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Post by Ninmast on Apr 12, 2010 13:30:34 GMT -5
Your travels have brought you to a little village just south of Elturel, on the other side of the Chionthar River. Being just off the Uldoon Trail, it probably wouldn't even be mentionable if it weren't for the small trickle of visitors that just barely keep the inn running. Some of them are bound for Baldur's Gate, while others are on their way east toward Cormyr or south to Amn, all looking to shave a few days off their travels by taking the straightest route possible. While an occasional small-time merchant made his way through, the great deal of caravans stuck to the roads, leaving most of the outsiders as individual or small groups of private travelers.
Due to the season, as harvest shipments made their way back and forth and some people were looking to beat the rush, the village was quite busy this evening, and the inn's tavern had a wide variety of people for the town - maybe two dozen, from virtually all over Faerun - all paying for food and lodging. It was the busy season, and it was the environment you entered into.
In one corner, a couple dwarves were sharing a drinking game with a brave elf over the local mead. It was little more than water for the dwarves, but the elf looked about to tip over.
Against one wall, a small group of men were talking about their plans for travel the next day around plates of the night's special - beef roast with potatoes and carrots.
And behind the bar, the owner washed down another glass as he spotted you and called over to his daughter, a pretty little human woman, probably no more than 16, to see you to a table.
(OOC: No need to come all at once. I expect you to come in separately.)
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Post by Veros on Apr 12, 2010 21:33:08 GMT -5
*** Inn *** A short , maybe four foot nine, yet slender young woman pushed opened the inn door, and judging from her looks her backpack must of been weighted simply to keep her up right since she was very top heavy. Her long silver hair was hanging lightly around her head flowing down past her shoulders to the middle of her back, while her bright blue eyes scanned the people inside.
Renee was here as part of her mission - to spread the words and teaching of Anoushka, her goddess of Dreams. Although, this wasn't her ending site - long from it. She wanted to go out into the world where ever the fate directed her or her goddess told her. Much like this detour to the inn - as she had nearly reached the intersection leading to the place or onwards, she experienced a fainting spell. Within in her dreams, she had talked to what she had considered to be her goddess about lemon cookies and had the distinct urge to come down the path towards the little village when she awoke.
*** On the Trail *** The young woman was walking down the Uldoon Trail traveling towards Elturel, when she started to stumble a bit as blackness lipped at her vision and she would have fallen to the ground if her staff hadn't slowed it to a mere slip to the ground.
*** Dream *** She was within a large garden filled with beautiful cherry blossoms with rows of other flowers surrounding it, creating a remarkable rainbow of colors that flowed across the ground like and ocean with a large oriental palace on the other side of the field. "Renee, my child, it is good to see you here again." It was a soft, feminine voice coming from behind her.
As she turned around and looked, up on top of a small platform sat a beautiful oriental woman with her smooth black hair in a perfect bun as her kimono flowed over and around her. Her eyes were on Renee, and it was Renee who spoke next, "Anoushka, Goddess of Dreams, how lovely it is to be graced by your call at any time."
Anoushka gestures to a small tray beside her housing on them lemon cookies, "You may have some if you wish while we talk. How goes your travels my dear?"
Renee walks up to Anoushka and bows before taking a single cookie. "They have gone great, I'm nearly to Elturel right now. I hope to be able to bring others to see your light and the joy you bring." She takes a bite into her cookie, "Oh my! These are delightful! What kind are they?"
Anoushka smiles lightly as she answers, "They are lemon cookies my child."
"Mmm, they really are delicious!" She quickly eats more of her cookie and right and she finishes her first one, everything starts to black out again.
"Do not go to Elturel, go to the inn nearby first."
*** On the Trail (again) *** Renee awoke, her backpack keeping her back from laying against the ground, while her staff laid right next to her hand on the trail. Down the path then. As she got up, she smiled the whole time with the taste of the delicious cookie in her mouth still.
*** Inn (again) *** Renee smiled at the owner's daughter, "A table for one will do. Milk and lemon cookies if you have any? Otherwise some fruit and water will do."
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Post by Ninmast on Apr 12, 2010 22:27:39 GMT -5
The tavernkeep's daughter smiled warmly and nodded, dipping her head. "Right this way," she said as she led the way over to one. "We have milk, and we have cookies, but I don't think we have any lemon ones. Will honeyed waybread do?"
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Post by Veros on Apr 12, 2010 22:51:44 GMT -5
(OOC: Lord of the Rings style waybread?)
Renee followed the woman, smiling the whole way over to the table. She was looking forward to more cookies, especially lemon cookies. When she spoke of there being no lemon cookies, her smile dropped a bit, although still very obviously a smile. "Oh, that's okay. If you don't have any, I'll just have some fruit and water. Strawberries or some melon if you have any."
She'd rather of had had the lemon cookies after the conveyance with her goddess she had before she came here - but she would be happy with either the fruits or the honeyed waybread to be truthful. Though since she didn't have a chance for lemon cookies, she'd try for fruit--since that's scarce on the trail with everyone picking them.
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Post by Ninmast on Apr 12, 2010 22:55:39 GMT -5
(No, regular waybread. It's crisp and somewhat hard, but lasts practically forever as long as it stays dry.)
"Of course," she smiled. "Strawberries, not so much, but it's the season for melons and squash. We have plenty. I'll bring it, your milk and the waybread out right away." And she hurried off.
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Post by Veros on Apr 12, 2010 23:28:31 GMT -5
(Ah, okay.)
"Okay," she smiled cheerily as she took her backpack off and set it down beside her seat at the table as she sat down resting herself as she waited on her food to come back. No sooner then when she had sat down, she realized she'd have to move the chair back to be able to see her plate since her figure was preventing her from seeing part of the table. She quickly adjusted the seat back a bit to allow her more visibility of the table and potentially where her food would be going. "That is better," she says to herself as a smile stretched across her face. As for her walking stick--her staff, she leaned it against the wall next to her table so it was where she could easily get to it when she needed to move from the table.
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Kogan
New Member
Posts: 36
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Post by Kogan on Apr 15, 2010 16:49:09 GMT -5
Aelthas raised his hand to his brow, shielding his eyes from the slowly setting sun as he gazed at the sleepy little cluster of houses before him. The name of the village escaped him but he was weary from days traveling through the endless plains and blistering heat, a night in a real bed would do him well. He turned back to the caravan slowly making its way along behind him, the stout halfling driving the vehicle only holding the reigns symbolically as his pack mule made it's way along the rough trail.
"Hey Dric, how long are we planning on stopping in the village?" He raised his hand again as he said this, wiping away the sweat from his brow and rubbing his eyes slowly. The halfling shrugged his shoulders slightly, "Not more'n a day I'd reckon...these villagers dun have much in the way of goods fer trade, but it is a nice place to get some rest if'n you dun mind strayin' from the main road fer a couple days". He pulled out a handkerchief that looked as if it'd never seen soap and wiped his sweat sheened face. "'Sides, we're almost outta water and it's still a good tenday 'fore we reach Nashkel."
Aelthas nodded and turned back to the road, the sun dipping lower and lower in the sky as they made their way towards the village, their shadows growing longer as they reached the gates. The paladin smiled slightly as he stepped forwords, almost sending a young half-orc girl flying as she ran in front of him, his hand whipping out and barely managing to catch her as she stumbled.
"Hey," He smiled as the girl looked at her feet, obviously used to being yelled at for getting in the way of grownups. "You really should watch where you're playing, you could've really gotten hurt." He said softly and smiled, before ruffling her hair and sending her running off back to what he presumed was her mother.
He stood and chuckled before looking back at Dric, "You might want to check your coin pouch, you can' trust orc-bloods." The halfling grunted, making his way to the center of the village as the paladin counted the coins he had, yep, eight, nine, ten. He had all of them. He shook his head muttering about prejudices and made his way to the inn, pushing open the door and taking a seat at one of the tables near the back, patiently waiting for the barmaid to get a spare minute.
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Post by Kainus Maximus on Apr 19, 2010 23:49:29 GMT -5
It was hot, the transport wagons were always hot, especially in the middle of a desert warzone while wearing full battle gear. It didn’t matter though, there were more important things to focus on right now than being cooked inside a tin can shoulder to shoulder, surviving the next big encounter was one of them.
“Entering combat zone!” The sergeant yelled from the front of the car. No sooner had the exclamation reached their ears when artillery rounds began exploding around them. He grasped the old standard issue rile in his hands, as if holding onto it would keep him alive through the oncoming battle. The mission was simple, they were to unload at the front lines, charge and take the enemy trenches. Simple right? All head to do was run, shoot, duck occasionally, rinse and repeat. Oh yeah, don’t die, that’s the hard part.
“Stage One!” The sergeant roared, as the squad unbuckled the safety straps of the transport wagon and rising to their feet, gripping the rails above their heads to keep standing.
“Stage Two!” The sergeant commanded, the doors to the transport suddenly burst open, revealing blinding light, as the soldiers surged through the opening to meet their destinies.
================================
Taxen awoke from his daze upon the sudden realization that he was daydreaming. Daydreaming was bad, especially out in the middle of nowhere, anything could happen when you let your guard down, anything. You can trip, miss an important land mark for direction, rabid animals, bandits, quicksand, flash floods, artillery fire… nah, maybe not artillery. He had only been in this realm for nearly a month, but he hadn’t seen any form of long range artillery that could strike out of nowhere. Still, daydreaming was bad.
Tilting his head down so the brim of his hat would block the sun, he double checked the map. He was supposed to be a professional at maps, at reading and understanding them. But still, everything here was unfamiliar, as it always was when plane jumping. In the past month, he had gotten lost a total of three times, and his coin was dwindling from the purchase of supplies. Luckily, gold is universal no matter what dimension it is. Still though, he shouldn’t get lost, getting lost is bad.
He shouldn’t be lost though, he followed the directions accordingly, and would be arriving at a pit stop soon enough. Some place called… he didn’t know. It didn’t matter, it was a village, and he for once did not want to sleep under stars. He just wanted a bed, and some ale. Sleeping on rocks was beginning to wear on his back, even though he should be conditioned against it. Sleeping on rocks was bad.
And sure enough, there it was, a small, run down village out in the middle of nowhere. Well that wasn’t completely true, according to the map, there may have been a large settlement here and there, but it looked like it was out in the middle of nowhere. Seclusion like that wasn’t good, made places good targets for raids and attacks. Hell, a single disease could wipe out the entire settlement and nobody would even notice. Yeah, seclusion is bad.
Taxen made his way through the town, avoiding the crowds, and trudging his way to the tavern. Stepping in, he noticed that already a small line was beginning to form, people waiting to be seated he guessed? Ah well, no matter. No harm waiting in line. He knew people in taverns had tempers short, extremely short. Still, these backwards cave men held no match to his cold steel fire arm… or they would be no match, if he didn’t lose his fire arm in the first place. Out of everything, losing the fire arm wasn’t just bad, it was really bad… really fucking bad.
Taxen made no obvious motion as he waited to be seated, his clothing may have been a bit foreign, but he showed no hesitation or shame for being odd man out. Hell, this settlement supposedly got a lot of travel at this time, maybe there would be someone here who looked screwier than him. That, wouldn’t be bad at all.
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Post by Ninmast on Apr 20, 2010 11:12:59 GMT -5
The barkeep arched an eyebrow at seeing the new people come in and banged his hand on the counter top. "Ariel!" he barked.
The girl came hurrying out of the back, carrying Renee's order. "Coming!" She set the things down for Renee, told her to enjoy and hurried on to Aelthas and his band. "Hello, welcome to our inn," she told them. "What can I get for you this evening? Rooms or just dinner?"
Meanwhile, the barkeep motioned to Taxen and gestured with his hand for the man to come over to the bar.
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Post by Kainus Maximus on Apr 20, 2010 11:44:33 GMT -5
A lot was going on it seemed. The inn was more crowded than he thought it would be. How many were here? Twenty…ish? A good number for a small place like this, but if this happened regularly, the inn must be able to handle the flux of people. The young waitress was beginning to seat the people in front of him… how long would that take? Not long most likely, but really, how long? Wait, the barkeep was motioning to him. Spectacular.
Taxen walked across the floor of the inn, his shoes making heavy thumps upon the hard wood floor. Reaching the barkeep he tilted his head upwards so that the brim of his hat would not cover his eyes. He met lots of people, lots of travelers, often wore hoods and hats to cover their eyes. Sometimes Taxen would do the same… when he felt like being an ass hole. Where he came from, when one wants to establish associative relations, you make eye contact, or pretend to make eye contact. Also, how do people see? You got a freaking piece of cloth in your eyes, maybe the guy in front of you has a knife? Yeah, not being able to see is bad.
Regardless, Taxen gave eye contact to the barkeep before breathing out a low and exhausted.
“Evening.”
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Post by Ninmast on Apr 20, 2010 13:51:42 GMT -5
The barkeep nodded in greeting. "Evening, young man." He reached down and picked up another glass and began drying it out. "I see a lot a' folks coming through here, especially this time of year. After a while, ya' get ta' seein' trends when different people come in with different problems. You ..." He motioned with the towel and cup. "... You look like you're missin' somethin'. Somethin' important."
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Post by Kainus Maximus on Apr 20, 2010 14:49:21 GMT -5
"Yeah, ale." Taxen said in an almost serious tone, but kept it light enough to be recognized as a joke. He then changed his tone back.
"Nah, just messing around. But yeah, I am missing something important. Lost it not too long ago but I can make another, no trouble." Taxen explained, a bit vaguely as he took out his coin pouch to purchase a mug of ale.
"The problem aint exactly that I'm missing something important. It's more like... I have something too important." Taxen explained, his wording still vague. He didn't expect them to understand, that was alright. Sometimes not knowing enough wasn't bad. In his case, he knew too much, had too much. He suddenly felt an urge to check his pack for the blue prints he needed to keep safe, but shook it off, he didnt have encounters with anyone close enough to steal the blue prints.
"How much for basic ale?" Taxen questioned.
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Post by Ninmast on Apr 20, 2010 15:21:04 GMT -5
"Two coppers for a mug," the barkeep answered without having to check anything. "A silver for a gallon pitcher. The reason I be askin' about what ya be missin', young man, is because you look the kind I might be able to be helpin' with it, and it's a long ways before you get to a larger town."
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Post by Kainus Maximus on Apr 20, 2010 15:40:12 GMT -5
Taxen pulled out four copper coins from his pouch and placed it upon the counter. As he listened to the barkeep, he eyed him with a look of curiosity. Awfully helpful for a random stranger, didn't seem right. Then again, didn't seem wrong either. He doubted the man could help him with his problems... then again, one never knows. What Taxen needed right now was steel, iron, scrap metals, etc, and he needed a good amount. Who knows? Maybe this barkeep had a mother load of scrap metal just waiting in the back. One man's trash is another man's treasure after all.
"I doubt you can help me, but I'll take you up on your offer." Taxen explained as he reached into his pack searching for the regular blue print constructions of a military style fire arm from his home plane.
"I had a piece of equipment that was very important to me, very powerful piece of equipment it was. It's long gone now, no hope of reclaiming it. However, I can make another..." He began to unfurl the blueprints, revealing detailed assembly and forging instructions for the piece of weaponry.
"I doubt you, or anyone else around here knows where to get one, but that's not what I need. What I need, is metal. Iron, steel, anything that can be reforged. You wouldnt by chance have any scrap pieces of metal on you? I'd even pay you for it if the price is right." Taxen inquired.
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Post by Ninmast on Apr 20, 2010 15:54:23 GMT -5
The barkeep set the glass and towel aside as he ran his hands over the blueprint, examining it. Leaning forward took him out of the shadow of the bar and for the first time, the scout got a good look at him. He was a large man, of course. That had been the only detail previously noticeable, and that was rather to be expected of a man in his occupation. He also had a build that suggested heavy military service or some other exacting physical occupation. His hair was buzz-cut and salt-and-pepper, and he wore a necklace bearing a symbol that apparently marked some organization or another.
The detail of the schematics didn't seem to faze him much as he took it in with little more than a few hmm's. Finally, he stood straight, rolled them up and handed them back to Taxen. He called across the room to his daughter. "Ariel, I'll be in the back for a bit. Keep an eye out, will you?" After getting confirmation from her, he turned back to Taxen. "Follow me, kid, and bring your papers."
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