Neverwinter Forest come shove the sun aside

hoping to nab the counselor skill so ,, <3 ; open to forneskjans !!

set after this thread ; tags as reference or invitation :3

rökkur was headed to the moongrove, now, of which was his duty to maintain and protect ; but as he returned to its' heart and observed the pale flowers that bloomed by the stones base, he thought of his place within the neverwinter. not only physically, however, but his duty to the people who refuged here. his packmates.

he thought of @Luhtar and @Solharr, both of which he had consoled, had passed his wisdom upon. and although his words were of a spiritual nature, that did not contradict the fact that he had aided these men in making peace with their tribulations. the former ; his role within the pack. the latter ; a general reading that then steered towards his romantic endeavours. his betrothed, @Callyope, whom he worried for at the time.

and now, as he considered these moments, he thought that perhaps he was not only confined to his role within forneskja. he was a faith man — and he would always be, now and forever — but he was also a member of a community, of a people, and he wanted to support those in which supported him. the forneskjans.

the guardian would tilt his head back ; lips pursed in a howl, echoing throughout the woods, the pines, as he called for any who wanted conversation. anyone that he could connect with, consol, should they require it.

or maybe @Iruna since they haven't met yet ? eyes

Eydis was growing exhausted, her nightmares having kept her up for far too long these past days. Tonight was no different.

She hated wandering beneath the stars, so the cover of trees was what she would settle for. Her mind was distant as the howl rung in her ears, and so she did not truly listen for who it was or what they wanted. Her paws however did redirect her towards them.

Spotting Rokkur, her heart sank. Their last meeting had not gone well. The woman lingered at the edge of the grove, her hazy mind deciding what there was to do in such a situation. He did not seem hurt, nor distressed, so did she have to stay?

Surely if she turned away now it would be fine... it wasn't like he had seen her yet.

trade: counselor

it was begrudging footsteps that approached him, and the guardian supposed that was fair, considering the shade of the sky and the twinkling of the starlight above the treeline.

when he turned his dark head, he spotted blonde furs, and thought for a moment that it may be catamaran, but as his eyes adjusted to the shadows, he noticed it was eydís, the woman who he had not quite gotten along with the first time they had met. something he was keen to make right, considering his newest revelation.

hello, eydís, he murmured, then. a flick of his tail invited her further towards him, should she wish, but he did not mind her presence beyond the treeline. you do not like the stars ; stay within the trees, if you wish. though i would not advocate against your proximity. he turned his face away from her, then, nosing at the moonflowers.

a moment or two would pass before he would speak once more: you are up late. do you wish to talk? about anything, he wanted to say. maybe your paranoia. but he stayed quiet for now, instead letting her come to him. the virtue of patience.

She had been noticed. It would be rude to leave now.

What is there to talk about? She was blunt as ever, her question accompanied by the raise of her eyebrow. They had nothing in common, there was nothing to say. Though she was somewhat pleased that he had remembered her preference to stay out of the moonlight. It was... kind.

Eydis was not one for conversation these days. She feared that her fears and thoughts would spill out of her, as they had with Rokkur once before. The wolves of Forneskja had not so easily clicked with her so far, and she felt that sharing her feelings would only make things worse.

If she felt unwelcome now it would not get better if they looked at her the way Chevy had.

She had stuck to her hunting, forcing her mind into a methodical step-by-step process. Track, bite, kill, drag. It was easier this way.

trade: counselor

you do not have to talk. he said, then, rising from his place by the boulder with a shadowy grace. his figure, though large, well-muscled, rose with a shadowesque grace. he nipped a flower from its stem, holding it in his teeth ; and he would turn, then, delivering it to the woman within the treeline. a gift.

he dropped it a few ways in front of her, sitting back on his haunches. but i will listen, should you wish. i am here for your comfort, and he would push the flower forwards, then, using a single dark paw. a gentle nod, looking from the woman her sage green eyes to the pale, almost shimmering, trumpet-shaped plant ; humming.

do you like it? he murmured, almost absent-mindedly, though when crimson eyes flickered back up to her, they spoke of something different. of a quiet study of character. watchful and observant, though gently squinted with the slightest curve of his maw: a soft, welcoming smile. and he looked back down to it then.

he wanted her to come to her own conclusion.

The larger wolf brought a flower to the tree line where she stood, and her posture visibly softened. She truly had misjudged him.

Tired and overwhelmed by social interaction, baby blue eyes welled with tears as she gave him a simple nod in response. Eydis felt as though she could melt into a puddle of pure condensed feelings at any moment.

She did not wish to cry, but her mind and body thoroughly exhausted by her rigorous routine and constant nightmares her emotions were bubbling to the surface.

But a simple flower. How was that alone causing her to burst into tears?

trade: counselor

oh, eydís, he would reach a paw out, somewhat hesitant, though believing that in this moment, all the woman needed to know, to believe, was that someone cared. with the back of his paw, his claws avoiding her face, he would wipe her tears against her cheek, brows furrowed. sympathetic. breathe. you will be okay ; you are not alone.

he, too, would breathe, now. in for four seconds, out for the same amount, guiding her. after a few moments passed, he would address the flower once more: tell me what you see of the flower, he murmured, soothing, distracting. an attempt at a distraction, a method for her calmness. describe it ; what do you notice first?

She couldn't understand the significance of the flower, but she would comply all the same. Any reason not to think. Its a plant. That was the factual answer, and yet she felt that was not what Rokkur wished for.

She let out a breath. Its.. a gesture. But why had it made her cry? She shook her head, frowning. I'm sorry, I'm just tired is all. Tired. That was all it was.

Eydis was not one to grow emotional, and particularly not in the presence of other's. Her stoic nature was what in her mind, kept her safe.

trade: counselor

you're right, it's a plant, he smiled, then, nodding slowly, encouragingly. a gesture is a nice way to put it. a soft tone, almost lilting in the same way that the flowers did when a breeze flowed through the canopy, navigating through thick trunks.

and when she apologised, rökkur shook his head. do not apologise for your tears, eydís. you may not be able to shape your words, or you may not want to form them at all, but it is your tears that tell me what i need to know. careful. a murmur.

perhaps it is your exhaustion that has triggered this, he explained, then. have you been struggling with sleep, eydís? a tone like trying to navigate a minefield.

She gave a careful nod at his question, not one to lie. She had struggled with her sleep since her first child fell ill, at first simply too busy worrying and doing what she could to aid them, but after the first death she had been continuously haunted.

Night terrors. I've struggled with them for some time. Her eyes settled on the flower. A gesture, a paw reaching for her. It unsettled and comforted her all at once.

She noted his tone, and found that she felt rather embarrassed by the circumstances.

trade: counselor

he made an 'ahh' sound, then, nodding his head. never had he experienced night terrors, not with himself, and neither with any that he knew, but he could learn.

do you have the same night terrors each time? or is it something new every night? because, if it was the same thing every night, perhaps that would help them get to the root of the problem. perhaps that was what he needed to help her.

She sat now, keeping her paws close together. Similar, but not always that same. She responded. ..My children.

The words felt wrong leaving her mouth. She had not spoken of them in some time, not to another at least. They had never left her mind, not even for a moment. She loved them too dearly.

Eydis inhaled sharply and she felt the tears prick at her eyes once again. She missed her babies, the woman that she was for the short time they were with her.

he watched her, then. carefully. analytically, though not as if she were a piece of data, nor a puzzle for him to work. he studied her ; the smaller behaviours, her tone of voice. the actions that screamed of a deeper sorrow. he nodded.

cry, eydís, he murmured, then. cry for your children ; holding your emotions, your sorrow, within ... it will do no good, it will only prolong your pain. he knew this much. he had spilt tears of his own. he had watched many lives be lost to a cause that had no reason for existing. and he knew, from personal experience, that keeping pain to yourself would only hurt more. a soft breath pushed through his nostrils.

he shuffled, then, rising to sit beside her, to gaze upon the grove from within the treeline. tell me about them, if you wish, another breath. thinking of a past of his own. of those he had lost. a past that neither eydís nor anyone would ever come to learn of. his own personal secret. it may help ... to talk about them.

Rokkur was willing to listen, and the words were pouring out of her. I lost them.. She spoke through a sob, her head now pressing into the shoulder of the other with the intention of hiding her tears. They were ripped away from me, and nobody believes that they are still living.

But I know they are. She insisted, though Rokkur had not said otherwise.

She grit her teeth. It hurt to speak of what had happened, even know. It hurt to see just how bitter she had grown.

She could not be happy because without them, she could not allow herself to be. She simply did not deserve it.

he listened, then. ears perked, gaze sympathetic as she recalled the loss of her children ; or what she seemed to believe, the supposed loss of them. he would put his nose to her forehead as she leaned against his shoulder, a sign of comfort, of care for his packmate.

you say they are still living, how do you know? the quiet, soothing tone of his voice replicating his actions as he smoothed back her blonde fur with his muzzle. a question that was not meant to come off as rude, though yet to be certain whether the children were truly alive, or if this was simply delusion. he hoped for the former.

though should the latter be true, he would not be cruel in the face of it.

Her teary eyes lifted to meet his as she responded. Were you never told stories of changelings? She searched his face for any sign of recognition.

They replace your children with your own, but fae so young rarely survive in our realm. She offered a brief explanation, the solemn nature of her tone briefly fading as she spoke of the death of these supposed fae. My children were plump and happy. I was left with thin, wailing creatures. They could not be mine.

No, they were not hers. She was sure of it from the way they rejected her milk and felt so cold to the touch. Her children were wandering the world without her, lost and afraid.

Sick, was what Chevy had claimed them to be. But if each of her pups had grown ill in such a short time, should she have not been able to prevent it?

changelings were not familiar to him, but when she spoke, the faintest flicker of tröllin returned to his mind, a tale in which his mother had taught to him. trolls that would exchange young children for their own ; that a Lauren with the appearance of a child would take its place. a weariness grew upon his face, then. a soft nod followed.

i understand. he murmured quietly. though he thought back to their first meeting, then, when she had said that the stars and the moon were windows for the fae. he did not agree with this, but her paranoia was understandable. to have her children stolen and replaced by what he knew as tröllin made his skin crawl. an awful feeling.

and he let out a breath, then. we call them tröllin, back in tunglbörn. they replace children with their own, and only once you show them that they have no power over you will they release them. he thought back to the story of a woman treating the impostor with kindness. her husband disagreed, wanting to bring it harm, and only when the woman fled from the husband with the Lauren-child was her own whelp released, for she showed compassion, and did not let the tröllin have power over her.

scarlet gaze met one of verdance, green in all of its shining hue. come with me to the baths, wash them off your skin, do not let them steer your life, nor your dreams. expel them, and with an almost hesitant intake of air, he added: and perhaps your children will be returned to you. though he was not so sure ; caught between belief and nature, what he thought to be true of his gods versus sickness, illness.

perhaps a moonstone would protect her.

He did not deny her claims, a welcome surprise for the woman who had grown so used to such rejections.

Do you really believe that will work? She asked, almost weary. She understood that Rokkur was a spiritual man, so maybe he knew more than her.

She had grown further desperate for each day that her search persisted. Her heart ached and her mind haunted her. She would do anything if there was even a slight possibility they would return to her.

Eydis had always thought herself a strong woman, but it was only natural to cry over something so impossible, was it not?

the man would stand, then, nudging his nose to her fur in a sign of comfort, but also an invitation to follow him, as he turned and flicked his tail. he would begin to move, slowly, at first, and then quicker if she would choose to follow. it is important to cleanse oneself, he begun in a murmur. first, your body, then, your soul.

he would move in silence, then, to the baths. and when they were there, he would nod for her to enter the waters, and if she did, he would follow after her.

She was hesitant of the water, but far the hesitant of the night sky the loomed above them.

Carefully, she entered the chilled water with her fur stood on end. She wondered if the ends of it would freeze.

Eydis was not one to swim; but for the chance of her children returning to her, she would do anything.

the coolness of the water pricked at his skin, icy and chilled from the winter air. he would wade through nonetheless, standing to be in front of the blonde woman. his eyes were encouraging, a soft smile upon his face conveying a warmth that opposed the temperature of the baths. sink into the water, he murmured. let it surround you.

and he followed his words with action. he breathed the air from his lungs and sunk with a dark grace below the waters surface. for a second, two, three, he sat there. four, five, six, he let the flow, the movement, shuffle around him. pulling at his fur and settling within his bones. the light of the moon shone above, filtered. seven, eight, nine, he rose.

dark fur, thick with water, stuck to his skin, hanging down by his cheeks, his arms, his sides. do as i do ; let it cleanse you, let it work its way into your body, your soul. and should she believe it so, she would rise just as he did, cleansed of previous worries, of doubts, of terrors. he watched her, confident in her ability to change. to grow. to rise.

a soft nod, then. reassuring.

She followed his instructions with haste, eager for a sense of relief. The cold chilled her to her core, the water beating down her soft fur so that it clung to her sides in gentle waves.

As she went down in and under the water, she found that for a moment she was at peace. For a moment she wished to remain there.

Rokkur rising, she followed after a few seconds - pulled out of her trance. Letting out a heavy breath as she joined him, she listened carefully. She hoped for the change to come with haste, she thought she would feel better.

But still, she felt bitter.

he watched her carefully. watched her expression. but where he felt cleansed, renewed, he only saw the same spirit, the same temperament within her. please have patience, eydís, the man guided, then, brows drawn together in an apologetic manner. let the cleanse take its time, it is slow. for nothing was instantaneous in this life.

rökkur would move past her, then, exiting the water, standing back upon the land. his connection, his tether to the earth provided him with comfort, and he could only wish it was the same for eydís. looking back at her, he would speak: you must rest, now, and let the water take its effect while you sleep. his voice would lower, next.

should your night terrors return, see me tomorrow, when the light of the sun shines overhead. i do not wish for you to be uncomfortable. and he would gaze at her momentarily, then turn his eyes to the moon, to the stars. the supposed windows. a breath exited his nose, and he looked back to the blonde woman.

waiting for if she had anything left to say.

She only nodded in response to him now, her expression turning solemn. She only hoped that now, she would be able to rest.

Exiting the water she pressed her head to his shoulder, a silent thank you for his help. Rokkur was a good man, she knew that now.

It would not come instantaneously. It hurt, and yet she would push forward all the same. She owed it to her children, did she not?

The moon hanging ominous overhead, Eydis made her way back to her den.

he watched her leave, now, hoping that had helped her in some way.

then, once her figure had disappeared beyond the trees, the guardian would make his way to his own den, considering his place within forneskja. a part of him was curious, now. discontented, left awake only to think ; was sögumaðr truly for him? or was hjartvörður better suited to him? unsure, now.

a man of faith who wished to aid his pack. somewhere in the middle.

perhaps he should speak to the hárkonungr.