RP: March 13, Zeiss+Rory "Switching Families"

Rory and Zeiss had left the Veil to visit Sareth's home. The sergeants were told to train and lecture at the guards for up to another hour at their discretion, while business the overseer started in the morning was set in motion balls rolling and gears turning.

"I hear you've dropped out of your clan." The barbarian pried, striking up topic on an otherwise quiet and uneventful commute. "What was it again? 'Wintersong'?"

commute:

Zeiss glances at Rory.

"Yes, it was."

He thinks for a moment and then adds:

"It would be inappropriate to talk about it in public. Ask me again when we're at my office."

He continues walking towards Sareth's home.

OOC:

Suddenly, Zeiss and Rory are at the office!

Zeiss enters his office, sits at his desk and immediately starts filling in some paperwork.

"You're no longer Wintersong?"

Rory had gone directly to the overseer's office to blurt this query as soon as he had entered. Having spent enough time in Dereth before he ever met Zeiss to learn about choosing a clan and the closeness and identity of self it represents(not to mention how well celebrated each person's choosing is), he was dumbfounded by the news that Zeiss has bowed out of a clan and chosen a new one to be part of.

"But, why?" he asked, bewildered. "They're like your family. And now you're part of another? Are you sure about this?"

Zeiss stops filling in his paperwork and looks up at Rory. After a moment of consideration he says:

"You're mistaken about something. The new name I have chosen, Dreamkeeper, isn't shared by anyone else. I suppose you or anyone else could decide to bear it if so desired. But as of now, I technically have no clan."

He sits back in his chair, somewhat tired by all the work he did in the last days.

"I didn't think you would be the one to ask me this question. Do humans have anything resembling clan names?"

Rory pondered, then pulled up a chair.


"In a sense. Members of a family each have a 'family' name attached to their first. It's mostly a formality, how we tell who's who, but it builds upon identity and encourages closeness," he explained, frequently pausing to think. "We're grouped by family, and you don't get to choose your family. I think the identity factor...encourages making the most of that if you happen to dislike the people you're lumped in with, learn to...live with each other, and grow close, which is never bad."


"After a while, it becomes so much a part of who you are as your first name, you scarcely bother to think about changing it. It's not common for people to change family names. In fact it's pretty shocking when it happens, but it does. Few reasons are 'good enough' for that event to be a non-issue afterward - at least, I would think. From what I've seen, the clans of Dereth are...much more than that. So, why'd you want to leave your clan?"

Zeiss sighs.

"...It's not easy to summarize why in one sentence."

He stays silent for a long moment. And then says:

"I guess I could tell you how I came to choose Dreamkeeper as my last name. For me, a dream isn't only a fantasy. It's... the future you hope for."

He winces at his own words. But he keeps talking.

"However, without your memories, you cannot dream of a better future since you have no past. Hence Dreamkeeper, a person who preserve the integrity of their own dream, of their own self."

A hint of anger slips into his voice.

"Then, you have the Pinnacle, a bunch of righteous manipulators who can decide who we were and who we will be. Their leaders are probably Scions. I hope they are Scions. The alternative is that people like you and me found a way to alter someone's memories and decided to exploit it, for the betterment of the world."

A look of disdain appears on his face.

"I would see the world thrown into chaos if it meant the destruction of the Pinnacle and any other organization like them."

Zeiss realizes just how angry he must look to Rory and quickly recompose himself. Nevertheless, his tone is still full of bitterness.

"The people with the same clan name share the same customs, ideas and traditions. However, the truths I discovered these past few months gave me a unique perspective on this world. Because of this, I chose to wage war against the hidden enemies of this continent and forfeited any hopes of a normal life. So no, I will no longer bear the Wintersong name. It doesn't represent who I am anymore."

"I see," Rory replied. "You really are seriously committed to taking them down."

He gently drummed the table with his fingers, an outlet for the unease filling him when tension mounted. "A clan needs members to form a group. Do you plan to get it started, uniting people under the ideas of Dreamkeeper?"

"Well, it's not like I planned to have other people choose that name. But if anyone agrees with the idea behind the Dreamkeeper name, they are welcomed to bear it."

And with a smile, he jokingly says:

"Too bad I can't charge them for it."

"You still have to work out your customs," Rory smiled wryly. "But uh, please don't make that one of them."

He sighed. "What they did, this is the sort of thing we need to keep to ourselves. Sacrificing painful memories for the bliss of ignorance is likely to find positive reinforcement among the refugees from the lassels. I - a while ago, after I came here, I might have wished for it."

"But not before," he added firmly. "Peoples' memories, no matter how horrifying, are not something you can change at your own whim. And even if the option were available, I never would, not when I've gotten used to this life. That's the caveat there, 'getting used to it'. But that's what we do, right? Our lives are too short to whine and resist change forever. We're different from plants. Even if you're young and your voice is cracking like thin ice, if you can't take the bad with the good, you stop growing."

"Sorry. Look at us, making speeches at a shrine with no one gathered," Rory chuckled. Then, he sat up straight and leaned forward, adopting a personal tone. "I like this clan, Zeiss. In fact, I'd like to be part of it. I need to be all-human for my people right now, but one day, I'll join. Even if by then you're still the only one calling himself Dreamkeeper."

Zeiss gives Rory a surprised look.

"That's one thing I didn't expect you to say."

A small smile appears on his face.

"It would be nice to not be the only Dreamkeeper around. But you're right. It might complicate things with your fellow humans, especially now that you are training them."

Reminded of something, he adds:

"Frell. I have to pay our employees tomorrow."