ms Katrine already has her boyfriend, even if we don't know who he is.  Umm..."  She paused, "I don't know if that is a good idea, or even if Cato might want to go along with it.  You did plan on asking Cato first, right?"

"But I think that talking to Ms Katrine is the best way.  If she doesn't want to say anything, I don't want to be sneaky and try to find out behind her back.  But..."  Liseth hesitated before continuing, "I do want to find out about her boyfriend, but not to tell Mr Vinder.  He would only get angry and fight with him, and I know that Ms Katrine would not like that.  I just want to make sure that she isn't seeing a bad man or making a scandal.  Because that might get her into a lot of trouble, with more people than just her father."  Liseth frowned, not saying the obvious.  If Ms Katrine's boyfriend was like Kerr or Kellan, she wouldn't need to hide her relationship.

"I'm ready to go back to the Cathedral now, Pisca."  Liseth had had a quite harrowing afternoon.  She almost felt that she would rather have faced another goblin assault.  "Maybe Ms Katrine is already there, looking for me.  Or she stopped by and left a message with Father Zantus or Kerr.  And I still need to get ready for the dinner tonight."

"Hokey pokey," said the gnome in cheerful agreement.  Though, to which of the plans that Liseth had laid out, or, possibly, suggested was a better word, that she was agreeing to wasn't immediately apparent.  "I'll leave this part of things to you.  If we decide it would be best to pair Katrine with Cato, we'd have to ask Cato first, of course.  But we won't even know if that's a good idea or not until we speak with Katrine.  Right now, it's just ... it's just a Good Idea In Training.  I mean, we don't even know whether Cato likes girls or not."

"The point is to make sure Katrine breaks it off with this boyfriend of hers, whoever it is.  Jubrayl thinks that certain people finding out about Katrine and her boyfriend could be badly dangerous for certain parties.  The boyfriend works at the mill.  And the mill is owned by the Scarnettis."

"I don't know whether you know or not, but the Scarnettis are Sandpoint's most-notorious noble family.  Rumor has it that the Scarnettis are responsible for some recent fires in mills in neighboring towns.  The whisper is that it's to drive up the demand for their own lumber, but no one has been able to connect them to these incidents with any really solid evidence.  And if they're willing to go to those lengths, they may not be beyond hurting Ven Vinder or his family."

"So ... best that Katrine just stop seeing this boy altogether.  Safer all around.  If she likes Cato - and if Cato likes her back - that's just gravy on the potatoes.  But the main point is to get her to stop consorting with Mister Works At the Lumber Mill."

"By the by, Lysa, back at the Fatman?  I think you did well.  You didn't stab that hummie, Conner.  What a badger butt.  You didn't freeze him with a basilisk gaze.  You didn't even smite him with your holy powers.  Grrrrr," the gnome growled.  "If anyone was just asking for some smiting, it was him."

"You kept your calm, and we did our business.  Sometimes you have to go into places that you don't want to in order to get the things that you need to help people.  Today you did."  The gnome took the human girl's hand - well, a finger.  She looked up into Liseth's face and beamed a proud and happy smile.  "You did today, and I think you did fine."

"Come on, I'll walk you to the Cathedral.  Keep a look out for Katrine.  We might want to talk to her."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:43, Tue 05 Nov 2013.

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The gnome and the acolyte began their slow walk up towards the cathedral from the Fatman's Feedbag.  As they passed the Rusty Dragon, they saw (and heard) Veznutt Parooh and Ilsoari Gandethus loudly discussing history as they made their way inside.

As they traveled by the Sandpoint Theater, they saw Cyrdak Drokkus advertising an upcoming talent show.  Two of his regular crew were juggling and doing magic tricks for a small crowd, among whom was someone Pisca recognized as Sir Jasper Korvaski from the Sandpoint Mercantile League.

As they made their way up High Street, they saw Gorvi, perhaps unsurprisingly, lying in a snoring drunken heap in Soggy Alley.

Once they arrived at the northern town square, they could see Market Day seemed to be winding up.  The event began in the early morning, so now that it was late afternoon many of the merchants, farmers, and vendors, especially the ones from out of town, began packing up their wares and heading back from whence they came before nightfall.

As the two began to pick their way among the stalls towards the cathedral, they heard a melodious, excited voice.

"LISETH!!"

Liseth was suddenly enveloped in a hug from none other than the raven-tressed Katrine Vinder!  The woman blushed as she self-consciously let go of Liseth and bent down to pick up the large bag of produce she had dropped.  "Um, sorry for the ambush hug.  But it's just so good to see you!"  She grinned.  "How have you been?"

She gave the two a bright smile, which quickly turned mischevious as she looked at Liseth.  "I hear you've been spending time with Aldern Foxglove!"  She sighed dramatically.  "He's SO dreamy!  Don't you think?  What's he like, really?  He seems so charming and, well, well, um," she reached for a word, "noble!  Is it true he invited you to DINNER?!?"  She almost swooned.  "What was THAT like?  And what did KERR think?  You have to tell me all about it!"

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Hoom-hoom hoomity hoom.  With a secret smile on her face the gnome marched in place as the two human girls engaged in their typical human greeting.  Hoomity-hoom hoom hoom-hoom hoom.  The gnome's marching feet came to a stop in sync with the rhythm of the tuneless music playing in her head.  Hands behind her back, pleasant smile on her face, Pisca stood well out of the way of the effusive gush.

Catching Lysa's eye, the gnome winked.  This was her moment.  Her time under the lights.  She was on.  The story now rose and fell on her actions.  All eyes were on her.  Pisca made a small gnomish shadow of herself.  Without a word she followed in the footsteps of the human girl.  She was the adoring little sister.  She was a well behaved puppy.  Nothing to be bothered with.  Nothing to draw the attention.

Liseth was more than simply surprised by Ms Katrine's sudden appearance.  But, as she was enveloped in a hug, the girl knew that this was one of the most pleasant and enjoyable surprises that she had been given in these last few days.

"Oh!  Ms Katrine!  Pisca and I were just looking for you!"  Liseth knelt to help with the fallen produce.  "You don't need to apologize for hugging me."  She smiled, "I think that's just the pick-me-up that I needed."  Liseth hesitated for a moment before telling Ms Katrine how she has been.  Since the Festival ended it felt as though Liseth had been thrust from one frightening situation to another.  Goblins, Mr Foxglove's initial advances, then UNDEAD, the big mean boar, and then going to all of the worst places in Sandpoint with Pisca.  "I'm doing well, but I was actually concerned..."

Liseth couldn't finish as Ms Katrine went on to ask all about Mr Foxglove, "Oh, well Mr Foxglove is really very much a gentleman.  And he seems to like spending time enjoying himself, especially with other people.  But I think he is in Sandpoint on vacation, so of course he wants to have fun."  The blonde nodded, "We had dinner last night with Mr Foxglove.  I was actually scared of him at first, so I asked Kerr to come with me to the dinner.  I thought that Mr Foxglove was going to be angry, but he let Kerr stay."

With a bright smile, Liseth recounted what else happened at the dinner, "But I did learn something important!"  She looked towards Pisca, where the gnome silently observed the two human girls, "Pisca told me that Kerr was my boyfriend, so I asked him about it, and he agreed with her!!"  The teenage girl giggled gleefully, "That means that Kerr is my boyfriend!"

"And then, after the dinner..."  Liseth paused as she realized that she shouldn't say anything about the skeletons, even if it was to swoon over how Kerr destroyed so many all at once.  "After the dinner...Mr Foxglove asked us to a boar hunt.  We went riding today in the Tickwood, and Kellan even killed a big, mean boar!  So tonight we're going to have dinner with Mr Foxglove again, and Ms Kaijitsu is going to cook the boar that was brought back!  I still need to tell Kerr about it so that he can come to this dinner with me too."

"Oh!  But I really wanted to ask about you!"  Liseth's face filled with concern.  "Are you doing alright?"  She looked around at all of the nearby people and leaned in closer to whisper with the dark-haired girl, "Really alright?  I didn't have much of a chance to see you after...what happened.  If your injury still hurts a little I can fix it.  But that's not what I mean."  The short girl frowned slightly, "Ms Katrine, you almost died!  And when we went to your family's store to look for you earlier today, your father was very concerned about you too.  Do you want to talk about it?  We can go to the Cathedral if you want privacy.  But it isn't healthy to keep things like that inside."

Liseth was determined to make sure that Ms Katrine really was doing well, and wanted to be certain of that before asking anything about her mysterious boyfriend.  And if she did want to go into the Cathedral for privacy, well; it may help with that question too.  Since Ms Katrine obviously didn't want many people to know.

---

---

"He really is a gentleman, isn't he?"  Katrine sighed dreamily before she gave a slight squeal, quickly covering her mouth as she grinned broadly.  "Your BOYFRIEND?!?  Kerr Mollin?  Has he KISSED you yet?"  She put her arm around the smaller blonde.  "You have to tell me EVERYTHING!"

Katrine laughed at Liseth's questions.  "Me?  I'm fine, thanks to you!"  She hugged the acolyte again.  "You saved my life!  I'm so thankful for that.  And it's made me appreciate things about life that I think I'd started taking for granted."  She flashed Liseth a genuine smile.  "So I am doing well, thank you for asking."

The dark-haired girl blew a breath out through her nose at Liseth's mention of her father.  "Of COURSE my father is concerned about me."  She made a face.  "He's concerned about EVERYTHING."  She shrugged.  "He means well, though, and I know it's only because he loves me and Shay so much, so I put up with it."  She laughed again.  "But you get to have dinner with Lord Foxglove a SECOND time in as many nights?!?  You are SO lucky!!  And you went hunting with Kellan?  He's courting Shay now, did you know?"  She winked.  "She's pretty excited about it.  She's always had a thing for brawny guys in uniform."

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"I'm very glad that you are doing so well."  Liseth was obviously relieved.  Ever since the thought first made its way into her mind she had been worrying over Ms Katrine.  But she really did look like she was handling what happened very well.  As Ms Katrine continued, Liseth found that she could not stop from getting caught up in the other young woman's excitement.

"I don't know about brawny guys..."  Liseth was reminded of all those big men leering at her in the Fatman, then she quickly added, "Not that I don't like Kellan."  She blushed, "I mean, um...of course I like Kellan, but not in the same way as Kerr..."  Stammering as she attempted to clarify what she meant, Liseth decided to simply begin talking more about Kerr.

"Kerr is so sweet.  I think that he must be the nicest boy in the world!"  After a slight swoon, Liseth continued, "He's silly and funny, but he is just as much a gentleman as someone like Mr Foxglove.  He gives me his arm when we walk so that I don't stumble; did you know that I have trouble walking?  It's always been like that, nobody knows why."

"Kerr hasn't kissed me though..."  Liseth suddenly realized that she had never thought about that.  She felt butterflies in her stomach now that the idea had made it's way into her mind.  But these butterflies were excited too!  "I kissed him though.  On his cheek..."  The blonde girl blushed, "Oh!  You were there!  When he bought me the Little Heily during the Festival!"  Liseth retrieved the little horse figurine from the pouch at her side and displayed it for Ms Katrine, "See, so you already saw how sweet Kerr is.  And I didn't even know that he was my boyfriend at the time!"  She began to laugh gleefully, as though this was the best joke that she had ever heard.

Liseth had a sudden realization.  This was the perfect opportunity to ask about Ms Katrine's boyfriend!  After all, she had just told her all about Kerr.  But she didn't want to just come right out and say it so plainly.  "I'm so happy that I came to Sandpoint.  I almost didn't come you know; Daddy didn't want me to go at first, but Father Garrick convinced him that it would be good for me.  And I was scared of traveling so far from home, with just Heily and me.  But if I didn't I would never have met Kerr!"  She sighed happily, "Kerr must be the sweetest, best boyfriend ever."

"Oh!  But don't you have a boyfriend too?  I don't know anything about him; what's he like?"

Flubble jubble.  Ghrnskee baaahz jenr.  Rumph rumph rumph rumph.

The words wanted so badly to come out.  So terribly badly.  Like a clawed hand, possessed of evil.  A hand that defied its owner and acted on its own, seeking to kill.  The words, the questions, they forced their way to Pisca's lips, wanting so badly to be asked.  Only by the most heroic effort of will was the gnome able to tamp them down, hold them back, stifle them, before they were spoken, before they turned from idea into sound.

In the meantime, the human girls went on and on and on and on.  In rivers of bright pink sticky sweet treacle, they burbled and burbled and burbled.

Ask the question.  Askthequestion.  ASKTHEQUESTION!!!

And when the question finally came the relief was so great, and the release as well, that the gnome audibly gasped.  She staggered about as though dizzy from holding her breath too long, but caught herself, recovering quickly and held up her hands to ward off any concerned queries as to whether she might be alright or offers of a chair or cool glass of water.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:33, Thu 07 Nov 2013.

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"Oh!  Well," Katrine said to Liseth, sporting a mysterious smile, "in fact I DO have a boyfriend!  And he's AMAZING.  Just like your Kerr!"  She looked around and lowered her voice.  "I just can't say a lot about him."  She put a hand on Liseth's shoulder.  "It's not that I don't trust you, Liseth, but we've decided that we're going to keep things quiet for the time being.  So," she pleaded, "please don't ask me to betray our decision?  I'd really love to tell you but it's so much better this way."

She sighed.  "You know how my father is.  He's got very, um, set ideas about who I should be spending time with.  And he can get REALLY angry."  She shrugged her shoulders.  "I'd rather my father be angry with me than with my love.  My father won't hit me.  But you've seen him.  Boys have always been TERRIFIED of him!"  She pursed her lips.  "And with good reason!"

"But," she brightened.  "My love really IS amazing!  So smart, and handsome, and clever, and he's got big plans!  I'm sure my father will come around."  She laughed.  "Eventually.  He still sees me as the little girl he has to protect."  Her mouth set in a firm line.  "He needs to realize I'm a grown woman and trust me to make my own choices."

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This message was last edited by the player at 03:50, Thu 07 Nov 2013.

Couldn't argue with that.  If there was one thing that gnomes knew it was that all people had to go their own way at some time or other.  Maybe even at any time or other.  People needed the freedom to pursue the things that they needed to pursue.  Without that, they would waste away.  They grew smaller.  Inside, where it mattered.

"Well, be that as it may be," said the gnome, speaking up now that the question had been asked, "I'll tell you that your father does know that you do have a boyfriend.  He also knows where.  What he doesn't know is who.  What he also doesn't know is why.  And when I say why, I mean why it is that you are keeping this a secret.  Now this gnome is all for secrets, Katrine," said Pisca, hooking a thumb in her own direction.  "Secrets are secret for a reason.  But, you see, the problem with secrets is that they make people guess as to what the secret might be.  And sometimes that guessing might create bigger problems than the secrets themselves.  For example, your father thinks that this man is hiding from him so that he can more easily persuade you to have sex with him out of wedlock."

"Now, whether that's part of the truth or not doesn't really matter.  What does matter is that he *doesn't* know that your man is smart, and handsome, and clever, and amazing.  And he doesn't see that happy glowy expression on your face when you talk about him.  Maybe you should talk to him.  You don't have to tell him who it is.  Tell him that you decided to make it a secret for now and that you have good reasons for it.  Tell him that it was your decision and that he should respect that.  He won't be happy, but you also tell him how much you love this man and how happy he makes you.  Just like you did now.  That's got to count for something, right?"

"Otherwise, if you don't talk to him, the only thing he can think of is you and your man in some dark corner of the mill with his hands all over you.  'Oh.  Oh, Sergio.  Kiss me there.  Kiss me there.'"  The gnome paired her words with a look lost in passion and a languid caress down the side of her own face.  "You can see how that would go over with your father, right?  Best to talk to him.  Try and get him to see your way.  You're right.  He's going to have to trust you to be your own person someday.  Might as well start now."

"Wait ... "  The gnome's attention grew suddenly quite sharp, and it was pointed very distinctly in the direction of Katrine Vinder.  "Did you say that your boyfriend had ... *big* *plans*?"

Wheels within wheels.  Or, rather wheels next to other wheels.  Big wheels running over little wheels, crushing them and breaking them into bits of wood and mangled iron rims, nearly unrecognizable as the wheels that they once were.

"Um ... if you hear your boyfriend mention anything about the Scarnettis, you might want to try and steer him away.  Just something my sources say.  Something that might be ... well ... dangerous.  Up to you.  But you ever want to find out more, Lysa knows where to find me."

Liseth was a little confused by Ms Katrine.  She understood that Ms Katrine really does love her mysterious boyfriend; that was easy to gather.  But why keep it a secret?  Especially if it made her father angry with her.  Liseth didn't think that she'd ever be able to do something that might make her own father angry.  But Mr Vinder already said that his daughter's boyfriend being a secret WAS what was making him angry.  He approved of Kellan; so it couldn't be that Ms Katrine's father hated every boy.  The only thing that Liseth could think of was that the desire to keep her relationship a secret was less a joint decision and more because Ms Katrine's boyfriend didn't want her to tell anyone.

And that sounded bad.  Liseth could not imagine a good reason why he required that Ms Katrine not tell anyone who he was.  But plenty of bad ones kept running through her mind.

She opened her mouth to say something to other other girl when Pisca began speaking.  Liseth had been so caught up in gushing over Kerr and talking with Ms Katrine that she had almost forgotten the gnome was there.  But Pisca sure had a lot to say now.  She almost interrupted her when Pisca made her 'out of wedlock' comment; though Liseth stopped herself, because what Pisca said next was close to what Liseth wanted to tell Ms Katrine anyway.

But then Pisca latched onto the mysterious boyfriend's 'big plans.'  That made Liseth think.  What kind of plans could they be?  With all of the secrecy that he wanted, the plans of Ms Katrine's boyfriend could amount to anything!  Now Liseth was more concerned than ever.

"Um...Katrine..."  Liseth wanted to say something; she really didn't like what she was hearing.  But she didn't want to insult the other girl either; or worse, make her so angry that she didn't want to talk with Liseth anymore.  She decided to be careful, and drop the prefix for Katrine.  Because Liseth really wanted her to be her friend.  "Katrine, I don't think that your father sees you only as a little girl.  He wants you to be happy; every daddy only wants their daughters to be happy.  He was telling us about Kellan courting your sister when we were at your family's shop; and he said that he was okay with Kellan because Kellan was straightforward and honest with him."

"I don't think that your father would say this to you, but the reason why he is angry with your boyfriend is just because your boyfriend doesn't want him to know who he is."  Liseth paused for a second, "And that makes your father scared.  See, it can't be that he doesn't want you to have a boyfriend, otherwise he wouldn't be letting Kellan date Ms Shayliss.  I think that he just wants to meet him so that he can see for himself just how much you love each other.  Besides, your father can never come around to see why you love him so much if your boyfriend never lets him see who he is in the first place."

"I know that I could never keep Kerr a secret from my own father; even though he is a hundred miles away.  Especially if I thought that doing that would make him scared and angry.  In fact,"  Liseth brightened again now that she was talking about Kerr, "I can't wait to take Kerr to meet my family.  That has to be exciting, I know that they'll love to meet Kerr!  And I'm sure that Kerr would want to meet them too.  Actually, I'm going to write a letter to Daddy and tell him what happened and tell him about Kerr; I'm just so excited that I want everyone to know about him!"  Liseth thought for a moment, remembering everyone already talking about Kerr and her together, "Then again, most of the people in Sandpoint already seem to know that Kerr is my boyfriend already..."

"Katrine, I don't want to pry; especially if you really don't want to say anything about your boyfriend.  But don't you want to be able to go on dates with him?  You can't go have dinner together if he has to be a secret from everyone.  And you can't have a nice walk through town together.  I know I love it when Kerr walks with me, and we talk about things and look at the birds and everything..."  Liseth shook her head to clear it of her own boyfriend, she was talking about Katrine's, "And you certainly couldn't take him to meet all of your other friends.  I think that one of the best things about having a boyfriend is showing him to everybody else so that they can see just how sweet he is."

Liseth swallowed, she was making herself even more concerned now than she was when she worried that Katrine might be dealing with her near-death experience poorly.  "I won't ask who he is, but Katrine, there is one thing that really does have me worried.  Your decision to keep him a secret..."  Liseth hesitated before finishing, scared that Katrine might have a bad reaction, "Was it your idea to begin with, or was it his?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 00:56, Fri 08 Nov 2013.

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Katrine’s eyes grew bigger as first Pisca, then Liseth talked.  As they spoke, they could see her face harden.  When they finished, her eyes flashed; she was clearly getting angry.

“I have NO idea why you’ve suddenly taken my father’s side in all this!  HE knows why I’m keeping it a secret.  My father can guess or suppose whatever he wants . . . to tell you the truth, I don’t really care WHAT he thinks.  If he ‘only wants me to be happy,’ that’s news to me.”

She was beginning to talk both faster and louder.  “I think it’s all about HIM and HIM wanting to control ME.  If he wanted me to share things with him he should have treated both me and my boyfriends a lot differently when I was younger.  And why do you care what he thinks, or if he’s upset?  Let him stew in his anger and lack of control for a while.”

She gave Liseth a bitter smile.  “I don’t know your father, Liseth, but I imagine he’s a lot different than mine.  Does your father have a temper?  Did your father scare the first boy who kissed you so badly that he was scared to even talk to you afterward?  No?  I thought not.”  Katrine took a deep breath as a tear rolled unbidden down her cheek.  “Let me make this very clear to you.  I don’t CARE what my father thinks.  And if he’s upset?  I see that as a BONUS.  He SO deserves it!”

She looked back and forth between the two of them, giving Liseth in particular a look of hurt disappointment.  “So you can both go back to my father and tell him THAT, since you’re so concerned about his FEELINGS.”  The brunette huffed.  “And of COURSE he’s going to talk about the Scarnettis.  They own the mill!”

She shook her head, as if to clear it.  “I need to go now; I don’t want to say anything I regret.”  She pointedly ignored Pisca.  “Liseth, I will talk to you later.”  Katrine Vinder then strode off, back straight and head held high.

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"B-but...that...n-no...I..."  Liseth couldn't help but stammer while Katrine spoke with increasing levels of anger and disappointment.  Then, when the other girl strode away Liseth could only watch for a moment before her head dipped down and her shoulders slumped.

"I think...I think that we only made Katrine angry..."  Liseth turned her head slightly to look down at Pisca, then sighed heavily.  "I didn't want her to be angry...nothing ever works right for me..."

Dejected, she turned around and began to shuffle slowly away.  "Pisca, you don't think that it sounds right, do you?  How Katrine's boyfriend has to be a secret?  I understand that she is worried her father might try to scare him away...but nothing good can come of keeping him a secret."  The girl sighed again, "Everyone already seems to know that she is seeing somebody.  And her father is just becoming more scared and angry the longer that Katrine tries to keep it a secret."

"It can't end well.  It just can't; not unless Katrine's boyfriend does the honest thing and meets her family.  Or Katrine leaves him..."  Liseth frowned, "Pisca, I'm starting to think that Mr Vinder was right.  I think that Katrine's boyfriend is just using her."

Full of concern for Katrine and sad that her words only made the other girl angry, Liseth continued shuffling slowly away.  Hopefully things will get better once she returned to the Cathedral.  And maybe the dinner tonight will be able to pick the girl's spirits back up...

The gnome sighed as she watched the retreating back of Katrine Vinder.  "It's alright, 'Lys," she said.  She turned to the human girl and took her hand.  Liseth seemed equally as upset, but in a different way.  Things certainly hadn't turned out well.  Perhaps a variation on the danger that Jubrayl had hinted at.  It was a good thing that Katrine didn't burned down Liseth's mill.

"I think you're right," Pisca agreed, following along behind Liseth, tethered by their hands like a forgotten balloon.  "I'm not really sure that the secret part is Katrine's idea either.  It sounds more like this is coming from him.  Big ideas and secrets come together in the same package."

"But I'm also not so sure that much good would come from Ven Vinder knowing the identity of His Other Daughter's Suitor.  My friend Jubrayl seemed to think that this sort of thing might end in some sort of violence.  And I think I can see that mixing one part hot-headed merchant with some unknown quantity of Mill Burning aristocrats might make for something of an explosive mixture."

"I think we'll need to handle this rather delicately, 'Lysa.  I'm not quite sure what that means.  Yet.  But, I don't think it could hurt to start by patching things up between you and Katrine.  I mean, she still sounds as though she wants to be your friend.  Why don't you find her tomorrow?  Maybe in the market place?"  By now it seemed reasonably apparent that Liseth was headed back in the direction of the cathedral.  Whether this was a conscious direction on her part or not, it was convenient.  They still had to prepare for the boar eating party tonight.

"Maybe ... " suggested Pisca with a smile.  "Maybe you could wrap up some cold boar from tonight's dinner and bring it to her.  You could tell her stories of Aldern Foxglove from the party and make things up to her that way?"

"I just hope that Katrine doesn't hate me."  It didn't take much for Liseth to accept Pisca's hand.  She needed some support right now.  "I should have been more careful with what I said to her.  Now she thinks that I don't care about her feelings..."  Liseth trailed off and then sighed.

"But I do.  Care about her feelings.  And want her to be my friend."  Liseth cast a wary glance back in the direction that Katrine went, but the other girl was long gone by then.  "The way that she reacted makes me feel like she doesn't have many real friends.  Maybe that's why she is so attached to her mysterious boyfriend.  Because he makes her feel like he accepts and understands her."  Another sigh, "I never had many friends before either.  None my own age anyway.  At least Katrine's sister is only a little younger than she is.  My brother is ten years older than me."

"I think..." She hesitated, "I think that I'll try to apologize to Katrine tomorrow.  If I can find her.  I'm sure that I won't be able to find her anyplace if she doesn't want to talk to me..."