Dorian's Home - Prologue

The sun was setting on a hot summers evening in Daring Heights, as a familiar knocking was heard on the door of Selune's temple.
4 knocks.
Melissa knew who it was. His visits were more frequent recently. She slowly made her way over and opened the door.
Dorian Iori made an exaggerated bow on the doorstep. "M'lady Melissa," he said.
"Are you drunk again Dorian?" Melissa spied the bag on his side and gave a frown.
"No M'lady, I've only had a few ales...is Rholor here? I believe he's expecting me." Dorian grinned cheekily.
"Very well, I'll show you through."

Melissa very reluctantly accompanied Dorian through the temple into the living quarters area. She suddenly stops and simply points to a ladder on the side of the wall.
"You know the drill... apparently today is a "roof day". The moon is pretty and all that. Go on then, I have things to do!"
Dorian climbed the ladder to find Rholor dangerously laying down on the roof tiles, arms folded behind his head. The exact moment Dorian's head peeked out:
"Oh would you look at that, someone decided today was a good day to drink, eh?" Rholor says without moving his gaze from the starry night sky.

"Drinking? With a man of the cloth? Heaven forbid!" Dorian responded as he scampered onto the roof. The tiles weren't completely steady but he kept his balance.
"Now be prepared," he continued. "This is the GOOD stuff. Leocanto has the best connections...."
As Dorian opened the bottle with a click of his fingers and took a swig, he stared into the serene night sky. The moon shone like a homing beacon.
"Tell me Rholor, if Selune is the Goddess of the moon, does it mean she is the Goddess of cheese as well?"

Rholor let out a hearty laughter and reached for the bottle demanding some time with it as well.
"Ah! But of course, Goddess of the Moon, Cheese and all things Holey!" Dorian groaned at the pun.

"How've you been friend? It feels likes ages since we've done something exciting together... it feels like our time is spent being busy and occasionally getting drunk."

Dorian was silent for a moment before answering, "you know me! All play no work!" Though his smile remained, Rholor did notice something amiss.
"I do miss the old days though," Dorian continued. "Pure adventuring. No politics. Exploring the unknown....
Do you remember the Twilight battles? The first one was a blur, I just remember setting alight half the battlefield, as Moth chopped his way through their lines with his giant spear trying to save Keladry...but we couldn't. We stopped them in the end though, a group of us infiltrated underground with some elite commando orcs, and killed the leader inside their tower while the others fought above ground. It all seems so long ago now...."

"Ah.. nostalgia, yes. The downfall of all folk some say." Rholor said as he smiled while trying to read Dorian's state of mind.

"I do remember that particular instance of time yes - mainly because it was I who stroke down Keladry... or what remained of Keladry." He stopped, seemingly lost for words.
"Back then I didn't know how much our actions impacted the world. Maybe because they didn't yet. I fought to save Moth in that very first battle with all I could and in the end we still lost him Dorian, and I felt powerless. " - he took another swig and passed the bottle.
"But then it slowly changed, you grew in power, I grew in power... I blasted tens of zombie goblins with one prayer Dorian... one prayer for Selune's sake. I think that was when I probably started believing in our chance to shape the world for the good!"

Dorian looked thoughtfully at Rholor. His demeanor slowly became less playful and more serious. "You believed that then? Hasn't that belief ever been shaken? What about Pascal..."

"Yes Dorian, yes... you know very well it did." Rholor's demeanour sombered.
"I didn't really open up about it back then but I'm sure you noticed things weren't right with me mentally after that. It was a really rough patch. What I did - he took a deep breath - I mean, what we did is unforgivable. I've learned to live with it as best as I could." - he abruptly requested the bottle he just passed on.
"I still see her you know, sometimes, in dreams... Sarah. Poor woman. I've seen you do worse and yet you never flinch - how do you cope? I think I never asked or if I did you expertly changed the subject as only you bloody can..." - he said to avoid the Pascal topic from developing any further. A faint watery pool started to form in his deep blue eyes.

Dorian averted his eyes from Rholor, looking down at his shabby greyed boots. "No one asks personal questions in this place, at least not to me. Which is generally how I like it." Dorian then turned his gaze back to Rholor, his eyes cold as steel.
"How do I cope? Do you remember Porky Pie? Do you remember the racist human uprising? They wanted a human only Daring, no other races. A place of ignorance and discrimination. Do you know what I did? I once burned a barn full of those racist assholes to death."

Dorian's words hung in the air all alone.

"Do I regret it? Maybe a little, but know this, Daring is safer they are gone. The non human population of Daring is safer they are gone. They can continue their lives in peace. Have I suffered mentally because if it? Yes. But I know I did it for the greater good, and do you know why I live with it?

Because I have to. Because I choose to. It's the life I have chosen. I do it, so the average Joe in the street can live their life and so they don't have to do it. This life isn't for the faint hearted. It's not for everyone. I don't ask for recognition anymore. I did once, I asked for a seat on the council, but it rubbed a few people the wrong way. C'est la vie.

At the end of the day, a few sleepless nights for me is better than the suffering of innocents."

Dorian finished his diatribe abruptly, and took a few deep breaths. Rholor had never seen this before in Dorian. It wasn't anger, it wasn't rage, it was a cold and steely determination.

As an uncomfortable silence followed, Dorian seemed to remember himself and took a large swig from the bottle. With a grin he looked at Rholor. "So, I've always wanted to ask....did you and Aurelia ever....you know....did she ever pay a visit to your temple? Your own private temple? On her own? Under the cover of darkness? Did Selune cover her eyes?"

Rholor sat in silence for a while, remembering clearly the incident at the barn back from when Porky Pie was an issue. It was probably the only time he thought his trust was ill-placed in Dorian.
That train of thought was swiftly broken by the ludicrous question Dorian followed with.
"What are you on about... that is my fellow council member you are talking about, show a little respect man!" - he said sternly but quickly broke the facade with - "also, when council members meet it is always official business and consequentially a state secret!" - he put his finger to his lips with a classic 'shhh' motion and laid back down on the roof tiles smiling at the sky at the ridiculousness of the situation they were in. Two powerful and trusted... or feared men of Daring Heights sitting on a temple's roof getting drunk, speaking of past stories and gossiping about women like a couple of 16 year olds.

"Ok ok! of course, official council business!" Dorian gave a wink to Rholor and put a single finger to his mouth.

As the evening turned into night, the conversation moved from orcs and Xvarts, to Nowhere and Granny as the old friends remissed. Dorian drained the last of the three bottles, he looked carefully at the night sky and the stars. "Will you ever leave here Rholor?" asked Dorian.

Rholor pondered for a while, picking up one of the empty bottles and tapping it in the hope that more liquid will magically appear to give him time to think of an answer - finally, with a prolonged sigh he put down the bottle clumsily - probably because of all the alcohol.
"Yes... I believe I will. I've seen paths and choices of the future and all of them lead out of here - same for you, you know? It gets very confusing when you see things that have been, are and will be at the same times sometimes... doesn't help when I have to explain it after you poison me with this ... this... whatever this was!" Rholor tried to grab one of the empty bottles but pushed it instead, forcing it to roll down the roof, shattering on the street beside the temple.
"Oops..." - he said as a dog started barking in the distance and windows opened in the nearby houses. - "... but anyway, yes. You and me, we'll be out of here eventually."

"Why do you ask though? Thinking of leaving?"

"I will never leave," replied Dorian firmly. "Most come to Kantas for two reasons, to run from something or to find something that's lost. I came here to find my place. A place where I could be accepted and have responsibility. A place to protect."

"This is my home."

"Hmmm, things change - I don't think that's true. The threads of fate twist and wind and the most logical outcome is you leaving. Your home is where you feel safe and respected and the people of Daring haven't been kind to you." - he paused for a second - "Sorry... I tend to prophecise when I drink too much, you're right - this is our home and fate is nothing but a game of probabilities. No one really knows what's going to happen."

"Hey, Dorian... You know you can count on me for anything, right?"

Dorian looks at Rholor with a grin. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course," Rholor replied, "but I'll be honest, if I remember any of this by tomorrow it'll be a miracle."

Dorian laughed and smiled. "Don't worry, there are no secrets tonight, but for the future as you say 'things change'."