Post by Arkturas on Jan 18, 2010 0:08:39 GMT -5
20:57:39 Arkturas draws up a bucket from the well, grumbling. His armour is spotted with blood.
20:58:12 Ruepert thinks this bush doesn't quite work.
20:58:15 Kalilah is not here.
20:58:30 Nallaen lock in a bush
20:58:58 Campion looks up at the nearby draenei and his grumbling. There's an alchemy book open in his hands presently. He ends up eyeing the tabard he's wearing more than anything.
20:59:04 Erunis senses figues in the bush before him
20:59:12 Arkturas dumps the bucket over his head, snorting and blowing water from his mustache. The runoff is stained a light pink.
20:59:20 Kalilah is OOC to eavesdrop, sorry!
20:59:28 Nallaen what the priest said
20:59:33 Ruepert ditto
21:00:02 Campion watches, mildly bewildered. "...What the hell were YOU doing."
21:00:20 Arkturas slumps to a bench, wringin out the tail of his tabard and cloak. "Cleaning."
21:00:44 [Campion]: No, I mean, what PROMPTED the cleaning?
21:00:54 Campion waves a hand, indicating the once-blood spattered armour.
21:01:21 Arkturas eyes the human. "There was a philosophical debate, that could not be solved with words."
21:01:47 Campion purses his lips. Eye flits back to that Argent tabard, and obivously so. "I...see."
21:02:41 Arkturas follows his gaze and grunts. "Crusader?"
21:03:01 Gil says: Where we goin'?
21:03:17 Erich Lohan says: Free drinks at the Blue Recluse!
21:04:02 Campion winces. He busies himself with looking down at the book in his hand again, turning it over. "...Formally."
21:04:58 Gil says: Why do we always go the same way?
21:05:11 Gil says: Is it true? Are there really crocilisks in the canals?
21:05:38 Arkturas stops wringing his cloak out, and hard eyes flick over Campion. "Formerly, eh. Sounds like a story." Ark is subtle. Yus.
21:06:27 Campion frowns. "One you'll only hear if you promise not to GLOAT." That frown becomes a bit more of a glare now. Undue assumptions on this guy's station and all.
21:07:02 Arkturas snorts. "Like I would have room to gloat. Please, continue."
21:07:43 Campion huffs a sigh. That frown is turned downward at the book in his hand now. He doesn't REALLY want to tell it. So a clipped version works.
21:08:17 [Campion]: Used to be part of a crusade and cause. Found out that it was...less than pure. And left. That's about the long and short of it.
21:08:31 Campion nods. There. Being vague cuts the pain.
21:09:01 Arkturas looks at him. "Well, good for you." He clearly means it.
21:09:27 Erich Lohan says: Feeling blue? Come on down to the Blue Recluse for a good time!
21:09:30 Campion gives him a weary, blank look.
21:09:39 Erich Lohan says: Feeling blue? Come on down to the Blue Recluse for a good time!
21:10:15 [Arkturas]: You took part in a cause. Every man needs one. But you weren't blind about it. Sounds to me that you did the right thing. What is the shame in that?
21:11:20 [Campion]: The shame I served it blindly up until that point? The horror in finding out who I was REALLY serving? The gloating of those who knew all along, had warned me, and I had no one but myself to blame for finding myself where I am now?
21:13:19 [Arkturas]: You saw it eventually. And you did something about it. You didn't follow out of malice, and did not continue to follow knowingly.
21:14:10 Campion sighs, rubbing his forehead, eyeing this draenei untrustingly. As if waiting for him to toss out a, 'just kidding, you're awful' any second now.
21:15:01 [Campion]: Regardless, doesn't leave me in much of a position NOW. Where does a fallen paladin and crusader go from HERE?
21:15:35 [Arkturas]: Oh? Fallen paladin? Is that really think you are, a monster?
21:15:50 Erich Lohan says: Free drinks at the Blue Recluse!
21:16:04 Campion frowns down at the book in his hands. "I suppose so long as we're calling a spade a spade..."
21:16:36 Arkturas snorts. "You feel terrible. Your soul burns at what you have done, and you feel that you may never clean the blood from your hands."
21:16:42 Gil says: I need to pee.
21:16:55 Gil says: Where we goin'?
21:17:42 Campion slowly lets his eye drift upward again, head still bowed, but watching this other crusader now. He doesn't say anything, but he's listening.
21:17:59 [Arkturas]: Monsters don't feel that way.
21:18:48 Gil says: Why do we always go the same way?
21:19:16 Campion eyes him still in silence for a time. Then finally asks, "...And who are you, then." Might as well get names out of the way.
21:19:29 [Arkturas]: I am Arkturas. You?
21:19:43 [Campion]: Campion. Miles Campion.
21:19:53 Campion nods once, politely, an improvised bow.
21:19:56 [Arkturas]: Greetings, Miles Campion.
21:20:15 Arkturas salutes formally.
21:20:56 [Campion]: So. You're an Argent.
21:21:02 Campion waves at the tabard.
21:21:19 Nallaen thinks campy is fucking surrounded by them. Sorry! ))
21:21:27 [Arkturas]: Yes. Leading a attached company, for the duration.
21:21:52 [Campion]: Contracted, or sworn to them?
21:22:09 Erich Lohan says: Ask me how to get a free drink at the Blue Recluse!
21:22:32 Arkturas shrugs. "They have a good cause. I needed one. They take what I have to offer."
21:23:24 Campion frowns, thoughtfully. "At least there's SOMEONE else around here that understands needing one. A cause, that is."
21:24:26 [Arkturas]: Some people are their own cause. They love for themselves. Others live for others, and need that bond of interdependance.
21:25:03 [Campion]: The need to belong to something bigger than themselves. Hardly a weakness, I should think.
21:25:21 Campion seems slightly relieved to find someone who seems to agree with him on this!
21:25:56 [Arkturas]: Of course.
21:27:03 Campion lapses into silence for a moment, seeming to mentally chew over a lot of things in the meantime, eyeing this other crusader. "...Are there any that the Argents would turn away?" Clearly hypothetical. Clearly.
21:27:50 [Arkturas]: Oh, I imagine that they would have some lines. But as long as you desired to fight the Scourge, that is the crux.
21:28:10 Arkturas gives a half smile. "If they can take me, their criteria is pretty damn loose."
21:28:14 Erich Lohan says: Ask me how to get a free drink at the Blue Recluse!
21:28:25 [Campion]: You hardly seem that bad. Tolerable, at least.
21:28:27 Erich Lohan says: Best drinks in Stormwind!
21:28:33 Campion decides to not say the 'for a blueskin' part.
21:29:12 Arkturas is grateful for that lack. He can be a mite touchy.
21:30:08 Arkturas snorts a quiet laugh. "I've picked up a history. Sometimes I wonder just how much they know."
21:30:24 Gil says: Are we there yet?
21:30:37 Gil says: I need to pee.
21:30:39 Campion looks a little concerned. "Do they do, er. Research? Background checks, as it were."
21:31:27 Arkturas shrugs. "If they do, I never saw it. They can tell a mans sincerity to the cause."
21:32:24 Arkturas looks over at him. "And you can always get a person to vouch for you."
21:32:32 Gil says: Is it true? Are there really crocilisks in the canals?
21:33:40 Campion frowns. "I'm not sure if that's an offer, but. Really, what could YOU have done that they would find so bad? I don't ask for the sake of being nosey. Just, er."
21:33:49 [Campion]: Wondering how someone like ME would measure up.
21:34:36 Erich Lohan says: Ask me how to get a free drink at the Blue Recluse!
21:34:43 Arkturas tilts his head. "Well, that is a prying question. And I am not certain I have drunk nearly enough to answer it." Then he grumbles. "Though I suppose I shouldn't do the latter. Much."
21:35:29 [Campion]: Eh. A man's allowed his vices. In moderation.
21:35:38 [Arkturas]: I let my hate, and lust for revenge lead me to do terrible things.
21:36:19 Campion pauses in reaching for a cigarette from a pouch on his belt (talking about vices got the craving kicked up) and looks up at the draenei.
21:37:09 [Campion]: ...Well. As I told a close friend earlier, murder and vengence are two very different things. So long as you see the distinction, perhaps you were justified.
21:37:24 Campion puts a cigarette between his lips and sets about to striking a match and lighting it.
21:38:24 Arkturas gives a bitter smile. "That is a pretty sentiment, but only goes so far."
21:39:06 [Campion]: I guess the distinction lies in if YOU go too far?
21:39:17 Campion shrugs and shakes out the match, flicking it away once it's out.
21:39:25 [Arkturas]: One supposes.
21:39:52 Campion grunts in vague agreement and goes silent for a moment, smoking thoughtfully.
21:40:21 [Arkturas]: ...Have you ever thought about whether the ends justify the means?
21:40:35 Arkturas is looking steadily at his hands.
21:40:54 Erich Lohan says: Best drinks in Stormwind!
21:41:11 [Campion]: I've spent more time thinking about it the other way around. But, yes. I used to think ANY means justified the proper end, but. Obviously, that's been re-evaluated.
21:41:23 Campion smirks ruefully around his cigarette.
21:42:43 [Arkturas]: If someone threatened the one you loved, what would be too far?
21:43:58 Campion frowns. Deeply. Turns and looks at Arkturas with a level glare. "Too for in WHO'S case? The one doing the threatening?"
21:44:09 Gil says: Where we goin'?
21:44:30 [Arkturas]: What would you do? What lines would you not cross, if you were in that situation.
21:45:31 [Campion]: ...I'd do anything to keep them safe. Anything. There IS nothing too far, because they're the ones I protect most dearly. Without THEM, I truely AM nothing.
21:45:50 Arkturas nods tightly. "Then perhaps things will be fine."
21:46:12 Gil says: Is it true? Are there really crocilisks in the canals?
21:46:51 Campion nods as well, going back to smoking. "They're the reason you're fighting at all, I'd imagine."
21:47:13 Erich Lohan says: Best drinks in Stormwind!
21:47:47 Arkturas grunts, chewing over a thought.
21:53:24 Erich Lohan says: Ask me how to get a free drink at the Blue Recluse!
21:53:31 [Arkturas]: You seemed...Worried. May I ask why?
21:54:25 Campion looks over from where his eyes had wandered during the lull, watching the leaves overhead mostly. "...Just a strange coincidence you showed up, is all." He blows smoke from his nose in a slow sigh.
21:54:48 [Campion]: I'd just been speaking with a friend where to go from here. After all that's happened with my, er. Prior affiliations.
21:55:37 Arkturas eyes him. "There is a sharply limited amount of 'prior affiliations' that spring to mind."
21:56:23 Campion looks away. He seems slightly pained. "...I used to wear the red flame. With a great deal of pride, no less." He can't even bring himself to call it by NAME anymore.
21:56:46 [Arkturas]: Ah.
21:57:37 [Campion]: Like I said. Gloating is commonplace now. For those that knew better all along.
21:57:41 Gil says: Why are we goin' this way?
21:57:47 Campion says this spitefully, still looking away.
21:57:53 Gil says: Are we there yet?
21:58:03 Arkturas snorts. "It's always easier, in hindsight and from the outside."
21:58:42 Arkturas shrugs. "Despite what they say about intentions, and where they lead, they are what matters, in a large part."
21:59:23 Campion raises an eyebrow, looking at Arkturas sidelong. "And you're saying this as an Argent?" He seems untrusting again, dubious. As if it weren't possible for someone on the OTHER SIDE to speak so neutrally.
21:59:36 Erich Lohan says: Feeling blue? Come on down to the Blue Recluse for a good time!
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21:59:49 Gil says: My feet hurt.
22:00:16 [Arkturas]: Seems to me that anyone who sets so much in store by a mans prior affiliations is as guilty of blindness and zealotry.
22:01:12 [Arkturas]: And Argent is my job, not what I am. Petty differences kill in the end.
22:02:11 Campion sighs. "I mean no disrespect, but I need devotion deeper than that, I think. I need to BE something. It can't just be a JOB."
22:03:26 [Arkturas]: I w...Am. I am a Vindicator. The survival of my people is my duty, honour and life. I know what you feel.
22:04:03 Campion notes the past-tense stumbling, and his expression softens slightly.
22:04:43 [Campion]: Your devotion is admirable. As is your adhering to it alongside your following of the Argents. Though I doubt those two things conflict all that much, or in any jarring ways.
22:06:01 Erich Lohan says: Ask me how to get a free drink at the Blue Recluse!
22:06:04 [Arkturas]: Barring their current deviation, they were not so bad. Once. The original intent was a good one.
22:06:34 [Arkturas]: It is easy to be lied to.
22:07:02 Campion frowns, wondering. "The Argents? What do-..." And he realizes too late it's not THAT Crusade being called into question. He shuts up, and fast, looking down at the cobblestones like a scolded child.
22:08:33 [Arkturas]: What do you believe? That you hold dear, beyond all else?
22:09:10 [Campion]: Aside from wanting my loved ones to be safe? I don't-...I don't properly KNOW anymore.
22:10:01 [Arkturas]: That tells me what I need to know.
22:10:22 Campion narrows his eyes, looking up again. "And what DID you need to know?"
22:11:21 Arkturas smiles. "I will offer to sponsor you, if such will remove doubts. If not, I want you to join me, if you want. Fight the good fight in Northrend."
22:11:27 Gil says: Why do we always go the same way?
22:11:42 Gil says: Are we there yet?
22:12:16 Erich Lohan says: Magical studies stressing your brain? Relax at the Blue Recluse!
22:13:13 Campion shudders. It's a violent jerk of a motion, an involuntary, prompted shiver. The book in his hands is dropped, and he puts his arms around himself as it to prevent any further movements like that. He looks away again, slightly ashamed.
22:13:29 Gil says: Are we there yet?
22:13:36 [Arkturas]: I am sorry, if that offended you.
22:13:39 Campion mumbles, "I don't know if I can go back. I saw too much there..."
22:15:02 Arkturas looks at him calmly. "The test of a man is thus. When he looks upon the horrible place that this world can, and sometimes is, will he turn his face away, or set his chin. It's not how hard you can be hit, but how hard you can be hit, and continue <c>
22:15:23 Arkturas || Forwards. People need us."
22:17:25 Campion keeps his face turned, unable to look at Arkturas at this point. That pained expression is back, obviously agonizing over what he's said. "...I don't know if I can," he admits finally, weakly. Obviously ashamed at this admission. Not strong enough by >
22:17:30 Campion | this man's standards.
22:17:59 [Arkturas]: Do you ride horses?
22:18:34 Campion blinks. He still doesn't turn to face Ark, but he boggles all the same. "...What?" He's not sure he heard him right.
22:18:41 [Arkturas]: Do you ride horses?
22:18:59 Erich Lohan says: Ask me how to get a free drink at the Blue Recluse!
22:19:07 Campion sloooowly turns back to look at him, confusion written plain on his face. "...Yes?"
22:20:00 [Arkturas]: Well, my people use Talbuks, and elekks. But, the story is the same. A friend of mine, when he was a lad, was riding, and fell. Broke his arm and leg.
22:20:34 [Arkturas]: Once he had recovered, he could not look on an elekk without shuddering. And he walked everywhere.
22:21:09 Campion blinks slowly, listening.
22:21:35 [Arkturas]: His fear grew at his refusal to face it. And it grew each time he excused himself.
22:22:01 [Arkturas]: His father, a man I hold with deepest respect, was empathetic, for a time.
22:22:28 [Arkturas]: Then, one day, he snapped. He grabbed his son, and plopped him onto an elekk.
22:22:55 [Campion]: And how'd THAT go.
22:23:37 [Arkturas]: My friend was terrified. Paralyzed with terror. And with his eyes shut, he refused to do anything, save try to get off the elekk.
22:24:00 [Arkturas]: So his father slapped it on the rump, and sent it galloping.
22:24:12 Campion winces. He feels for this guy.
22:25:10 Gil says: Why are we goin' this way?
22:25:14 Erich Lohan says: Free drinks at the Blue Recluse!
22:26:11 [Arkturas]: So my friend had to open his eyes, and stop the elekk. He had to ride.
22:26:53 Campion looks a little ill now. Immersion therepy is a frightful thought for a LOT of things in his life.
22:27:17 Gil says: Is it true? Are there really crocilisks in the canals?
22:27:34 [Arkturas]: It's not easy. But the only way to be sure of failure, is to never try.
22:28:39 [Campion]: That-...That sort of thing doesn't work for EVERYTHING. Hell, I'm terrified to let people in my life know half the things I AM afraid of for fear they'd try to do that very thing and only make it WORSE. But, I. Uh. Beside the point, I suppose.
22:28:45 Campion looks away, rubbing the back of his neck.
22:29:33 Arkturas says drily. "You know some very terrible people."
22:30:20 Campion frowns. "Well-meaning, but." Shrug. MOST of them, anyways. Then there's the winners who just like to torment, but we're not talking about them right now.
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22:33:00 [Arkturas]: Nevertheless, it is an open offer. I am due to return to Icecrown Citadel soon. You can join me, or not. I will not pretend it will be easy.
22:33:32 [Arkturas]: But the things worth doing are never easy.
22:34:03 Campion winces again. Same jerk as before. PTSD is a horrible thing. "I've-...I've been there. I've already been. I don't-..." He shuts up, fuming, irritated wth HIMSELF for his cowardice. And it shows.
22:35:12 Arkturas asks bluntly. "What are you scared of?"
22:37:05 Campion looks up again, taken aback by the question. But then he seriously considers it, swallowing hard. "H-...Hah. A lot of things. I saw horrible things up there. If we weren't being killed by every other faction present, we were-..."
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22:38:18 [Campion]: We were being killed by our own. Our own superiors! The ones there to be our spiritual guides w-were lining us up and using us til we had nothing LEFT to give, like cattle. And then-...The things I saw in that Citadel. I saw HIM! And I was TERRIFIED. But-
22:39:18 Campion looks down again, arms around himself once more. "...I am more frightened than anything at the lack of hope. How everything in that place, both the Harbour AND the Citadel, were made to destroy it completely. And that it's done its job."
22:39:27 Gil says: Are we there yet?
22:39:43 Gil says: Are we there yet?
22:41:19 [Arkturas]: Hope isn't gone, Miles Campion. It is just hard to see sometimes.
22:41:26 Gil says: I wanna see the Mage Tower.
22:43:14 Campion laughs weakly. "Like I've said. I've been places where it makes it their BUSINESS to see it ripped out of you."
22:43:55 [Arkturas]: So you are giving in to them. You are letting them win.
22:44:11 [Arkturas]: You are admitting that theirs was the stronger.
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22:45:02 Campion doesn't look up. "Does the name Uther Lightbringer mean anything to you? You're a draenei, so perhaps not."
22:45:40 Arkturas twitches, and perhaps goes a little pale, before recovering himself. "Yes, I know who he is."
22:47:11 [Campion]: Well. He's gone now. His spirit lingered for a time at his resting place in the Plaguelands. But no more. And he WAS hope. Everything about him. And to finally have EVERY trace of what he stood for GONE...
22:47:25 Campion trails off, still staring downward, arms still wrapped around himself.
22:47:47 [Arkturas]: He is not gone. The Light never abandons it's champions.
22:50:23 Campion looks up, smiling humourlessly. "And how are you so sure of this. How do you know he's not gone. His soul's been taken by the Lich King's damn blade, and his soul is LOST."
22:51:03 Erich Lohan says: Magical studies stressing your brain? Relax at the Blue Recluse!
22:51:40 Arkturas sounds as if he may be hiding something. "His spirit has been seen at his memorial, in the Plaguelands."
22:52:18 [Campion]: I know. I've seen it. And do you know where ELSE I saw it? At the Citadel.
22:52:35 [Arkturas]: Yes. I saw it too.
22:53:03 Gil says: My feet hurt.
22:53:19 Gil says: Are we there yet?
22:53:31 Campion looks at him, obviously mournful of this. "He was-...He was everything I aspired to BE in a paladin."
22:54:08 [Arkturas]: Is that so wrong?
22:55:00 Gil says: Are we there yet?
22:55:12 [Campion]: It's wrong that he's GONE now. Entirely. If HE has no hope against what's waiting for us in the north, what chance do WE have? Neither you NOR I will ever be as great as he was.
22:55:13 Gil says: Why are we goin' this way?
22:55:34 [Arkturas]: Not alone, we are not.
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22:59:08 Campion just continues to watch Arkturas balefully. He looks more than torn-up over this.
22:59:28 [Arkturas]: Right is no guarantee of victory. But as long as good men do not turn from what must be done, we will win in the end. Evil only prospers when none dare call it evil.
23:01:07 [Campion]: I'm hardly a good man.
23:01:14 Campion goes back to staring at the cobblestones.
23:01:34 [Arkturas]: Only a truely good man thinks so.
23:02:59 [Campion]: Hard to come back from-...Light, I dare not even look BACK at all the things I've done from this new persepctive. How many of my actions were nothing short of monstrous just by WHO I was doing them for all along.
23:03:29 Erich Lohan says: Magical studies stressing your brain? Relax at the Blue Recluse!
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23:03:43 [Arkturas]: Alright, hold up.
23:04:23 [Arkturas]: If you gave a white kitten to a girl, does the fact that you were working for the Crusade make that act monstrous?
23:04:51 Campion blinks. And then frowns. "No. But I think you're oversimplifying this."
23:06:27 [Arkturas]: Maybe. But the essence is the same. Who you work for does not mean you are tarnished absolutely.
23:06:50 [Arkturas]: I won't deny that you likely did terrible things. But you regret them, yes?
23:07:34 [Campion]: I followed orders unquestioningly. If I were even remotely bothered by doing as I was told, I continued to convince myself that the issue was with MYSELF. The Crusade was beyond reproach. Any guilt I held over any actions I did, in their name or-...
23:08:04 Campion hesitates. "...Or in my personal affairs was MY fault. This is what I told myself. And now that I can no longer trust that moral compass, and now that I see their cause for what it is..."
23:08:15 Campion doesn't say anything beyond that. Back to staring at the ground.
23:09:17 Arkturas grunts. "That is the problem with people like us. In our need for a cause, we can blind ourselves to the truth."
23:09:43 Campion smiles slightly. It's good to have someone that understands the mindset, and not from a condemning point of view.
23:09:46 Erich Lohan says: Come for the beer, stay for the atmosphere!
23:09:58 Erich Lohan says: Feeling blue? Come on down to the Blue Recluse for a good time!
23:10:14 [Arkturas]: Do you think that you are damned for what you have done? Irrevocably?
23:10:58 Campion isn't smiling any longer. "Perhaps."
23:11:18 [Arkturas]: Well, then perhaps I shall let you judge some of my tale.
23:11:37 Campion glances up. He's listening.
23:11:39 [Arkturas]: Do you know of the war between the Draenei and the orcs, on Draenor?
23:11:54 [Campion]: Admittedly very little.
23:15:14 [Arkturas]: It came without warning. We had lived peacefully, until they descended on us like wild animals. Eight years we fought.
23:15:44 [Arkturas]: My men and I were marching to Nagrand, to defend the townships there. We were, too late.
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23:16:32 Campion makes a small sound, still listening. He knows Nagrand; it makes this story more 'real' actually being aware of the locations its set in.
23:17:30 Arkturas looks down at his clenched fists. "We found the first town. Burned. Destroyed. Men and children killed. The women, worse."
23:18:27 Campion furrows his brow. "And this was the work of the orcs?"
23:18:56 Arkturas shuts his eyes tight. "We are a dwindling race. And every loss puts our race closer to its end."
23:19:27 [Arkturas]: Yes. The Legion was their puppetmaster, but we found that out later. But it was their warriors who slew my brethren.
23:19:49 [Arkturas]: We were, broken. Enraged. We swore to preotect them, and we had failed.
23:20:26 Campion purses his lips, now keeping quiet for the rest of this story. The emotion which Arkturas tells it demands no less.
23:20:30 Arkturas looks up and at Campion, eyes hard as a blade, jaw tight. "So I swore that whatever they did, they would recieve tenfold."
23:20:57 Campion nods, mute. Understanding, at least. Hardly judging.
23:20:59 [Arkturas]: We found the orcs that had done it. And we slaughtered them.
23:21:27 [Arkturas]: Fashioned grim warnings from their flesh, that the others might know the fear the villagers had known.
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23:23:21 [Arkturas]: But it wasn;t enough. Not nearly so. And so, village, after village, after village. We killed until our armour was stained with their blood. Razed their villages. Sowed their fields with salt. Women. Children. Farmers and craftsmen.
23:23:36 [Arkturas]: It didn't matter to our hunger, our lust for vengeance.
23:27:12 Campion nods again, if just to acknowledge this tale and the direction it's headed.
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23:29:13 [Arkturas]: I don't even remember where, or how, we stopped. Just we were in hiding, after Shattrath.
23:29:53 Campion nods again. Another one of the few Outland location he recognizes.
23:30:34 Arkturas attempts to crack a smile. It falls flat. "I don;t think you have much to worry about."
23:31:39 [Campion]: I'd be the worst kind of liar if I said I'd have not done the same thing in your place. If it were someone that I held near as dear, or saw so much innocent blood shed. I don't think ANYONE could condemn you for that.
23:32:45 [Arkturas]: Perhaps for the warriors. The others?
23:34:09 [Campion]: But you feel remorse for it, I take it.
23:34:51 [Arkturas]: Sometimes. Yes. But I cannot say if I would do something different, if I truly regret what I ahve done.
23:34:51 Erich Lohan says: Best drinks in Stormwind!
23:35:03 Erich Lohan says: Free drinks at the Blue Recluse!
23:35:05 Jaxith spots Campion and hesitates.
23:35:40 Campion considers this, quiet for a moment.
23:35:43 Jaxith gives the paladin a wide birth. Sneaky sneaky death knight.
23:36:39 [Campion]: So long as you acknowledge that what you've done was wrong, and so long as you remain steadfast in never doing it again...
23:37:05 [Arkturas]: That is the question, isn't it.
23:37:33 Campion smiles weakly. "I used to be a confessor, you know. Ordained by the Church of the Light and everything. Had it done right before it all went to shit."
23:37:43 [Campion]: So. Go forth and sin no more?
23:38:07 [Arkturas]: I do as I must.
23:38:53 [Campion]: Understandable. The path of the just is hardly ever simple. Worse still for those who've lost their way entirely.
23:39:00 Arkturas nods.
23:39:08 Campion picks at a stray thread on his sleeve, looking for distraction as he says that.
23:39:47 [Arkturas]: But I think there is hope for you.
23:39:59 [Campion]: Do you.
23:40:04 [Arkturas]: I do.
23:40:13 [Campion]: What makes you so certain?
23:40:59 Arkturas smiles a bit sadly. "If not, then what hope do we have?"
23:41:15 Erich Lohan says: Best drinks in Stormwind!
23:41:49 Campion returns that smile. "I've found it much easier these days to put my hope in others than myself. And pray that those I love are willing to continuing hoping in ME."
23:41:55 [Campion]: Or else I truely AM lost.
23:42:26 [Arkturas]: You and me both.
23:42:52 [Arkturas]: So until then, we soldier on, and do what we can, that others do not have to do it.
23:43:13 Campion breathes a laugh. "I think I quite like you." He's one of those people who will declare such, since it's a rare occurance upon first meetings!
23:43:35 Kalilah is ooc.
23:43:49 Shryndael
]]
23:45:34 [Arkturas]: I am honoured.
23:46:19 Campion politely nods once. "It's BEEN an honour, speaking with you."
23:47:29 Erich Lohan says: Best drinks in Stormwind!
23:47:43 Erich Lohan says: Magical studies stressing your brain? Relax at the Blue Recluse!
23:48:17 [Arkturas]: Will you think on my offer?
23:48:37 [Campion]: I-...I'll give it serious consideration. I can't promise any more than that.
23:48:51 [Arkturas]: That is enough. Thank you, Miles Campion.
23:49:25 [Campion]: And thank you, Arkturas. You've been. Well. Inspiring, I suppose. And tolerant.
23:49:47 [Arkturas]: If that is true, then I am pleased beyond words.
23:49:56 Campion coughs. Strangers having to put up with his violent reactions to what Icecrown has done to him are few and far between!
23:50:23 [Campion]: I'm a terrible liar, so you can usually take me for my word.
23:50:26 Campion smirks.
23:53:00 [Dazruk]: 'Sup ducks.
23:53:15 You eye Dazruk up and down.
23:53:53 Erich Lohan says: Magical studies stressing your brain? Relax at the Blue Recluse!
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23:54:09 Dazruk looks at you.
23:54:10 Dazruk ruffles your hair.
23:55:23 [Arkturas]: I must be leaving now. Till we meet again?
23:55:35 Dazruk tells Kalilah to be quiet. Shhh!
23:55:47 Campion nods. "Til we meet again."
20:58:12 Ruepert thinks this bush doesn't quite work.
20:58:15 Kalilah is not here.
20:58:30 Nallaen lock in a bush
20:58:58 Campion looks up at the nearby draenei and his grumbling. There's an alchemy book open in his hands presently. He ends up eyeing the tabard he's wearing more than anything.
20:59:04 Erunis senses figues in the bush before him
20:59:12 Arkturas dumps the bucket over his head, snorting and blowing water from his mustache. The runoff is stained a light pink.
20:59:20 Kalilah is OOC to eavesdrop, sorry!
20:59:28 Nallaen what the priest said
20:59:33 Ruepert ditto
21:00:02 Campion watches, mildly bewildered. "...What the hell were YOU doing."
21:00:20 Arkturas slumps to a bench, wringin out the tail of his tabard and cloak. "Cleaning."
21:00:44 [Campion]: No, I mean, what PROMPTED the cleaning?
21:00:54 Campion waves a hand, indicating the once-blood spattered armour.
21:01:21 Arkturas eyes the human. "There was a philosophical debate, that could not be solved with words."
21:01:47 Campion purses his lips. Eye flits back to that Argent tabard, and obivously so. "I...see."
21:02:41 Arkturas follows his gaze and grunts. "Crusader?"
21:03:01 Gil says: Where we goin'?
21:03:17 Erich Lohan says: Free drinks at the Blue Recluse!
21:04:02 Campion winces. He busies himself with looking down at the book in his hand again, turning it over. "...Formally."
21:04:58 Gil says: Why do we always go the same way?
21:05:11 Gil says: Is it true? Are there really crocilisks in the canals?
21:05:38 Arkturas stops wringing his cloak out, and hard eyes flick over Campion. "Formerly, eh. Sounds like a story." Ark is subtle. Yus.
21:06:27 Campion frowns. "One you'll only hear if you promise not to GLOAT." That frown becomes a bit more of a glare now. Undue assumptions on this guy's station and all.
21:07:02 Arkturas snorts. "Like I would have room to gloat. Please, continue."
21:07:43 Campion huffs a sigh. That frown is turned downward at the book in his hand now. He doesn't REALLY want to tell it. So a clipped version works.
21:08:17 [Campion]: Used to be part of a crusade and cause. Found out that it was...less than pure. And left. That's about the long and short of it.
21:08:31 Campion nods. There. Being vague cuts the pain.
21:09:01 Arkturas looks at him. "Well, good for you." He clearly means it.
21:09:27 Erich Lohan says: Feeling blue? Come on down to the Blue Recluse for a good time!
21:09:30 Campion gives him a weary, blank look.
21:09:39 Erich Lohan says: Feeling blue? Come on down to the Blue Recluse for a good time!
21:10:15 [Arkturas]: You took part in a cause. Every man needs one. But you weren't blind about it. Sounds to me that you did the right thing. What is the shame in that?
21:11:20 [Campion]: The shame I served it blindly up until that point? The horror in finding out who I was REALLY serving? The gloating of those who knew all along, had warned me, and I had no one but myself to blame for finding myself where I am now?
21:13:19 [Arkturas]: You saw it eventually. And you did something about it. You didn't follow out of malice, and did not continue to follow knowingly.
21:14:10 Campion sighs, rubbing his forehead, eyeing this draenei untrustingly. As if waiting for him to toss out a, 'just kidding, you're awful' any second now.
21:15:01 [Campion]: Regardless, doesn't leave me in much of a position NOW. Where does a fallen paladin and crusader go from HERE?
21:15:35 [Arkturas]: Oh? Fallen paladin? Is that really think you are, a monster?
21:15:50 Erich Lohan says: Free drinks at the Blue Recluse!
21:16:04 Campion frowns down at the book in his hands. "I suppose so long as we're calling a spade a spade..."
21:16:36 Arkturas snorts. "You feel terrible. Your soul burns at what you have done, and you feel that you may never clean the blood from your hands."
21:16:42 Gil says: I need to pee.
21:16:55 Gil says: Where we goin'?
21:17:42 Campion slowly lets his eye drift upward again, head still bowed, but watching this other crusader now. He doesn't say anything, but he's listening.
21:17:59 [Arkturas]: Monsters don't feel that way.
21:18:48 Gil says: Why do we always go the same way?
21:19:16 Campion eyes him still in silence for a time. Then finally asks, "...And who are you, then." Might as well get names out of the way.
21:19:29 [Arkturas]: I am Arkturas. You?
21:19:43 [Campion]: Campion. Miles Campion.
21:19:53 Campion nods once, politely, an improvised bow.
21:19:56 [Arkturas]: Greetings, Miles Campion.
21:20:15 Arkturas salutes formally.
21:20:56 [Campion]: So. You're an Argent.
21:21:02 Campion waves at the tabard.
21:21:19 Nallaen thinks campy is fucking surrounded by them. Sorry! ))
21:21:27 [Arkturas]: Yes. Leading a attached company, for the duration.
21:21:52 [Campion]: Contracted, or sworn to them?
21:22:09 Erich Lohan says: Ask me how to get a free drink at the Blue Recluse!
21:22:32 Arkturas shrugs. "They have a good cause. I needed one. They take what I have to offer."
21:23:24 Campion frowns, thoughtfully. "At least there's SOMEONE else around here that understands needing one. A cause, that is."
21:24:26 [Arkturas]: Some people are their own cause. They love for themselves. Others live for others, and need that bond of interdependance.
21:25:03 [Campion]: The need to belong to something bigger than themselves. Hardly a weakness, I should think.
21:25:21 Campion seems slightly relieved to find someone who seems to agree with him on this!
21:25:56 [Arkturas]: Of course.
21:27:03 Campion lapses into silence for a moment, seeming to mentally chew over a lot of things in the meantime, eyeing this other crusader. "...Are there any that the Argents would turn away?" Clearly hypothetical. Clearly.
21:27:50 [Arkturas]: Oh, I imagine that they would have some lines. But as long as you desired to fight the Scourge, that is the crux.
21:28:10 Arkturas gives a half smile. "If they can take me, their criteria is pretty damn loose."
21:28:14 Erich Lohan says: Ask me how to get a free drink at the Blue Recluse!
21:28:25 [Campion]: You hardly seem that bad. Tolerable, at least.
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21:28:33 Campion decides to not say the 'for a blueskin' part.
21:29:12 Arkturas is grateful for that lack. He can be a mite touchy.
21:30:08 Arkturas snorts a quiet laugh. "I've picked up a history. Sometimes I wonder just how much they know."
21:30:24 Gil says: Are we there yet?
21:30:37 Gil says: I need to pee.
21:30:39 Campion looks a little concerned. "Do they do, er. Research? Background checks, as it were."
21:31:27 Arkturas shrugs. "If they do, I never saw it. They can tell a mans sincerity to the cause."
21:32:24 Arkturas looks over at him. "And you can always get a person to vouch for you."
21:32:32 Gil says: Is it true? Are there really crocilisks in the canals?
21:33:40 Campion frowns. "I'm not sure if that's an offer, but. Really, what could YOU have done that they would find so bad? I don't ask for the sake of being nosey. Just, er."
21:33:49 [Campion]: Wondering how someone like ME would measure up.
21:34:36 Erich Lohan says: Ask me how to get a free drink at the Blue Recluse!
21:34:43 Arkturas tilts his head. "Well, that is a prying question. And I am not certain I have drunk nearly enough to answer it." Then he grumbles. "Though I suppose I shouldn't do the latter. Much."
21:35:29 [Campion]: Eh. A man's allowed his vices. In moderation.
21:35:38 [Arkturas]: I let my hate, and lust for revenge lead me to do terrible things.
21:36:19 Campion pauses in reaching for a cigarette from a pouch on his belt (talking about vices got the craving kicked up) and looks up at the draenei.
21:37:09 [Campion]: ...Well. As I told a close friend earlier, murder and vengence are two very different things. So long as you see the distinction, perhaps you were justified.
21:37:24 Campion puts a cigarette between his lips and sets about to striking a match and lighting it.
21:38:24 Arkturas gives a bitter smile. "That is a pretty sentiment, but only goes so far."
21:39:06 [Campion]: I guess the distinction lies in if YOU go too far?
21:39:17 Campion shrugs and shakes out the match, flicking it away once it's out.
21:39:25 [Arkturas]: One supposes.
21:39:52 Campion grunts in vague agreement and goes silent for a moment, smoking thoughtfully.
21:40:21 [Arkturas]: ...Have you ever thought about whether the ends justify the means?
21:40:35 Arkturas is looking steadily at his hands.
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21:41:11 [Campion]: I've spent more time thinking about it the other way around. But, yes. I used to think ANY means justified the proper end, but. Obviously, that's been re-evaluated.
21:41:23 Campion smirks ruefully around his cigarette.
21:42:43 [Arkturas]: If someone threatened the one you loved, what would be too far?
21:43:58 Campion frowns. Deeply. Turns and looks at Arkturas with a level glare. "Too for in WHO'S case? The one doing the threatening?"
21:44:09 Gil says: Where we goin'?
21:44:30 [Arkturas]: What would you do? What lines would you not cross, if you were in that situation.
21:45:31 [Campion]: ...I'd do anything to keep them safe. Anything. There IS nothing too far, because they're the ones I protect most dearly. Without THEM, I truely AM nothing.
21:45:50 Arkturas nods tightly. "Then perhaps things will be fine."
21:46:12 Gil says: Is it true? Are there really crocilisks in the canals?
21:46:51 Campion nods as well, going back to smoking. "They're the reason you're fighting at all, I'd imagine."
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21:47:47 Arkturas grunts, chewing over a thought.
21:53:24 Erich Lohan says: Ask me how to get a free drink at the Blue Recluse!
21:53:31 [Arkturas]: You seemed...Worried. May I ask why?
21:54:25 Campion looks over from where his eyes had wandered during the lull, watching the leaves overhead mostly. "...Just a strange coincidence you showed up, is all." He blows smoke from his nose in a slow sigh.
21:54:48 [Campion]: I'd just been speaking with a friend where to go from here. After all that's happened with my, er. Prior affiliations.
21:55:37 Arkturas eyes him. "There is a sharply limited amount of 'prior affiliations' that spring to mind."
21:56:23 Campion looks away. He seems slightly pained. "...I used to wear the red flame. With a great deal of pride, no less." He can't even bring himself to call it by NAME anymore.
21:56:46 [Arkturas]: Ah.
21:57:37 [Campion]: Like I said. Gloating is commonplace now. For those that knew better all along.
21:57:41 Gil says: Why are we goin' this way?
21:57:47 Campion says this spitefully, still looking away.
21:57:53 Gil says: Are we there yet?
21:58:03 Arkturas snorts. "It's always easier, in hindsight and from the outside."
21:58:42 Arkturas shrugs. "Despite what they say about intentions, and where they lead, they are what matters, in a large part."
21:59:23 Campion raises an eyebrow, looking at Arkturas sidelong. "And you're saying this as an Argent?" He seems untrusting again, dubious. As if it weren't possible for someone on the OTHER SIDE to speak so neutrally.
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21:59:49 Gil says: My feet hurt.
22:00:16 [Arkturas]: Seems to me that anyone who sets so much in store by a mans prior affiliations is as guilty of blindness and zealotry.
22:01:12 [Arkturas]: And Argent is my job, not what I am. Petty differences kill in the end.
22:02:11 Campion sighs. "I mean no disrespect, but I need devotion deeper than that, I think. I need to BE something. It can't just be a JOB."
22:03:26 [Arkturas]: I w...Am. I am a Vindicator. The survival of my people is my duty, honour and life. I know what you feel.
22:04:03 Campion notes the past-tense stumbling, and his expression softens slightly.
22:04:43 [Campion]: Your devotion is admirable. As is your adhering to it alongside your following of the Argents. Though I doubt those two things conflict all that much, or in any jarring ways.
22:06:01 Erich Lohan says: Ask me how to get a free drink at the Blue Recluse!
22:06:04 [Arkturas]: Barring their current deviation, they were not so bad. Once. The original intent was a good one.
22:06:34 [Arkturas]: It is easy to be lied to.
22:07:02 Campion frowns, wondering. "The Argents? What do-..." And he realizes too late it's not THAT Crusade being called into question. He shuts up, and fast, looking down at the cobblestones like a scolded child.
22:08:33 [Arkturas]: What do you believe? That you hold dear, beyond all else?
22:09:10 [Campion]: Aside from wanting my loved ones to be safe? I don't-...I don't properly KNOW anymore.
22:10:01 [Arkturas]: That tells me what I need to know.
22:10:22 Campion narrows his eyes, looking up again. "And what DID you need to know?"
22:11:21 Arkturas smiles. "I will offer to sponsor you, if such will remove doubts. If not, I want you to join me, if you want. Fight the good fight in Northrend."
22:11:27 Gil says: Why do we always go the same way?
22:11:42 Gil says: Are we there yet?
22:12:16 Erich Lohan says: Magical studies stressing your brain? Relax at the Blue Recluse!
22:13:13 Campion shudders. It's a violent jerk of a motion, an involuntary, prompted shiver. The book in his hands is dropped, and he puts his arms around himself as it to prevent any further movements like that. He looks away again, slightly ashamed.
22:13:29 Gil says: Are we there yet?
22:13:36 [Arkturas]: I am sorry, if that offended you.
22:13:39 Campion mumbles, "I don't know if I can go back. I saw too much there..."
22:15:02 Arkturas looks at him calmly. "The test of a man is thus. When he looks upon the horrible place that this world can, and sometimes is, will he turn his face away, or set his chin. It's not how hard you can be hit, but how hard you can be hit, and continue <c>
22:15:23 Arkturas || Forwards. People need us."
22:17:25 Campion keeps his face turned, unable to look at Arkturas at this point. That pained expression is back, obviously agonizing over what he's said. "...I don't know if I can," he admits finally, weakly. Obviously ashamed at this admission. Not strong enough by >
22:17:30 Campion | this man's standards.
22:17:59 [Arkturas]: Do you ride horses?
22:18:34 Campion blinks. He still doesn't turn to face Ark, but he boggles all the same. "...What?" He's not sure he heard him right.
22:18:41 [Arkturas]: Do you ride horses?
22:18:59 Erich Lohan says: Ask me how to get a free drink at the Blue Recluse!
22:19:07 Campion sloooowly turns back to look at him, confusion written plain on his face. "...Yes?"
22:20:00 [Arkturas]: Well, my people use Talbuks, and elekks. But, the story is the same. A friend of mine, when he was a lad, was riding, and fell. Broke his arm and leg.
22:20:34 [Arkturas]: Once he had recovered, he could not look on an elekk without shuddering. And he walked everywhere.
22:21:09 Campion blinks slowly, listening.
22:21:35 [Arkturas]: His fear grew at his refusal to face it. And it grew each time he excused himself.
22:22:01 [Arkturas]: His father, a man I hold with deepest respect, was empathetic, for a time.
22:22:28 [Arkturas]: Then, one day, he snapped. He grabbed his son, and plopped him onto an elekk.
22:22:55 [Campion]: And how'd THAT go.
22:23:37 [Arkturas]: My friend was terrified. Paralyzed with terror. And with his eyes shut, he refused to do anything, save try to get off the elekk.
22:24:00 [Arkturas]: So his father slapped it on the rump, and sent it galloping.
22:24:12 Campion winces. He feels for this guy.
22:25:10 Gil says: Why are we goin' this way?
22:25:14 Erich Lohan says: Free drinks at the Blue Recluse!
22:26:11 [Arkturas]: So my friend had to open his eyes, and stop the elekk. He had to ride.
22:26:53 Campion looks a little ill now. Immersion therepy is a frightful thought for a LOT of things in his life.
22:27:17 Gil says: Is it true? Are there really crocilisks in the canals?
22:27:34 [Arkturas]: It's not easy. But the only way to be sure of failure, is to never try.
22:28:39 [Campion]: That-...That sort of thing doesn't work for EVERYTHING. Hell, I'm terrified to let people in my life know half the things I AM afraid of for fear they'd try to do that very thing and only make it WORSE. But, I. Uh. Beside the point, I suppose.
22:28:45 Campion looks away, rubbing the back of his neck.
22:29:33 Arkturas says drily. "You know some very terrible people."
22:30:20 Campion frowns. "Well-meaning, but." Shrug. MOST of them, anyways. Then there's the winners who just like to torment, but we're not talking about them right now.
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22:33:00 [Arkturas]: Nevertheless, it is an open offer. I am due to return to Icecrown Citadel soon. You can join me, or not. I will not pretend it will be easy.
22:33:32 [Arkturas]: But the things worth doing are never easy.
22:34:03 Campion winces again. Same jerk as before. PTSD is a horrible thing. "I've-...I've been there. I've already been. I don't-..." He shuts up, fuming, irritated wth HIMSELF for his cowardice. And it shows.
22:35:12 Arkturas asks bluntly. "What are you scared of?"
22:37:05 Campion looks up again, taken aback by the question. But then he seriously considers it, swallowing hard. "H-...Hah. A lot of things. I saw horrible things up there. If we weren't being killed by every other faction present, we were-..."
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22:38:18 [Campion]: We were being killed by our own. Our own superiors! The ones there to be our spiritual guides w-were lining us up and using us til we had nothing LEFT to give, like cattle. And then-...The things I saw in that Citadel. I saw HIM! And I was TERRIFIED. But-
22:39:18 Campion looks down again, arms around himself once more. "...I am more frightened than anything at the lack of hope. How everything in that place, both the Harbour AND the Citadel, were made to destroy it completely. And that it's done its job."
22:39:27 Gil says: Are we there yet?
22:39:43 Gil says: Are we there yet?
22:41:19 [Arkturas]: Hope isn't gone, Miles Campion. It is just hard to see sometimes.
22:41:26 Gil says: I wanna see the Mage Tower.
22:43:14 Campion laughs weakly. "Like I've said. I've been places where it makes it their BUSINESS to see it ripped out of you."
22:43:55 [Arkturas]: So you are giving in to them. You are letting them win.
22:44:11 [Arkturas]: You are admitting that theirs was the stronger.
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22:45:02 Campion doesn't look up. "Does the name Uther Lightbringer mean anything to you? You're a draenei, so perhaps not."
22:45:40 Arkturas twitches, and perhaps goes a little pale, before recovering himself. "Yes, I know who he is."
22:47:11 [Campion]: Well. He's gone now. His spirit lingered for a time at his resting place in the Plaguelands. But no more. And he WAS hope. Everything about him. And to finally have EVERY trace of what he stood for GONE...
22:47:25 Campion trails off, still staring downward, arms still wrapped around himself.
22:47:47 [Arkturas]: He is not gone. The Light never abandons it's champions.
22:50:23 Campion looks up, smiling humourlessly. "And how are you so sure of this. How do you know he's not gone. His soul's been taken by the Lich King's damn blade, and his soul is LOST."
22:51:03 Erich Lohan says: Magical studies stressing your brain? Relax at the Blue Recluse!
22:51:40 Arkturas sounds as if he may be hiding something. "His spirit has been seen at his memorial, in the Plaguelands."
22:52:18 [Campion]: I know. I've seen it. And do you know where ELSE I saw it? At the Citadel.
22:52:35 [Arkturas]: Yes. I saw it too.
22:53:03 Gil says: My feet hurt.
22:53:19 Gil says: Are we there yet?
22:53:31 Campion looks at him, obviously mournful of this. "He was-...He was everything I aspired to BE in a paladin."
22:54:08 [Arkturas]: Is that so wrong?
22:55:00 Gil says: Are we there yet?
22:55:12 [Campion]: It's wrong that he's GONE now. Entirely. If HE has no hope against what's waiting for us in the north, what chance do WE have? Neither you NOR I will ever be as great as he was.
22:55:13 Gil says: Why are we goin' this way?
22:55:34 [Arkturas]: Not alone, we are not.
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22:57:24 Erich Lohan says: Feeling blue? Come on down to the Blue Recluse for a good time!
22:59:08 Campion just continues to watch Arkturas balefully. He looks more than torn-up over this.
22:59:28 [Arkturas]: Right is no guarantee of victory. But as long as good men do not turn from what must be done, we will win in the end. Evil only prospers when none dare call it evil.
23:01:07 [Campion]: I'm hardly a good man.
23:01:14 Campion goes back to staring at the cobblestones.
23:01:34 [Arkturas]: Only a truely good man thinks so.
23:02:59 [Campion]: Hard to come back from-...Light, I dare not even look BACK at all the things I've done from this new persepctive. How many of my actions were nothing short of monstrous just by WHO I was doing them for all along.
23:03:29 Erich Lohan says: Magical studies stressing your brain? Relax at the Blue Recluse!
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23:03:43 [Arkturas]: Alright, hold up.
23:04:23 [Arkturas]: If you gave a white kitten to a girl, does the fact that you were working for the Crusade make that act monstrous?
23:04:51 Campion blinks. And then frowns. "No. But I think you're oversimplifying this."
23:06:27 [Arkturas]: Maybe. But the essence is the same. Who you work for does not mean you are tarnished absolutely.
23:06:50 [Arkturas]: I won't deny that you likely did terrible things. But you regret them, yes?
23:07:34 [Campion]: I followed orders unquestioningly. If I were even remotely bothered by doing as I was told, I continued to convince myself that the issue was with MYSELF. The Crusade was beyond reproach. Any guilt I held over any actions I did, in their name or-...
23:08:04 Campion hesitates. "...Or in my personal affairs was MY fault. This is what I told myself. And now that I can no longer trust that moral compass, and now that I see their cause for what it is..."
23:08:15 Campion doesn't say anything beyond that. Back to staring at the ground.
23:09:17 Arkturas grunts. "That is the problem with people like us. In our need for a cause, we can blind ourselves to the truth."
23:09:43 Campion smiles slightly. It's good to have someone that understands the mindset, and not from a condemning point of view.
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23:10:14 [Arkturas]: Do you think that you are damned for what you have done? Irrevocably?
23:10:58 Campion isn't smiling any longer. "Perhaps."
23:11:18 [Arkturas]: Well, then perhaps I shall let you judge some of my tale.
23:11:37 Campion glances up. He's listening.
23:11:39 [Arkturas]: Do you know of the war between the Draenei and the orcs, on Draenor?
23:11:54 [Campion]: Admittedly very little.
23:15:14 [Arkturas]: It came without warning. We had lived peacefully, until they descended on us like wild animals. Eight years we fought.
23:15:44 [Arkturas]: My men and I were marching to Nagrand, to defend the townships there. We were, too late.
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23:16:32 Campion makes a small sound, still listening. He knows Nagrand; it makes this story more 'real' actually being aware of the locations its set in.
23:17:30 Arkturas looks down at his clenched fists. "We found the first town. Burned. Destroyed. Men and children killed. The women, worse."
23:18:27 Campion furrows his brow. "And this was the work of the orcs?"
23:18:56 Arkturas shuts his eyes tight. "We are a dwindling race. And every loss puts our race closer to its end."
23:19:27 [Arkturas]: Yes. The Legion was their puppetmaster, but we found that out later. But it was their warriors who slew my brethren.
23:19:49 [Arkturas]: We were, broken. Enraged. We swore to preotect them, and we had failed.
23:20:26 Campion purses his lips, now keeping quiet for the rest of this story. The emotion which Arkturas tells it demands no less.
23:20:30 Arkturas looks up and at Campion, eyes hard as a blade, jaw tight. "So I swore that whatever they did, they would recieve tenfold."
23:20:57 Campion nods, mute. Understanding, at least. Hardly judging.
23:20:59 [Arkturas]: We found the orcs that had done it. And we slaughtered them.
23:21:27 [Arkturas]: Fashioned grim warnings from their flesh, that the others might know the fear the villagers had known.
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23:23:21 [Arkturas]: But it wasn;t enough. Not nearly so. And so, village, after village, after village. We killed until our armour was stained with their blood. Razed their villages. Sowed their fields with salt. Women. Children. Farmers and craftsmen.
23:23:36 [Arkturas]: It didn't matter to our hunger, our lust for vengeance.
23:27:12 Campion nods again, if just to acknowledge this tale and the direction it's headed.
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23:29:13 [Arkturas]: I don't even remember where, or how, we stopped. Just we were in hiding, after Shattrath.
23:29:53 Campion nods again. Another one of the few Outland location he recognizes.
23:30:34 Arkturas attempts to crack a smile. It falls flat. "I don;t think you have much to worry about."
23:31:39 [Campion]: I'd be the worst kind of liar if I said I'd have not done the same thing in your place. If it were someone that I held near as dear, or saw so much innocent blood shed. I don't think ANYONE could condemn you for that.
23:32:45 [Arkturas]: Perhaps for the warriors. The others?
23:34:09 [Campion]: But you feel remorse for it, I take it.
23:34:51 [Arkturas]: Sometimes. Yes. But I cannot say if I would do something different, if I truly regret what I ahve done.
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23:35:05 Jaxith spots Campion and hesitates.
23:35:40 Campion considers this, quiet for a moment.
23:35:43 Jaxith gives the paladin a wide birth. Sneaky sneaky death knight.
23:36:39 [Campion]: So long as you acknowledge that what you've done was wrong, and so long as you remain steadfast in never doing it again...
23:37:05 [Arkturas]: That is the question, isn't it.
23:37:33 Campion smiles weakly. "I used to be a confessor, you know. Ordained by the Church of the Light and everything. Had it done right before it all went to shit."
23:37:43 [Campion]: So. Go forth and sin no more?
23:38:07 [Arkturas]: I do as I must.
23:38:53 [Campion]: Understandable. The path of the just is hardly ever simple. Worse still for those who've lost their way entirely.
23:39:00 Arkturas nods.
23:39:08 Campion picks at a stray thread on his sleeve, looking for distraction as he says that.
23:39:47 [Arkturas]: But I think there is hope for you.
23:39:59 [Campion]: Do you.
23:40:04 [Arkturas]: I do.
23:40:13 [Campion]: What makes you so certain?
23:40:59 Arkturas smiles a bit sadly. "If not, then what hope do we have?"
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23:41:49 Campion returns that smile. "I've found it much easier these days to put my hope in others than myself. And pray that those I love are willing to continuing hoping in ME."
23:41:55 [Campion]: Or else I truely AM lost.
23:42:26 [Arkturas]: You and me both.
23:42:52 [Arkturas]: So until then, we soldier on, and do what we can, that others do not have to do it.
23:43:13 Campion breathes a laugh. "I think I quite like you." He's one of those people who will declare such, since it's a rare occurance upon first meetings!
23:43:35 Kalilah is ooc.
23:43:49 Shryndael
]]23:45:34 [Arkturas]: I am honoured.
23:46:19 Campion politely nods once. "It's BEEN an honour, speaking with you."
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23:48:17 [Arkturas]: Will you think on my offer?
23:48:37 [Campion]: I-...I'll give it serious consideration. I can't promise any more than that.
23:48:51 [Arkturas]: That is enough. Thank you, Miles Campion.
23:49:25 [Campion]: And thank you, Arkturas. You've been. Well. Inspiring, I suppose. And tolerant.
23:49:47 [Arkturas]: If that is true, then I am pleased beyond words.
23:49:56 Campion coughs. Strangers having to put up with his violent reactions to what Icecrown has done to him are few and far between!
23:50:23 [Campion]: I'm a terrible liar, so you can usually take me for my word.
23:50:26 Campion smirks.
23:53:00 [Dazruk]: 'Sup ducks.
23:53:15 You eye Dazruk up and down.
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23:54:09 Dazruk looks at you.
23:54:10 Dazruk ruffles your hair.
23:55:23 [Arkturas]: I must be leaving now. Till we meet again?
23:55:35 Dazruk tells Kalilah to be quiet. Shhh!
23:55:47 Campion nods. "Til we meet again."