Tales of Faerun

[GrueMaster]

Tak'we gave what might have been a cross between a sigh and a hiss, relieved he'd finally found his clutchmates. "Weyland! Arland! *Tck!* "I am having trouble with joining the fight." He glanced at the melee challenge line, then turned back to the Greys. "The chief softskinss are saying that everyone hass to ssign, but thiss one cannot understand. I,-" The thri'kreen gave a down-turned look from under his hood and slumped his shoulders, finding it difficult to admit his ignorance. "This one cannot read or sign." He looked at his clutchmates in askance. "Could you help this one?"

 

Seeing Nawen show up, Tak'we gave a half-hearted hello, obviously distressed at his current situation. "Hello, Nawen. I am trying to join the fighting, but this one iss having trouble."

Edited September 12, 2013 by GrueMaster

[Deleted6317247User]

"I could help you with that, Tak'we." Nawen said as she overheard what the thri'kreen said. She stood beside him and once it was Tak'we's turn she signed him up for the melee competition.

 

"There you go, now you're officially a participant." The drow said as she stepped to the side to let others to sign up.

====================================

Shalena glanced at her crewmen but because all of them were too busy with fighting over things, simply fighting, sleeping face forward on the grass or dirt, and singing pirate songs, the captain decided to search for the Doomguide or any of her friends.

 

She walked towards where she saw Conall pitching up tents while pickpocketing people along the way.

 

"Isn't this fun?" The half-elf said as she approached the group. "Much more fun than looking for fake buried treasure."

[AurianaValoria1]

"I'll say," Conall replied as he finished his snack, "Much better to have my feet on dry land..."

 

Rhaine gestured to Shalena's ever-growing purse, "If you call picking pockets fun. If the guards catch you, don't expect me to bail you out."

 

The Doomguide then proceeded to walk around the grounds a bit. Most people weren't at all phased by her appearance, or if they were, they made no obvious reaction. That was good - the less waves she created, the better. Perhaps they were too drunk to care.

 

She noticed that the guards stationed here and there were actually paladins of Lathander, garbed in golden and bright silver armors. Their presence was sufficient to keep most ne'er-do-wells away from the shops. Of course, quick-witted and quick-handed rogues like Shalena would conveniently escape their notice.

 

After she felt she had done a thorough walk-through of the fairgrounds, she returned to the tents. The sun was beginning to set, and the Battle of the Bards would commence very soon...

[mythicdawnmaster]

Aurora bit her lip and sighed exaggeratedly, putting down the quill for Tannin to sing his name bellow hers. She stood upright again and spun on her heel, walking for the exit. "Well then Tannin... I hope you enjoy watching me take the prize money. I look forward to that... duet in the future, but we simply can't hold it off for too long... I'm sure there will be plenty of safe little places we can perform." With a wink she left the lutemaster's hut, and rushed to her tent to prepare...

[GrueMaster]

Tak'we felt a sense of relief after Nawen helped with the signing. As soon as they walked a decent ways away from the booth, the thri'kreen gave the dark pointy-ear a rib-crushing hug in thanks. "Thankss!" *Tcktck!* "Now, I need to get a different weapon." With that, he shuffled off to see where he could get a plain wooden staff for use in the fighting.

 

 

 

Dri had trouble concealing her guilty blush when the bubbly woman she robbed last night stood in front of her and signed the roster. Oh, Tymora, please don't let her notice! she thought, turning away so her reddened cheeks weren't showing. This is embarrassingly ironic!

 

Dri was working as a scribe for the duration of the first few days of the tournament, recording whatever she was asked to record. She just happened to be in the lute-master's tent when the woman from last night came in. Thankfully, she didn't recognize or suspect Dri and left, leading the thief to let loose a mental sigh of relief. Thank goodness! she thought, then went back to work, scratching away with her quill.

[josh900]

Tannin stood in place with a smirk on his face as Aurora left the room.

"Lucky." Came the voice of a man standing in line behind him, Snapping Tannin's attention back to reality.

"Oh probably not." He said as he wrote his name down. "That woman's nothing but trouble, And were I a smarter man I wouldn't like it." He said with a laugh as he walked out.

-------------

 

Hex was sitting back near their tents, happily munching on one of Forello's Fine Meat Rolls when he perked his head up when a voice came from inside his pack. "elp." The tiny voice said, sounding like a small childs' cry.

"Elp?" Hexol repeated with his head cocked to the side. "Help!" He exclaimed as he quickly took off his pack, flung it open and started searching through it before he eventually pulled out a small Grey and white ball of fur. "Todd." Said the ball of fur, which quickly sat up to reveal that it was a rather small cat.

"I'm not Todd, Giz. I'm Hexol!"

"Help!" The cat cried.

"You're fiiine Giz!"

"Todd?"
"No, Hexol!"

"Heeeeeeeelp!!"

"Giiiiiz you're fiiine!"

"BLAWAWAGAA!" The cat suddenly screeched, leaving Hexol to look at it with a confused look, before handing it the rest of his meat roll which Giz the cat took happily.

Hexol then sighed disappointingly. "I bet other wizards don't have to put up with familiars like this."

[AurianaValoria1]

At last, it was showtime. The crowd eagerly made their way to the stands in the light of a hundred lamps as night fell, ladies holding up their skirts as they found seats alongside the tourney grounds, where a makeshift stage had been erected. Rhaine followed, but kept to the edges, finding a bench in the very back with most of her form swathed in shadow. Conall sat closer to the front for a better view, Theron perched on his shoulder.

 

The announcer, the herald from earlier in the day, jumped upon the stage and welcomed the crowd.

 

"My lords and my fine ladies, my goodsirs and goodfaers, welcome to the Battle of the Bards - the first of the monumental competitions of the Tournament of the Rising Sun! This wonderful evening, we shall hear the best voices Faerun has to offer as they face off for a prize of no less than five hundred gold coins!"

 

There were whoops and cheers from the applauding crowd, the members of which grinned and nodded to each other in anticipation of a marvelous show.

 

"Each contestant will sing the ballad of their choice for your eager ears, which shall not be interrupted, be it good..." he paused dramatically, "or bad. Please hold your applause or jeers until the end of the song. After each performance, the contestant's talents will be judged by these," he gestured to three orange-robed ladies, "experts, and the bard in question shall be told whether or not he or she may proceed in the contest. The Battle shall continue until only one reigns supreme! Good luck, and may Tymora, Milil, and Oghma favor you all!"

 

There was resounding applause followed by another lengthy moment of silence before the herald procured the list of contestants. His finger passed up and down the first page, as if he were choosing a name at random, before finally calling out, "Phyllis Aranthis!"

 

A small, plump woman of about thirty years of age approached the stage amidst roaring applause, her round face beaming with excitement. She pushed a lock of platinum hair out of her face as she approached the stage, an old, miniscule lute in hand...

[spyro1201]

The last tent was pitched. Due to the limited amount of tents, Ivan and Kyran were going to share a tent. The elf walked around the mini campsite, looking for something to do, when he saw Xalistine and walked over to him.

 

"Hello Xalistine, I've been meaning to ask you something. I've noticed you're very adept in magic. More than any spell caster I've ever seen, even. My won skills are quite lacking. If it's not too much trouble, can you...teach me how to be a better sorcerer?" - he asked shyly.

 

Meanwhile, Ivan was strolling through the fair grounds and enjoying the sights. Suddenly a certain aroma caught his attention. He raised his nose high up and sniffed out. It was bacon. Upon 'investigating' further, the fighter saw that someone was selling sausages with bacon wrapped around them. No sooner said than done, Ivan had one meat roll on a stick, between each pair of fingers on both of his hands. It's been a while since he ate....anything.

[nethgros]

Had the woman's lute been of better quality perhaps it wouldn't have ended as it had, with the small lute breaking a few strings during the climax and effectively ending the plump lady's chance at winning; her voice was so sweet too...

 

After a few more contestants it was finally Leover's turn, the announcer's voice belting his name out to a cheering crowd. The satyr discarded his Harpers cloak before walking out to begin his performance.

 

He began with a dedication, "This one's for the ladies. The ladies and any drinks that you might find yourself holding!" He received many interested looks from the women of the crowd and many disapproving looks from the men in attendance with these ladies.

 

Removing his lute from his back he began with a few slow notes to reel in people in before his hands increased their speed exponentially. As his speed began to pick up he began his song, a ballad that sounded to be about half pick-up attempt and half heroic story, regaling the crowd with tales of Leover's own heroism while simultaneously trying to get into the pants of whoever would be impressed and willing.

 

His hands moved at an unnatural pace, creating intricate sounds to convey the feelings tied into the heroic tale. Looking over the crowd Leover could see the audience's faces reacting almost exactly as intended for the most part, with a few male stragglers who seemed to greatly disapprove of his song.

 

The end of the song was greeted with a massive applause, as well as a few shirts and undergarments. Leover smiled and let out a content sigh before snapping his fingers while simultaneously pointing his finger at the most beautiful woman he could see and leaving the stage.

 

Next up the announcer called out for "Rhenold Goodwill", a rather pompous looking man with a violin and overly poofy clothing, presumably of noble origin.

 

----------------------------------------

 

After such a long time Kowolj had finally caught up to the others. He had partied far too heartily at that inn, and had lost all of them. His own journey here was anything but uneventful, and he wouldn't be surprised if his fellows thought him to be a much different wemic then they had thought they had known...

[Deleted6317247User]

After Tak'we walked off, Nawen thought it would be a good idea to continue with her aimless wandering but then she heard that the competition was about to begin and thus she hurried in the other direction not wanting to miss Aurora's and Tannin's performances.

 

By the time she reached the stage all the seats that she could see were taken but luckily for her, there was a tree growing not too far from the stage. "Perfect." She thought to herself as she approached the tree and climbed it quickly. It was dark enough for her to hide among the branches and have a good view of the stage.

 

Shalena and some of her crewmen attented the competition as well, but unlike others, not to cheer for the bards but simply out of boredom.