[Open and Closed] did someone ask for a small crisis of faith

[shepherddain]

WHO: Dain, some closed prompts, and YOU
WHAT: Dain's in a bit of a tailspin and people who have been Worried about the presence of a Shepherd in the village may notice that something is different
WHEN: Now-ish, late January
WHERE: All over

A | Open

For almost two months, Dain was a friendly presence around the village, offering help where needed and cheerful conversation otherwise. Not even the arrival of the soldiers seemed to change that much, particularly when small clashes started occurring and Dain could help smooth some of them over. He always acted more like someone part of the community than someone apart from it, a person who cared and wanted to help.

Something changes that. It's not completely clear what -- it could be the situation where a member of the Watch was publicly flogged, or it could be Sir Theobald of Haguenne and his blindingly golden locks. Whatever the reason, seemingly overnight Dain's behaviour changes; he's more distant, more aloof, more preoccupied. He's more likely to watch than to participate, whether inside the tavern or the chapel or outside in the freezing village streets, keeping apart from others. Unconsciously or not, he acts much more like a Shepherd, only there to observe and nothing more.

This is not to say he stops being Dain. If someone else initiates conversation, he's as friendly as always, lighting up like a switch is flipped. If someone asks for help, he's always happy to give it. But he's rarely the one to initiate anymore.


B | Adhemar

Dain tried to get an early night, in the somewhat vain hope he would get a good night's sleep for once. Perhaps somewhat predictably, it doesn't work. So he gives up on that, wraps himself in coat and scarf, and settles in the chapel's library with some candles and the books.

It's something he used to do, back when he was starting his training and felt like he was going to snap from the mental tension of villifying the Night. He would read, anything and everything related to the Path of Light he could find, after everyone else was asleep, and silently contradict everything he knew to be wrong. It helped, in a counterintuitive sort of way -- not least because the one time he was caught, his instructors had only been impressed by his dedication -- and over the years it became meditative. It's been several months since the last time Dain had this much trouble sleeping, so he takes the first book off the pile and opens it to a random page in the middle, ready to start from whatever passage he lands on.

It doesn't work. Every time he's able to focus, the worry consumes him again.

To an outside observer, it looks like Dain's searching for a particular book and being stymied at every turn; he reads a page or two, exhales a frustrated breath, swaps books, tries again. His movements grow jerkier as the minutes wear on, until at last he slams a book shut with enough force that the candle wobbles on the table, and he lays his head down on top of it with a hoarse groan.

If he can't even do this properly anymore, how can he expect to keep his poker face in Cliffside?