Idina Doc
Wildgardian
Could we start again, please?
Posts: 258
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Post by Idina Doc on May 4, 2014 22:26:53 GMT -6
A brown cloak trailed behind the girl as she strode through the town of Wildgard, the slight breeze catching the fabric and playing with it. Idina wasn't eager to spend the night in the tavern, as was her destination, but as there were unexpected (at least to her) and aggressive guests in the area of Fort MacNeil, she didn't have much of a choice beyond sleeping outside. Hopefully the tavern's keeper would allow her to sleep there or in the inn later; the blonde patted her change bag nervously a few times and hoped the keeper would be charitable or willing to negotiate.
As she approached the tavern, she noticed a man lying prone on the ground beside the door. His impressive size made his limbs into quite the mess, not unlike his hair and coat. Next to his hand was an overturned mug with evidence of something having been spilled from it. The air near him smelled of alcohol, yes, along with some added plant, a sharp smell to warn the informed of danger. Idina sighed, equal parts amused and exasperated: Lukis had poisoned himself with tainted ale. But his chest was still rising and falling rhythmically, and his fingers twitched every so often. That liver of his must've gone through enough wear to have been able to pass the poison with minimal side effects: the girl was sure he'd wake up before morning. Manoeuvring around his splayed limbs, she made her way to the tavern and pushed the door open.
Once she stepped inside, she realized she wasn't alone. Another figure was sitting at the bar with his back to her, but he had likely heard her come in. A few scattered conversations were being held across the tavern, but this man seemed uninterested in socializing. Idina crossed the floor up to the bar and took a seat, leaving a space between herself and the other man. Now that she was closer, she could get a better look at him.
Ah. This was the same man she'd met soon after coming back to these lands, the one who's very essence seemed familiar despite her not having seen him anywhere before, at least not that she knew. This feeling baffled her, and she wanted to know where it came from. Despite this, however, she found herself holding off too long before speaking, letting him leave to do his own thing before she knew what to say to him. Presently, the girl's fingers played with the fabric on her skirt, occasionally casting a sideways glance at the not-so-stranger.
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Post by Faljere D'ael Elderbaden on May 7, 2014 16:51:24 GMT -6
The stale air of the tavern was unsettling for the past monk. He sat upon a rotted wooden chair at the bar, with a few chairs not too far from him. In front of him, a plate of stale rabbit and a stein of spiced wine sat still and untouched. A dim fire was lit at the fireplace, but for once it wasn't roaring and joyous; rather, it marked uncomfortable tranquility after the recent attack of the local barbarians.
Not many people stood upon the oak flooring, making it easier for the elf to detect whether any enemies were entering. His blade was not too far from his placement, but if an attack was to happen again, he'd have to run rather quickly to get it before he was attacked as well.
The door swung open, and the Clanless nearly swung his arm up, but held himself stable.
He had no reason to look at who was coming in for the time being, but when she sat down near him, it discomforted him.
Of course it was the girl who he spoke to earlier that day; she'd suspected him to be someone she once knew, and couldn't remove her eyes from him. The fact that she'd followed him here disturbed him, but he didn't show it.
It would give away too much of him.
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Idina Doc
Wildgardian
Could we start again, please?
Posts: 258
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Post by Idina Doc on May 9, 2014 21:57:30 GMT -6
The Healer cast a glance around the tavern; here, there, anywhere that wouldn't connect with the man two seats away from her. She clutched her change purse again so as to make it seem to anyone who might be looking that she was looking for the tavern keeper. This was not a complete lie, for after all, she would need a place to stay tonight. When no success came from her search, she turned back to the bar, propping her elbow onto the wood and putting her hand in it so her head still faced away, her other hand resting on the counter in a lazy fist.
This feeling wouldn't leave Idina alone. Her intuition was telling her she knew the man beside her, but her head couldn't understand. She had never known anyone who wore the Celtic colours the Clanless did, his hair was just as unfamiliar, and the weapon was too brutish for anyone she'd associate with... Nothing matched up to her, the title he bore as a name least of all. Perhaps if she could get a better look at his face; it didn't help at all that he kept that covered, although now that he didn't have the covering, she couldn't bring herself to try and figure it out. He'd already gotten after her for staring at him today, and she didn't like the air that weapon of his held any better up close.
A noise brought her out of her thoughts, and she was surprised to find the source was her own hand: she'd started drumming her fingers on the wooden counter while she'd been lost in thought. She closed her fist again, more tightly this time, and looked quickly over her shoulder to see if anyone else had heard it. Had the Clanless heard it? He was closest to her, so maybe he had...
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Post by Faljere D'ael Elderbaden on May 11, 2014 17:34:47 GMT -6
"Stopping time will allow for you to see my face for longer." The elf spoke to the girl, knowing very well that her eyes were fixated on him.
Of all eyes in the tavern to be fixated on this one despaired Celt, they were the eyes of the young girl who was suspicious of him earlier this day. He'd been spying on the barbarians for the Queen of the Bears, knowing that she had ties to the Fort, and that the Fort would be the only ones able to help him in his quest. Among the allies was this girl with the ridiculously floppy hat, the brown cloak, and the wandering eyes that held much curiosity and much fear.
She feared him, and she was fascinated by him. All day she'd been gazing at him, and then had interrogated him that afternoon about his identity. Of course he couldn't tell her the truth, but he had anyways: he was the Clanless, and he had a mission to end a war that hadn't even begun yet had been going for centuries. Part of him knew she knew something wasn't right with him, and she was right. But the other part ignored all those thoughts and focused only on the destruction of Gods and the ending of conflict...in essence, the victory of peace.
Peace for all, including this girl.
Still, her staring was irritating, and so the elf turned his eyes to her and he snarled from beneath his blackened veil.
"What is it you want from me, girl?"
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Idina Doc
Wildgardian
Could we start again, please?
Posts: 258
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Post by Idina Doc on May 12, 2014 22:30:51 GMT -6
Idina jumped in her stool when the Clanless' voice sounded, making the wood creak. Her hands slapped onto the sides of the seat, with the hopes of steadying it. He spoke with the same tone he had on the battlefield earlier that day; she'd met his eyes a few times there, she knew he'd seen her staring. But she hadn't been able to help it then. Some part of her insisted he was familiar, but despite her efforts, no amounts of studying him or rattling her own mind could make anything make sense.
This time, though, it was different. She hadn't looked over at the stranger for more than a second or two, she could swear. In fact, she had been going the extra mile so as to avoid looking at him. Grudgingly, however, she could understand his harshness. She'd worn out her privilege earlier today, certainly. That was it.
Turning in her seat to face him full-on - might as well make a clear point while she was at it - the blonde kept a straight face as she responded: "I just want to figure you out. But just staring is not working." Here, she slid off of her stool. Waiting for the tavern keeper to appear suddenly felt a lot less worth it to her. "I ought to go." She gathered her cloak in her hands so it wouldn't catch on the stool and started to cross the tavern floor.
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Post by Faljere D'ael Elderbaden on May 16, 2014 10:37:51 GMT -6
There was a wooden thump as the girl slid off her stool and began to leave. At first, The Clanless sighed slightly in relief, knowing that the girl was now gone and she wouldn't bother him in his time of rest.
However, his mind turned in a split moment and his head snapped towards her. His hand reached for his blade, but withdrew immediately.
"Girl." He grumbled, although it was loud enough for her to hear. "You said you thought you knew me."
Like her, he slid off his stool and walked towards her, but his height made him tower over her threateningly. His own fur cloak brushed against her long, flowing skirt, and his forehead was nearly against hers.
For a moment, the Tavern went silent, the patrons anxious to know what might happen next. However, the elf remained still.
Finally, the silence was broken. "Do you fear death? Or will it be peace that you feel in death?" His voice was frigid and nearly dead, but waivered slightly with emotion; only the trained ear would be able to tell. "Carrion fowl picking at you until there is nothing left? Nothing but despair? Will that empty pit yawn for you, or will you treat death as an old friend before the end?"
Then, his eyes squinted, and he drew his face closer.
"Do you know me?"
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Idina Doc
Wildgardian
Could we start again, please?
Posts: 258
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Post by Idina Doc on May 16, 2014 16:52:13 GMT -6
Idina froze when the stranger called for her attention. So he wished to speak with her now, did he? Accepting of this notion, she turned on her heels to face him.
However, she was almost immediately greeted with his face in hers; he had to bend forward to bring his face close to hers, and she had to bend her back to compensate. Wide brown eyes stared, fixed as though in a trance, into The Clanless' hard, icy green ones. Her breath was caught in her throat in the moment the tavern went silent; everyone was looking to the pair of them, she knew.
His questions shook her to the core. Dealing with death had always been her least favourite part of her flower business, but she knew the Reaper's gift well. The elf's voice, interestingly, showed no fear in the topic he spoke of, but something else made it quiver... She brushed it off. She had to be imagining that. The healer swallowed hard, hoping to clear her mind and her throat, and she spoke:
"I do not fear death, nor do I anticipate it. Unless I have had everything I care for stripped from my life, death would not bring me peace. So long as I have something that makes my life worth living, I will fight for the right to survive, and I plan to do it without putting blood on my own hands."
She narrowed her own eyes to match his, and she kept her voice steady. "I know of no one whom I would spend enough time with the get to know if they spoke to me the way you do." The longer she looked, the longer those eyes were familiar; she hesitated, her face softened a little... But she cleared her throat again and pressed on: "Now comes my turn. Do you know me? Should I know you?"
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Post by Faljere D'ael Elderbaden on May 16, 2014 21:44:33 GMT -6
Her words spoken were like a poem in how selected they were. His eyes glazed over, and his mind slipped away. Pulled somewhere else by a greater force, no doubt, but he felt it was strange nonetheless. For a while, he'd been having these visions--if they could even be called such--and had from time to time slipped into an unknown, insubstantial world. They'd show him things, like messages, however not always clear ones.
This one, though, spoke exactly what he saw: a tower, made of stone. An ancient-looking man, gesturing towards it warmly. A silver ring, so pure and simple in its nature with the exception of the one blemish of blue strewn across one side. The girl with whom he stood in the tavern, with eyes fearful and empty. And finally, something that brought a small light to his eyes for at least a split second.
A book.
"A library." He grumbled to himself. "Books. I need to read the books."
He spun around and grabbed his blade before turning back towards the door and striding past the girl.
"Come with me." He grumbled. "If you want to keep interrogating me, you'll have to walk and talk."
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Idina Doc
Wildgardian
Could we start again, please?
Posts: 258
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Post by Idina Doc on May 17, 2014 16:15:51 GMT -6
Something seemed to be going on in his head, and though she couldn't see or tell what it was for herself, she hoped to get an idea in his face. However, the stranger's face remained stoic and his eyes almost dead for a number of moments. Then, in the last heartbeat before he moved, something flashed across his features, lighting everything up just a little bit. Only for a moment, but it was there, and it made Idina's eyes widen. She definitely recognized that face! But...?
Then came his words. "Library", "books". Yes, that matched! But that couldn't be it, she had to be wrong...
Suddenly his face was out of hers, and she could breathe again. By the time the blonde had straightened her back, the elf had strode past her. Her body obeyed the "Come with me" before she fully understood the rest of his words. Once she did, however, her steps bore more purpose. She wasn't going to let him get away yet; she definitely had questions now that she suspected he'd just answered the ones she'd asked before.
"Be aware," she warned, "there was a drunkard on the ground when I came here!" Sure enough, when the door opened it revealed Lukis, still splayed out in front of the door. The moonlight caught on something polished on his finger, in stark contrast to the dull old stein next to his hand. Odd. He had never struck her as someone to like or wear jewellery.
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Post by Faljere D'ael Elderbaden on May 17, 2014 22:16:40 GMT -6
The monk strode out the tavern, the girl trailing behind him, just narrowly leaping over the slumbered body of the one she called 'the drunkard'. He was sound asleep, drool pooling from his mouth and onto the wool sleeve of his coat, and his dirty hair was pulled over his eyes. The elf paid no heed, even though the blonde girl seemed to be distracted for a moment.
He skidded to a halt and looked back at her. "Is he a friend of yours? We have no time for you to worry about his drunken sleep."
He continued racing forwards in the dead of night, the girl trailing behind him, but he suddenly halted. A sudden thought had appeared in his mind: he had no idea where he was going. It had been so long since he'd been to a library in Wildgard, yet the one in his vision looked nothing like what he knew.
"Quick. Do you know of any libraries in the area? Or somewhere where I could find a map to one?" He barked.
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Idina Doc
Wildgardian
Could we start again, please?
Posts: 258
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Post by Idina Doc on May 18, 2014 21:20:22 GMT -6
"I wish I could say he was a stranger," the Healer muttered as she picked up her skirts to try and catch up to the elf. He wasn't monstrous in height, not like Lukis was, but Idina was short enough that closing the distance between her and The Clanless was a challenge.
He suddenly stopped, and she skidded on the dry grass so as not to collide with him. His prefacing the question - nay, the demand - with "quick" put her under pressure to answer as such, and without thinking, she blurted: "The Monestary would have religious books, I believe. But if those are not what you want, the only other place I can think of is in the Fort..." She seriously hoped he would find what he was looking for in town, please oh please.
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Post by Faljere D'ael Elderbaden on May 18, 2014 21:48:35 GMT -6
The elf looked around slightly at the night sky, thinking upon her answers: the monastery, where the monks lived, and the Fort, where Lord MacNiel stood watch over his people. Both were places he wished to avoid, or rather, were the memories of those places what he wished to avoid? Either way, he had little choice.
He turned back to the girl and, with a dead voice, he replied.
"The Fort. It's closed, true?" He awaited a reply, but shook his head. "Nevermind. We'll sneak in somehow. There'll be maps there. I'll find the location of the building I'm searching for..."
Suddenly, his mind flashed away back to the image of the library, but this time, instead of the old man outside, it was a younger man in a red robe with yellow lining. His lively green eyes smiled with his thin mouth, and his lengthy blonde hair was pulled into a top knot that reached down his back. However, there was a plaid cloak draped over his shoulders that blew in the wind behind him, which didn't fit quite with his robes in all honesty.
Is that...Faljere? the elf muttered to himself. He'll be there...but the Celtic garb?
He shook the vision away as he looked at the girl. "We need to find a map to the Celtlands."
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Idina Doc
Wildgardian
Could we start again, please?
Posts: 258
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Post by Idina Doc on May 18, 2014 22:30:42 GMT -6
Her lips pulled over onto one side of her face and pursed out, her eyebrows lowering as well. She'd wanted to make her opinion on the Fort's new populace known, but she didn't get the chance to answer. So be it. The Clanless would know better than she would about the invaders, in any case.
As she listened to his response, she grew more and more uneasy. Sneaking into the Fort would be dangerous, and only one of the two had any knowledge of using a weapon. Of the two of them, he was also the one who might be able to blend in better with the barbarians, at least by silhouette alone. Idina had hoped to return to the Fort, sure, but definitely under more peaceful circumstances...
She was pulled out of her thoughts by the elf's words. "The Celtlands?" she repeated. The name was familiar... She thought back to nights spent at the Fort's library, under supervision of its monk tenant. Most of the books that had interested her had been for magic and incantations, but every so often, she'd ask for books of maps, hoping to find the name of her birth village somewhere... Yes, she must have stumbled upon the Celtlands there.
"If you want a map, the Fort's library would be a good place to look, yes. I recall finding a book on the Celtlands there, the librarian had shown it to me." She emphasized the word "librarian", hoping to elicit a reaction of any sort from her companion, to confirm or deny her suspicion.
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Post by Faljere D'ael Elderbaden on May 18, 2014 22:41:41 GMT -6
The Clanless nodded in response to the girl's inquiry about the Celtlands, slightly impatiently. It was when she told him the information he needed to know that his eyes widened slightly--only very slightly.
"The Fort has maps leading there? I knew they were hard to find, but it's good there is one." He paused for a moment, breathing out a cloud of mist in the cold dead of night. "This librarian you speak of...how was he perceived by others?"
It was obvious from the trembling in his voice that something bothered him, but even he was unaware of why it bothered him.
You are not alone. Rid yourself of the mask. I'm here to help. He said in his mind, his voice calmer and higher than usual, but he simply shook his head.
"You are not there anymore. You ARE the mask!" He growled, lashing out with his hand at nothing.
Suddenly, all was still around him, and he panted cautiously as his eyes darted from side to side as if searching for an answer. The elf turned to the girl and put on his most neutral face before speaking. "We'll travel to the Fort under cover of night. If the barbarians catch us, you are my maiden, and I am to have my way with you. They foolishly trust anyone with fur like me. We'll get to the Fort and sneak into the library, where you'll find me this map. Then, I'll be on my way, and you won't have to worry about me anymore."
He set off, his foot hovering just above the ground, when he turned back around and stood over the girl. "We're sneaking past barbarian warriors into a heavily fortified fortress to find a map for a dangerous quest. Please loose the hat."
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Idina Doc
Wildgardian
Could we start again, please?
Posts: 258
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Post by Idina Doc on May 18, 2014 23:13:27 GMT -6
The tremble in the elf's voice caught at Idina's ears like thorns. That tick, though, was the only sign of any sort of emotion from him, as she'd come to expect.
"'Was'?" The tense had stuck out to her right away. "You speak as though the librarian is dead." Perhaps that was an exaggeration, but she wanted to get him to crack somehow...
Okay, not like that. The outburst sent a shock up the Healer's spine, and she bent her legs in a charge-ready position, her hand hovering over Winter Rose's sheath. Her dagger had been named for excellence, and true to her roots, she had kept it and her excellent by not drawing blood with it. Even so, despite not knowing how to protect herself with her own blade, her arm had been ready... She sighed a puff of steam through her pale lips. She had to relax.
Then, just as though it hadn't happened at all, the Clanless faced her again, stoic and stony-voiced. This prompted Idina to properly fix her posture so as to appear fine again herself. Little of what he was saying appealed to her, least of all pretending to be a maiden for this strange man - where was Lila already? - but she felt she had little choice in the matter.
As for her hat... She'd already been thinking of taking it off, given she hardly needed to shield her eyes from the moonlight. But where could she put it? "If you have anything you would like to set down before we fly, I will put my hat with it."
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