Tales of Faerun

[GrueMaster]

The thri'kreen nodded silently to Othos and Kowolj in greeting, then looked at Nawen as she spoke. "Sso the hunt beginss," Tak'we responded matter-of-factly. "It will be nice hunting alongside clutchmatess again," he seemed to beam at the dark pointy-ear, genuinely glad to be leaving the stone softskin village alongside friends, and began to walk towards the gates.

 

 

Kalin caught up with the others just as they were getting mounted and leaving, moving in a hurried walk to catch up with them. He gave a somewhat less-than-enthusiastic look at the horses; he disliked riding horses at the best of times. Setting his displeasure aside, he spoke to his companions as he quickly got a horse and mounted up. "Well, I managed to find a few alchemical tricks and supplies that should help out later in the tunnels," the elan spoke quickly as he rode up beside the priestesses with a shadow of a smile on his lips. "Plus some things for an experiment I want to try out."

 

The soulknife tilted haphazardly in his saddle, not used to riding a horse much. Damn creature, hold still! After regaining his balanace (and composure), he looked at Rhaine with a sour expression. "Ready to go... that is, if this bloody horse doesn't toss me first!" he cursed quietly.

[nethgros]

Othos took up position next to Nawen with a smile as they proceeded to the gates. He realized that he couldn't do much here in the way of tracking, even though that was their mission, so he had set apart his own mission for the time being: to protect everyone here. Though, a wemic and thri-kreen would likely not need much in the way of protection, which led to his logic choosing the petite female drow as the one most in need of protection. Still, he was sure that she could handle herself in combat, and yet without this one thing to do he knew that he would be utterly useless to this hunting party.

 

As they moved, Kowolj's eyes darted from place to place, searching for anything out of place. He repeatedly sniffed the air for the scent of... well, anything different. He had not yet met Tannin, so he had no idea as to his smell, looks, or anything of the sort, leaving him at a great disadvantage here.

 

"How are we going to find this man?" he asked aloud, hoping one of the two who knew him would have an idea to start.

[AurianaValoria1]

Bilron's family had followed the group to the stables, and there they traded their camels for a pair of stocky mules. Bilron took one, Maeve and Sori the other, and together they clopped noisily after Rhaine down the road to Shadowdale. Rhaine rode close to Azuris, the two Doomguides forming the head of the group, whilst the rest of the company fell in behind. Hopefully, they would reach the city by the next morning.

 

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Ginafae pressed her mace into Tannin's back as she followed him...the gesture her only answer.

[Deleted6317247User]

Nawen continued forward, from time to time she stopped and listened to the sounds or stopped to examine the tracks. Usually, she scouted alone and liked it but now not being on her own proved much more enjoyable.

 

"If we're lucky we might catch up with Tannin." She replied as she looked around for anything unusual. "But if we're not..." she paused and glanced at Kowolj. "don't worry. We'll find him. Both Tak'we and I know how he looks like or where he supposed to go."

[Flipout6]

The Grey brothers and Amendale all came out of the hallucination shakily and disoriented as they were brought crashing back into reality. Weyland was shaking with rage, Amendale's jaw was clenched, while Arland was able to assess the situation logically. He was quite strong-willed, and was able to focus more on what was happening rather than what he felt.

 

"We will need to collect Tannin's side of the story and the history behind those two before we do anything." Arland said.

 

"I'll gut him where he stands once we meet again. He goes nowhere near the Greys, save the sharp end of my blade, ever again."

 

"Think for a second, Weyland." Amendale's voice remained utterly calm, and only the most perceptive could notice the miniscule trace of grief in his voice. "You saw how he murdered the guards, reached Kento's family nearly uninjured. You can't kill him yourself. And-as much as I hate having to admit it- Arland has a point. We need to find out why they did what they did."

 

"Unfortunately that much wasn't my logic, you can give Azuris credit for that clever tidbit." Arland confessed. "But let's discuss these things on the road. Do what Rhaine says and then we'll decide what to do on the road."

 

With that, Weyland retrieved his armor from the Blacksmith's as ordered. All three of them met at the stables and retrieved the horses they had taken from the Zhents, and accompanied the rest of the group towards Shadowdale. Weyland and Arland each stayed on one side of the group, one on the left and the other on the right while Amendale stayed in the center, as per tactical planning on Weyland and Arland's part, just in case they were attacked.

[josh900]

Azuris rode in silence for some time before finally needing to break it. "So why do you still do this Rhaine? Could have, gone off and swept some poor noble lad off his feet, marry em and spend the rest of your days in luxury, running the temple back in Waterdeep. Enough people dying there everyday that you could still attend your duties. Why go out on the road? And more importantly... Why not with an army?"

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Kento rode a short way behind the group, controlling his horse through mental commands. He didn't know these people or even care to know them. Not while Tannin still drew breath, until he held the mutt's head in his hands that's all that mattered. Digging up the memory of his family's death fanned the flames of rage inside of him. Their hesitation at believing his memories angered him further. He had not altered the scene in any way and yet they still wanted to believe that Tannin was innocent. They would learn eventually.

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Tannin walked into the dark as calmly as he would walking down a road in a peaceful village. He pulled out the map that Maydiira had drawn for him and examined it. "Okaaay sooo just gotta go down heeere then go theeere... ahuh ahuh." He muttered to himself as he walked on. "Shouldn't take us but a few hours to get there."

[GrueMaster]

Kalin glanced at Azuris as they rode. He'd been asked that question before as well. "Luxury and retirement do have their appeals," the elan spoke knowingly to no one in particular. "Believe me, I've tried it. After spending so long away from home and on the road, though, sometimes it gets hard to settle down again after traveling." He looked at Rhaine. "Sometimes adventuring turns into the only thing you want to do, or even can do."

 

He began to subconsciously twist the ring on his finger, a far-off look on his face. "Or sometimes, there's no one for you to go to or be with." Kalin shook his head. "I am just wool-gathering here. What I'm trying to say is that there are several reasons why people like us stay on the road, such as- Whoa!" His horse suddenly began to veer off from the road, eliciting a curse or two from the soulknife.

 

"Bloody equestrian demon, go back!" Kalin cursed at the horse, which finally decided to move back after a few moments of jerking on the reigns. "Anyway, " he continued irritably, "sometimes the road becomes our home."

 

 

Tak'we nodded his head absent-mindedly to Nawen, concentrating on trying to find Tannin's tracks. He wasn't used to tracking in the softskins' greenlands, but he felt confidant enough that he could manage it. "Tannin sometimes hass a funny scent to him," the thri'kreen spoke as he studied the ground. "I cannot track by scent, but before we traveled far into warm sandss, he turned red and gave off strange scents that remindss thiss one of animals in mating season whenever he looked at softskin females in few clothes."

 

"I do not know why that isss. Thri'kreen wear little or no clothing and that doess not happen when we look at one another..." He glanced up at his companions, realizing he was beginning to stray off-task and added an off-handed comment. "Tak'we doess not know if that helpsss, but it iss all I know about his scent." Falling silent, he went back to trying to track his friend, eager to learn answers for Kento's claims.

[AurianaValoria1]

Rhaine nodded in agreement with Kalin, "Indeed. And when 'the rest of your days' is forever, barring accidents, I do not think it would be wise or fair to start a family. Who, in good conscience, could marry and have children only to watch them grow old and die while you remain youthful for eternity? I know that I certainly could not."

 

She sighed and paused before continuing, "The road has indeed become my home, of sorts. I do enjoy the more everyday duties of temple life, but Kelemvor has specifically requested that I remain in the field to handle the problems that the rest of our clergy could not hope of confronting. It is lonely, sometimes, but I have had the good fortune of meeting people kind enough to aid me in my quests." The Doomguide glanced over the group, "And in that, I am truly blessed. One could even call us a small army at this point. As for why I don't officially command one, I suspect that our lord recognizes the need for subtlety at times...in which case, an army is not the best course of action. It would be much more sensible for me to go alone in these instances."

 

After a few breaths, she added, "I have often wondered why our lord Chose me for such tasks. It is a question that I have actually put to him, but he evades me...his only answer has been that 'if I didn't know by now, I never shall.' After some thought, I have concluded that it is a matter of trust...we have supported each other through incredibly difficult times. He knows my heart better than anyone, and if he has Judged that I should take upon myself the greatest challenges of our faith, who am I to argue?"

 

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Ginafae's eyes flashed, "Would you be silent! You're going to..."

 

There was an odd noise from around one of the bends, something that sounded like slime dripping.

 

The drow pressed herself to a tunnel wall, hissing at Tannin, "Damn you, jaluk...what in the Hells have you done?"

[Flipout6]

Amendale listened silently to Rhaine and Azuris' conversation silently, secretly pitying Rhaine. He himself would live a very long time, granted, but immortality was in his eyes a curse. A curse of being unable to grow old with one you loved, doomed to watch everybody you know wither to dust where once there was youth and strength....But then he thought about it more and wondered, was mortality much different?

 

While he was musing on such deep and emotional thoughts, Arland thought it prudent to interject with a joke. "What, no elixirs to make yourself look young again? No mid-life crisis as your hair begins to gray? Hoo boy, stay away from my mother...."

 

"Doesn't matter how old she gets, she's still tough enough to kick your ass into next week, brother!" Weyland exclaimed from the other side of the cluster.

 

Amendale chuckled lightly to himself, wondering how it was he thought about life, death, and growing old while the other two envisioned their mother beating somebody into the ground with a wooden spoon. (From what Weyland had told him, that was their mother's weapon of choice against bandits, wild animals, and naughty children.)

 

Arland, once he stopped talking, felt nervousness knowing at his stomach. He'd just come from Shadowdale as a wanted man and now here he was, going back IN to Shadowdale in the company of a pair of Doomguides, a man who absolutely hated murderers (or so it seemed.) and a moon elf whom he had personally wronged within the past two days. Yeah, this should end well. He discreetly sipped a bit of whiskey from a flask he saw fit to bring.

Edited April 9, 2013 by Flipout6

[josh900]

Azuris could only shake his head at Rhaine's explanation. "In other words... Cause you're still young and naive. You all can still have families. You just have to get over yourselves and stop thinking about the bad that WILL happen and instead focus on what COULD happen. When someone dies you're supposed to focus on the good memories you have. Not the fact that they aren't with you anymore... You of all people should know that much." He said to Rhaine. He then shrugged. "But it's your life. Do what you want with it."

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Tannin couldn't help but snicker at Gina. He turned to her with a sly look on his face. "What's the matter my dear? You're not scared of what's bumping around down here are you?" He took a few steps back and looked up. "THE GREAT, AND POWERFUL GINAFAE! Priestess of Lloth!" He yelled out before chuckling at her. "You are full of surprises aren't you?" He said as he put his hands over the hilt of two daggers on his belt.