josh900

"Dire.. mole rats?" Asked Lucas. "Those... sound horrible." "I've seen a mole rat before!" Exclaimed Hexol. "I bet a dire one would look just like a giant pig with teeth then!" He suddenly let out an excited gasp. "I could put a saddle on one and ride it couldn't I!?!? I wanna try that!" "Because that sounds safe." Azuris chortled as he sat down after preparing his tent. "Oh it really doesn't, but that just makes it fun!" Hexol said with a wide grin. ------- Moving away from the conversation about overgrown Rodents, Leif listened in on the conversation about fire that Rameses and We'tak were having, a sly grin eventually spread over his face as an idea came to mind as he approached. "Ah yes, making fire the the good old way, a man, a rock, and some wood, nothing more basic than that." He spoke in a tone of reverence. "Personally though I'm a bit of a lazy old bum so I prefer my method!" He said excitedly before making the proper sign with his fingers, causing them to glow for a short moment before a quick jet of fire streamed out towards Rameses's own fire, adding to the natural flame with the magically created one. "A completely pointless display." Leif said with a satisfied smile while he folded his arms. "But one I couldn't help but make."

"Like you wouldn't believe." Leif chuckled at Mardiira's question. "Growing up I used to have to clear them out of our storehouses all the time, thankfully they were usually just regular sized rats. It's when they're dire rats is when you're in real trouble, think having them eat your food is bad? Wait till they eat the cat and go after you! Had one chase me around for a good five minutes before one of the Watcher's took care of it. Thing took a nasty chunk of his leg off and would have had to be amputated if it wasn't for the healers around. So yeah, Rats in basements, sounds trivial until one the size of a dog is chewing off your leg." He said as the group moved to the clearing that Rhaine had spotted.

Leif slid off the side of Zaph as the party stopped for camp. "I can juggle swords!" Leif said with a chuckle. "Think that'll help the circus story?" "You're a big enough clown for it." Azuris grumbled from atop Bob. "Never could do the face paint though, feels too weird and was never good at sitting still for it." Leif replied with a shrug. "So you're a failure of a clown then?" Lucas asked as he rode up behind them. "Yup, failed clown school, got kicked out, they said I wasn't taking it seriously enough." "Shoulda kept my mouth shut." Azuris shook his head before dismounting Bob. "Still.... we're not outlandish enough to be considered a circus. We look bout like the average adventuring party to be honest. Don't need to be a circus to have unusual races traveling together." "No," Leif agreed, "but it would keep people from asking us to clean out their basements of rats."

Leif had now been traveling for nearly a month now, while many would consider that being far too long a time spent away from ones family, not many were able to magically communicate with their loved ones, making the distance much more bearable, but not completely removing the feeling of their absence. Intrigued by the newest arrival, Leif had warmly introduced himself to Mardiira, but had since kept some distance from her so as to not overcrowd her seeing as We'tak and Hexol both seemed to have a never ending supply of questions for her, it was also due to Zaph's unending need to prove his superior wingspan to her at every opportunity. ----- The mere mention of the fancy party put Azuris on edge, the very thought of being stuffed into some pompous looking outfit and being forced to shave off his newly appeared facial scruff did not sit well with him. Lucas meanwhile, hadn't thought much of the party, as he had no doubt that he would simply fade into the background and out of sight during the event.

Well we weren't going to assume you were back in unless you made a post saying otherwise, so it wouldn't make much sense for us to start asking you to post if we didn't know if you would re-join or not.

The twitching in Leif's eye had not yet subsided by the time the geas had been lifted, he paced around the room as they waited for the knight's return, thankful that he had never had to deal with a woman like this one. ----------- Watching as Sir Gregor sped off on his horse, Azuris let out a grunt and shook his head. "Knights, never an ounce of sense in them."

Upon hearing the lady's first request, a twitch began in Leif's left eye, only growing more noticeable with her second request and the sigh that she expelled when she gazed out the window. "Ooooohhh noooooooo." He quietly moaned, suddenly realizing what they were facing. Hexol meanwhile, was utterly confused. "A handkerchief?" He asked. "I got some if you're running low! All different colors too, not sure where they came from though, but I've cleaned them all so you don't have to worry about them being used or anything." He offered. "It's a courtly gesture." Lucas explained. "If he carries it, then it means his feelings for her are still true." "So..... wiping his boogers is a way of saying he loves her? That's just weird." Hexol said with a confused look on his face, forcing Leif to stifle a laugh.

While Lucas stared at the beautiful woman, while holding onto Hexol's arms to keep him from touching anything, Leif's eyes continuously darted around the room as he spoke. "Yeah... You put a geas on the knight out there, we wanna know why." He demanded. -------- "Never did care for the ones that talk like that." Azuris grumbled after Abby mentioned Gergor's manner of speaking. "Always full of themselves, were usually the first to die too."

"Wanna talk to the lady in charge here." Leif said to the elderly woman in the window. "That's either you or you have a way of contacting her, wanna talk to her about that knight wandering around the place. "So have he come out here so we can talk, or I'll come in there, whichever she prefers. Would rather this be a civil visit if she doesn't mind." He said, squinting his eyes as he looked over the tower. --------- It took Lucas a moment before he realized that Rhaine had asked that he be part of the group going to the tower. "Umm... Yeah, okay." He said as he started to follow. They weren't too far from the party when a familiar high pitched voice came from his side. "I'm coming too!" "I.. don't think that's a good Idea Hexol." "Why not? Wizards always have neat things to see!" The excited Kender said happily. "That's... that's exactly why it's not a good idea." Lucas said with a sigh.

Upon hearing the Knight's predicament, Leif's face turned grim. "Geas, damn hard to remove 'cept by the caster." He said, eyeing the tower in the distance, he knew all too well the damage that such a spell could cause, yet another cause of an unseen scar that would never properly heal. "I'll fly on up ahead, start a chat with her, see if she won't remove it out of the goodness of her heart, or I'll aggressively suggest it till she relents." He said with a smirk, bringing down mages was always something he enjoyed. "Are you sure that's a wise decision?" Asked Lucas. "Nope, ain't in the habit of making those." Leif answered as he spurred Zaph onwards and upwards. As he flew, Leif proceeded to cast an assortment of extra protective spells on top of his usual ones, though he most certainly wasn't top tier spell caster, he still had an expansive number of spells he could draw from. Quickly reaching the tower, he made sure to land Zaph a bit further away from the tower than what one normally would in order to avoid any barriers. Pace about for a bit he eventually called out, asking to see the master of the tower, not exactly expecting a response, but figuring it couldn't hurt to announce his presence as getting the drop on a wizard in her tower was highly unlikely.

As the group set out on the road, Azuris's mood seemed to have become even grumpier, eventually causing Lucas to ask what was bothering him. "Don't like the idea of Nawen leaving off on her own is all." He answered. "She can take care of herself though, she'll be fine." Lucas said in a reassuring tone. "Don't care, still don't like it." ------------- When they came across the Knight who issued them a challenge, a familiar crawling sensation started to spread from his core, outward. The knight had some fairly powerful magics around him that caught Leif unaware, the spell scars that he carried tingled in response. "Bit of an odd thing to ask random folk you run across don't you think? You on a quest or something?" He asked the knight. "Knights gotta to take up quest like that to prove themselves sometimes." Azuris said, scratching his chin. "Challenge anyone who looks worthy to a dual on while you travel to whatever destination. I had to do something like that a couple times." He said curtly, one of the rare times where he spoke about his time as a Paladin knight.

Dispelling the shroud of darkness that he had enveloped himself in not too long ago, Leif emerged packed, cleaned, and ready for travel. His morning limp having already been dealt with, he made his way to the barn where the others had gathered in time to hear the newly arrived Dwarf ask for the Chosen of Kelemvor. Leif leaned against the open barn door frame, crossing one leg in front of the other. "I'm your Huckleberry." He said, letting the twang of his accent emphasize itself. "What can I help ya with?" He asked the Dwarf. If the dwarf was there to cause any trouble, he'd rather it be aimed at him, least this way he could get his morning exercise.

Giant mole, or a Dire Badger would fit him from the sound of things.

At Abby's departure Hexol looked at the door for a few moments before speaking to himself. "I'm not that hairy..." ------- With the noise finally being too much for him, Azuris picked himself up off of his bedroll up in the loft and made his way down to leave the barn and get himself some breakfast. He grunted a few choice words of frustration as he passed those that were arguing in the barn before walking out, stopping to stare at the mass of pitch blackness out in the field for a moment before shaking his head and walking to the inn.

"Ummm.. no.. the floor actually." said Hexol as he scratched his stomach. "Maybe you just thought the bed was empty, but tripped over me and fell asleep anyways. I dunno.. you have all of your clothes on so there's nothing to worry about." He said as he turned his back to her as he dug through his pack, trying to find some clean clothes to wear.

When Hexol woke from his sleep, he rolled out from underneath Abby, unaware that she was even there. It wasn't until he began to change out of his dirty clothes for some clean ones did he notice her, and so with little regard for the fact that he was currently clothed only in his socks, he cocked his head to the side and spoke. "Abby? When did you get in here? The bed there's empty so why are you on the floor? Did you fall off like I did? I roll around in my sleep a lot so that's pretty usual... hey.. wait.... Abby, why did you get in bed with me? You weren't here last night when I came in, at least.. I don't think you were." He said, trying his best to think back on the previous night's events.

As the group began to rise with the sun, Leif remained in his bedroll, trying to unsuccessfully block the sun from his eyes. After growing far too irritated with the light, he angrily cast the Darkness spell, and enveloped himself in a cloud of pitch blackness and was able to quickly fall back to sleep. ------------ With a rather embarrassing dream involving Aera and an invasive Kraken tentacle waking Lucas up with a start, he was met with an equally odd scene as what was just playing in his mind, Abby curled up on top of Hexol, both fast asleep. Not wanting to be faced with what would be a horrifically awkward situation, He slowly and quietly got out of bed and crept out of the room, seeking the nearest free bathroom in the hopes of washing up for the day's travel.

As the members of the group trickled off to bed one by one, Azuris and Lucas were among the last to do so, Azuris moving to the barn, while Lucas opted to look for an empty bed back in the inn, finding one that Hexol had earlier claimed, but had fallen off of at some point in the night. Leif meanwhile stayed out by the campfire, preferring the clean outside air over that of a barn, he eventually setting out his bedroll and casting a simple bug repellent spell to avoid waking up with countless unknown insects crawling on and around him.

"What? Like clothes?" Leif asked Conall, ignoring the daggers that were coming from Rhaine's eyes. "I've never really wanted to wear anything in particular to be honest." He answered with a shrug. "Never really been a clothes guy, although..." He suddenly stoppedm, memories of a story from his early years that he was never allowed to forget coming to surface. "The cloak of Khelben Arusun, properly this time." He said with a wide grin. "There a reason for that?" Azuris asked with an arched brow. "A rather embarrassing one yes." Leif said before taking a drink, not going into detail about the incident.

"I noticed." Lucas said indignantly as he rubbed his bitten nose, casting a minor healing spell on it as he walked back over to where he was sitting. "Think you got off easy in the kissing department." Azuris said with a slight smirk, mere moments before a loud thud nearby brought him to his feet. The shriek of a griffon put him at ease however, and he quickly spotted the source of the noise as Zaph swooped down to the ground not far from the fire, and began to dine on the spoils of his hunt. "Yeeaaah... How's about we all agree that no one has to kiss the griffon eh?" To that and Rhaine's question, Leif couldn't help but laugh. "To be honest with you Rhaine, yes I have. Still not sure what you would usually wear without it though, think you're more of a linen shirt and pants sort of woman more than a fancy dress wearer." He guessed with a shrug. He knew what she had really meant by her question, but it didn't take a genius to know that she was not the kind of woman who would appreciate the truthful answer.

"Well would ya look at that!" Leif exclaimed when Rhaine back to the campfire. "Was starting to think that the armor couldn't come off." He laughed, noting that this was the first time he had seen her without her armor on. Not a few moments after, Azuris came walking back while carrying what looked to be an entire barrel. "So.... as much as I would like a reason to excuse myself from this... Figured it would just be easier to fork over the coin and buy the supposed best that they have here in one go and be done with it." He said as he sat the cask down onto the ground. "We're all going to regret this in the morning aren't we?" Lucas asked as he looked at the barrel with his eyes wide open. "I already am." Azuris grumbled before refilling his cup. When the dare was sot his way again Lucas felt to the need to object. "But I just went. Fine, but pick someone else next okay?" He pleaded before moving over to Sir Meowsalot. "Alright kitty, just stay still and let me get this done quick okay?" He asked as he scratched behind the cats ear before moving in to give him a quick peck.

"My.. my shirt?" Lucas asked in a confused tone. Why he would be dared something like that was something he couldn't understand, but went ahead with anyways. His body wasn't anything that he was ever embarrassed about, the years of training kept him in good and healthy shape, so with a shrug he took his shirt off and folded it into his pack, thankful that the night air was of moderate temperature. "Oh that was weak." Leif said to Abby. 'How's about something tougher eh?" With that said, Lucas spoke up. "Rameses, when Rhaine comes back.... I dare you to go kiss Jarl on the mouth in front of us all." To this dare, Leif burst out laughing. "Oooh this is gonna get baaaad."

Leif couldn't stop himself from laughing at Rhaine's worst fear. "Well I got some bad news for ya wings, you're famous, you're already someone's erotic fantasy. Countless men out there dream of having a strong women like you, or even just a chance to say that they've conquered one, comes with the territory I'm afraid, happens to men too, but women get the worst of it all." He said, memories of all the pieces of writing that he had come across about his female friends coming to surface. Having said that a dare for Rhaine suddenly came to mind. "Anyways, first dare of the night goes to Rhaine! I dare you.. to actually relax for the night, go take the armor off and come back wearing something more casual. Seriously, anything that would attack us would be obliterated in an instant, I think you'll be okay without the shell for a while."

Azuris let out an audible groan in response to Zorica's question. He looked into the fire for a few moments as he finished off his drink before answering in a somber tone. "Her name was Clara, Bright blonde hair, chocolate brown eyes, and freckles everywhere. Her mother ran a flower shop out of their home so she always smelled nice, always had a smile on and would talk to anyone about anything, even us less than reputable types. She invited me over for dinner once when she caught me sneaking away with a sack of potatoes, didn't have the heart to tell her I wasn't taking them to eat." He spoke with a nearly unnoticeable smile. Already sensing that this story wasn't a happy one, Lucas cautiously spoke up. "So.... What happened to her?" He asked, hoping that the end of the story didn't upset Azuris. A few moments passed before Azuris spoke again. "Was watching a storehouse one night, heard the chains coming from down the street, a regular occurrence back then, slavers were everywhere and were allowed to operate due to some greased palms. Saw her in the line, twenty armed guards marching around her, I was a dumb kid back then, but even I knew jumping in to save her would have just ended with me dead, so I just watched as they marched her off down the street, never saw her again." He finished with a sigh before standing up. "Way too sober for this s***." He grumbled before heading off to the inn. "I'll bring back more booze."

"Alright then." Leif answered Abby's challenge with a grin before taking a cup and expertly downing it all in one go, pilling but a few drops down his chin. Slamming it down in victory, he wipe his mouth and laughed. "Was challenged to drinking contest all the time before I hit my last growth spurt, scared everyone how well I could keep it all down!" He boasted. "Your turn then Abs, first crush, spill it all." He said as he passed her one of the drinks. Azuris meanwhile took one of his own, knowing that he'll need all the alcohol he could get before the night was over. ------------ Taking her hand for help, Lucas got back up to his feet. "Yeah, though I'd be surprised if anyone even noticed we were gone." He said with a small chuckle.