Tales of Faerun

[GrueMaster]

Tak'we lowered his staff, calmed somewhat the fact Rhaine knew the pointy-ear. He gave a slight nod of his head in response to Mireth's bow and went back to unpacking.

 

"What's that?" he heard Sori ask, drawing his attention away from the newcomer towards the softskin hatchling, who was practically bouncing around his legs. She was pointing to the staff in his hands.

 

"it is called a gythka," the thri'kreen explained cheerfully, "It is a weapon of thisss one'sss people. But it isss more than a weapon. It also servesss asss a tool to help survive on the sssandss." An idea came to his mind suddenly, and Tak'we began to rummage exitedly through his cloak for what few things he had in it. He pulled out what appeared to be two long wires and some beads. "Watch thisss."

 

He tied one end of the wires to one end of the staff, then tightened them as he pulled them across to the other end and tied that off as well. Then the thri'kreen hung the beads on the top end of his gythka. He looked at Sori with a tilted glance, remembering how the little girl loved the music Bard played earlier. "They can alsso be used for music. " With that, he began to play an old thri'kreen song.

 

The make-shift instrument made soft twangs as Tak'we plucked at the strings. He pounded the staff on the ground, creating a deep, even beat and making the beads shake in time with it. He began to rap his free finders on his chest, the chitin acting as a drum, and he began to whistle a tune as well.

 

The song seemed to be made up of several contradictions. It sounded strong yet soft. It was chaotic, but seemed to have a certain order as well. Joyful yet sorrowful, energetic yet calm, angry yet peaceful. The thri'kreen's song had no words, but still managed to sound as if there were lyrics hidden in the sound. This was how the song sounded, for several minutes, right to the very end as Tak'we finished with a final strum of the wires.

 

"Thisss one's clutch-mother would play that ssong sometimesss," he spoke as he leaned the gythka against one of the wagons, a far-off look on his face. May you know peace with Mother Moon, Tic'che, he thought, recalling his mother by name. His stomach growled as he noticed the smell of fresh hot food. Pulling himself from of his thoughts, Tak'we gave a small chuckle. "That made thisss one hungry!" he said. " Come along Sori." He picked up the little girl and put her on his shoulders. "Let'sss go eat."

[Naktis]

Nawen listened to the Bard's tale. She was always interested to hear stories of the people she met and those who were willing to speak rather than throw stones at her. Nawen had little stories from her own life to share and she always was a better listener than talker.

 

"Ah, wanderlust." She said and smiled lightly. "I've never met a real bard before. It sound so fascinating to travel the realms and collect new stories and songs."

 

She nodded in thanks when the bard offered her one of the hare. She cut a small piece of it with her hunting knife and left the rest of it for the Bard or whoever else who wanted some.

 

"Very nice to meet you" she said to Mireth, "my name is Nawen." Somehow traveling with so many different people made Nawen feel more confident. She almost never felt out of place amongst her new friends.

 

The drow glanced back at the bard when he asked about how she got into this group. "Circus? You're not the first to call us that." She said as she cleaned her hunting knife before stuffing it back to its sheath.

 

"I'm afraid it's not a very interesting tale." She started. "I was in Waterdeep when some thugs started following me around. I didn't want to start a fight in public because Drow are not welcomed in the City of Splendors more than in other cities I suspect."

 

Nawen heard stories how Drow started pouring from the Undermountain one day and started killing people which led to Mephistopheles and his forces attacking the city.

 

"To get rid off those thugs I went to the temple and as it so happened it was the temple of Kelemvor. That's where I met our leader, Rhaine." She paused for a moment as she remembered another of her friends who unfortunately was no longer with them.

 

"There was also a dwarf, Norgold that followed me to the temple but he is... gone now."

[mythicdawnmaster]

Mireth sat by the fire, as near to Rhaine as she could get without throwing Echo off the seat next to her, She smiled as the Thri-kreen began to play a primal song with his large weapon, she tapped her feet along to the rhythm, watching the strange creature play. She had seen his kind but once before, and had never gotten close enough to speak. She wondered if he originated from the sands? perhaps he had been a captive once? She wouldn't bother the creature with such questions upon just meeting him.

 

Looking back up at Rhaine, she spoke "You travel with interesting Companions my lady, a Sherikir, Bhen's, a Falmarin, Ithil'Quessir, a good Mori'Quessir. Such a large group my old friend, are you all travelling the great desert as well?" she said, listing off the races she saw seated around the camp, in her native tongue.

Edited February 2, 2013 by mythicdawnmaster

[Macman253]

Bard nodded as he listened to her tale, one thing he learned in his travels is to listen to others stories. He smiled as he flipped his cards around his hand and let them cascade into his palm. As he did so a card fell from the pile and landed face up, it was adorned with a picture of a great eye in place of the sun over the horizon. The name of the card was The All-Seeing Eye, a card of great importance for those that believe cards hold mystical powers. He picked up the card and looked at it, the last time he drew it bad things happened. To him it was always the sign of great and life altering change. He quickly shook off his feeling of foreboding and slid the card back into his deck.

 

"Aye, I knew this one gnome. Loved creating these mystical potions, he wanted to create one that would teleport you to a destination of your choosing when you drank it. He succeeded in making it but not the way he liked it to..." Bard said with a laugh, he found laughter and the humorous tale to be useful for lightening the mood. Flipped the top card from the deck and the Eye appeared again, he quickly tucked it away and shuffled the deck. "His potion sent him from the place where he drank it, through the market and right into the ladies bath-house across the city." He added, "The recipe he had for the potion was really a very powerful dwarven brandy..." He said as he cut the deck in his hand and it flicked out another card. He caught it and checked its face, it was The Eye once more. He flipped the card around in his hand and it vanished up his sleeve, to onlookers it would appear it vanished into thin air.

Edited February 2, 2013 by Macman253

[AurianaValoria1]

Rhaine nodded to Mireth, "Yes...seems we didn't route the Cult of the Dragon in its entirety. They've set up in the Dalelands again."

 

Sori walked by her mother's cooking pot, peered at the contents inside, and frowned, "Awww, ma...'tatoes again?"

 

"Don't complain about the potatoes, Sori," Bilron said with raised brow, "You're lucky we could get that much."

 

The girl heaved a sigh, "Yes, pa."

[Ithildin]

The halfling sheathed her daggers and climbed up onto the wagon again, relieved to discover Mireth was an old and trusted friend of Rhaine's. She smiled, watching Sori chatter happily away with Tak'we, and listened with keen interest to the conversation between the Doomguide and Corellon's Champion.

[mythicdawnmaster]

Mireth's brow furrowed slightly, and she said "The Dragon cult? They are still around? Formidable aren't they? Lead by the vile Guinauruloki. I pray one day they will be but a memory, a bad one, but at least not a threat." Mireth had a way for mixing her native language with common, often to hide the fact their were some words she had yet to grasp, and most just found it exotic the way she messed with both languages. Guinauruloki meant 'dracolich' in the elven tongue.

 

"I'm afraid my quest is not so grand, nor is it based on any real... substance." Mireth said with a sigh, she felt silly for travelling on a whim. "I.. had a dream of Maydiira, i saw her Imprisoned, in some deep, vile cell, she looked as though she hadn't ate in weeks... I never dream without reason, i couldn't have just stayed at the Temple after receiving such a vision. I pray it to be the product of eating before bed, but i fear the worst."

[AurianaValoria1]

Rhaine's mouth dropped open for a moment before she closed it again, her brow furrowing in response to Mireth's words, "That is...a strange coincidence, friend. Just last night I had a nightmare of Maydiira being tortured. This...this is ill tidings, indeed, and I certainly do not think we would both dream of similar things for no reason at all. If she is in trouble, we need to find her quickly."

 

That, in and of itself, would be a monumental task. No matter how much they tried to hurry, the Dalelands were still several tendays away. And if Maydiira were imprisoned elsewhere, it would be nigh impossible to find her.

 

The Doomguide sighed, tossing the rogue stone that Echo had given her from hand to hand. Maeve and Bilron had fallen silent, the latter taking a seat on a stump and drinking quietly from a stein. His wife continued to watch over the boiling potatoes while Sori hovered nearby.

 

Glancing at Echo, Rhaine finally spoke again, "You seemed to want to know something else, Echo. What is it?"

Edited February 3, 2013 by AurianaValoria1

[Macman253]

Bard gave a whistle to the little girl, "Hey Sori, if you want you can have some of the leftover hare?" He said to her as he flipped a card around his fingers. He wasn't hungry and he also hated potatoes so he might aswell share what he had. Bard spent most of his youth avoiding home and drunken carousing with barmaids. He had a lot of respect for his parents but when they died he was in the world alone. He always kept that with him and to see the girl so happy with her parents reminded him of those times. Bard's ears keyed in at Dracolich, he listened carefully while he practiced his card tricks. He did not want to give the impression he was eavesdropping.

 

As he listened to the conversation between the newcomer and Rhaine he idly practiced cascade shuffling and deck splitting. It turned into a rhythm for him, first a shuffle then cascade it between his hands, he then split the deck three times and shuffled again to repeat the steps. He did this without even looking at his hands, what for most magicians would take great concentration he did while his attention was split between Nawen and Rhaine. In his history he had been hired many times to be a spy in nobles courts, he could flatter and seduce and he was able to pour honeyed words into a womans ears to have her spill her secrets or say silent encouragements to push his employers rivals to reveal their hands too soon. The spy game was something he was good at and he had learned how to listen to every word of a particular conversation while having a discussion with others and not drawing attention to what he was really doing. To him the rhythmic movements of his hands helped to focus him. The soft sound of the cards as he moved them about with an almost mystical grace, the feel of the treated paper that made them nearly indestructible. Another trait he learned whilst being a spy was to play Liars Hand in his head, helped ward his thoughts from anyone that attempts a read thoughts spell or mind read powers.

 

Useful but also as much a flaw, too some that act would be instantly suspicious and when they discovered it his ruses whichever it was, was usually up at that point. He had dealt with mind-readers before and was sometimes mistaken for one due to his innate ability to read people. He had done it so well the weaker minded people thought him a telepath as they are called by most scholars. He called them Reader's, most of the nobles who had a feeling their was a traitor in his court would call in a Bard like Bard. Someone capable of rooting him out and revealing his presence. Too most he was a wandering minstrel or an ex-soldier looking for coin by playing music but to others he was a keen spy that was welcome in most noble courts.

[josh900]

Tannin sat back with his arms crossed, eyes darting back and forth between Rhaine and Mireth listening in on their conversation. "A rescue mission then." He said as a smile slowly spread across his face. "At last! A bit of simplicity and familiarity added to our venture! Have either of you any idea where the lady Maydiira can be found? If she truly is being tortured then we should rush to her aid as soon as possible." He said with excitement in his voice. He was finally faced with a goal that he could get behind. Rescue missions were always his favorite.