WELCOME TO NOTT!

[abraxasmods]

WELCOME TO NOTT!

Welcome to Nott! A blend of old world Thorne and new world industrialism, densely packed wooden buildings surround a section of ancient stone architecture at the lake’s edge. The city rises up against the horizon and is easily seen from a distance, lacking any farmland or outposts around it to distract the eye.

The city gates are wide open. Whatever may be happening back at the Thornean capitol, there’s no obvious hint of it here. Busy citizens are going about their day, guards in local uniform patrol the streets with little urgency, and no alarm bells or horns are sounding. It appears,at least on the surface, as though no one is concerned about escaped prisoners here.

But it certainly is a bustling place! Sounds and smells assault the senses right from the gate. The streets are filled with vendors and panhandlers and criers shouting out deals and directions and soliciting money, hawking food and services and shops. There seems to be a tavern or a public house on almost every corner. A cool wind comes off the lake and the scent of the fish market carries through the city. People are everywhere and no one seems to notice or care that much about strangers - aside from wanting their coin.

It’s the perfect place to hide out from Thorne while staying within Thorne’s borders.

Within a few hours of arrival a city guard will approach each escapee from Thorne - regardless of what their standing was back at the castle - to politely inform them that Lord of Representatives Lyle Vela would be happy to receive them at the House of the Lords at any time today. Each character will be given a handwritten invitation marked with an official seal that gives directions to the House of the Lords, a sprawling Old Nott building on the lake that overlooks the city. The invitation is of course optional and there are no repercussions for declining.

Comments

[nadine_he_loves]

"Yeah, I know how Eponine's had it. There's a reason I look out for her. I don't expect them to ever get along, but as long as they don't brawl with each other, I'll take it as a win. And you're right, Julie has Lloyd and Lloyd...he's a really good guy."

Quite possibly the best of them, really. Even if he doesn't see it, he has a good heart. He's carrying more guilt than she is, and he's done far less to be guilty about.

"And I know, I've been pretty missing in action lately, but...it's been a long time since I could even talk privately with my husband. We've had a lot to catch up on. And I didn't want to spend much time out in public until I could hide..." She gestures to where her horns are, hidden beneath the kerchief holding her hair back. "Didn't want to draw unnecessary attention."

[girl_at_the_window]

"Ye're lucky they ain't bigger." It's all she can think to say, really. And it's true, anyway - as things are, the kerchief does a decent job of hiding the horns, which could so easily not have been the case. Susan's glad she didn't get any such changes from the Horizon, she's not sure how she would feel about something so obvious. "Is he doin' well? Now he's out?"

She probably shouldn't ask. She probably should just pretend he doesn't exist, as far as this conversation goes. That's what Roland would have advised her, she's sure. But Roland isn't the one living alongside the man, so that's that.

[nadine_he_loves]

"I'd be luckier if I didn't have them at all. But I'm grateful they're easy enough to hide." One small bright side. And Nadine supposes she's getting used to them. She can't even be that upset over it, it's just one more little change to remind her that she'd made her final choice.

"And...uh...yeah. Yeah, he's glad to be out of that cell. He's...it's hard to tell, sometimes. This hasn't come up because there wasn't really any reason for it to, but now..." There are things everyone in the party should be aware of, when it comes to Randall Flagg. She's sort of explained it to Eponine, but she hasn't said anything to Susan yet.

"My husband isn't an ordinary man. We don't need to get into the details, but he has a lot of powerful magic of his own, he was a very powerful leader back home, and he can be...scary, sometimes. Not to me, I've known him most of my life, I'm not scared of my own husband." Something she wants to be very clear on. "But I just don't want you caught off guard or anything."

[girl_at_the_window]

"I don't scare easy." Which is true, although she's not sure it applies here. From what Roland's said, and from what Nadine is saying now, being a little scared does seem like the sensible approach - even if it stings her pride a bit to admit it. "But thankee for the warning."

Though you could've given it before I followed you all out here. Not that she came unprepared, of course, but that's no thanks to Nadine or any of the rest of them, and she can't help but feel a little bit bitter about that. Just let me trail out after some evil wizard leader, like I ain't got enough problems yet. But sure, Nadine. Thankee for the warning.

[nadine_he_loves]

"I know you don't. Just...be cautious, I guess." Not that Nadine anticipates a problem, Flagg has so many other things to keep his interest besides some teenage girl she's taken to. But it's just not the safest thing, to be in proximity to Flagg without knowing at least some of what he is.

"He can be hard to predict or understand without knowing him well." That's really what it comes down to, for her. Yes, he has a horrible temper. Yes, he kills people. Yes, he's an anarchist dictator. But he's only dangerous to those who give him a reason to be, as far as Nadine's concerned. "And he's not an easy man to get to know. But there's also a reason our people love him. Why I love him. He can be terrifying and terrible, but he can be wonderful. He's looked out for me almost my whole life."

She knows that in her mind, Susan has to be questioning why she's with a man she has to give warnings about.

[girl_at_the_window]

Susan isn't questioning it, is the sadder truth. She doesn't really have to; she's seen enough shit by now to know what loneliness and craving love can do. She's put the pieces together on her aunt and Fran Lengyll. Loneliness, and craving love, and damned poor taste; and next you know, it's all the worst parts of yourself on show, and your brother's dead and you killed him.

She wishes she didn't know that. In part, because she wishes she could think Nadine was made of better stuff than Aunt Cordelia. And if wishes were horses, as her da used to say, beggars would ride.

"I didn't ask." She looks down at her beer, and wrinkles her nose, sighing. "I'll be careful. Ye know I ain't here for trouble, not with him nor anyone. I'm just here to keep 'Ponine out of it."

[nadine_he_loves]

"You didn't have to. And I know. She's lucky to have you, you know. She needs people looking after her."

They're agreed wholly on that point. Nadine knows that she's probably brought a whole lot of frustration and stress into her life by attaching herself to Eponine, but...she can't help it. She sees how she could have turned out, if not for Flagg. What years of being unwanted and put down could do.

And it's not too late for Eponine.

[girl_at_the_window]

It's probably unkind to laugh at that. It's definitely unkind when the laugh is quite so bitter. "Aye. She does that." Then, because she feels very uncharitable for that response, she adds quickly, "I guess we all do, huh? Ain't that why we're all here together?"

Something like that, anyway.

[nadine_he_loves]

Nadine's laugh isn't a bitter one, but she does laugh a little bit.

"It's not her fault. She never had anyone. I know what that's like, if my life had gone just a little bit differently, I'd probably be pretty much the same. But you're right, people need people. It's been studied, in my world, they've proven how much it messes someone up to be on their own too long or too often."

Especially when young.

"And we're all just sort of on our own out here."

[girl_at_the_window]

"I'd figure just lookin' around you would prove that." It's not said with any sarcasm or humour; just a simple statement of fact. Susan sighs, and her smile is a little sadder as she looks down at her beer. She knows, after all, how it feels to be alone. Maybe that's why they're all here, in the end - her and Nadine and Eponine, and for all she knows, Lloyd and Julie too. (Flagg, out of respect for Roland's warning, is shunted off the list of possibilities. She does have some loyalty left.) Maybe they've all just been on their own too much. Not that surprising, really, from what she's heard of Nadine's world. Still, it's a shock to the system to find that she, who's always thought of herself as more or less alone, is the one here who's had the most people on her side. At least she had her father for a time, even if he was gone too soon. At least she knows what love's supposed to look like.

She has a sneaking suspicion, the longer she stays with them, that she might be the only one here who does.

"People need people." She can't think what else to say, but to agree. "I just wish she'd quit pushing 'em away. Ye ken?"

[nadine_he_loves]

"Sometimes...a person gets to a point where it's easier to push people away than let them in and maybe get hurt." Nadine looks down at her drink, her expression closing in.

"I know what that's like. To try and hope and pray that this time, it'll be different. And then it isn't. And it hurts so badly and that hurt just...stacks on top of the rest until it feels like that's all that's inside you. Just hurt. And if it's other people that are always hurting you, it starts looking like the obvious solution is to just stop giving anyone the chance."

At least until someone pushes their way in and can't be ignored, but she's well aware her circumstances are very unique.

[girl_at_the_window]

"Aye." Susan looks down at her own drink for a moment, her brow furrowing. After a beat, she reaches over, cautiously, to touch Nadine's arm. There's something in that look on the older woman's face, something in that closed-off air, that cries out for contact. At the back of her mind is Roland's warning, and her own doubts, and the feeling that she shouldn't be reaching out at all - but fuck that. "Aye, I kennit, too. And I'd not blame anyone for it, is the truth."

Only it's exhausting to deal with. Especially with all she's given up to be here for Eponine, only to be pushed away time and again.