Tales of Faerun

[Deleted6317247User]

"Well met," Nawen greeted the moon elf as he approached them. It was the same elf that competed in the archery competition. She noticed him but was too focused on the targets to pay more attention to him or other competitors, only their shots.

 

"Thank you," She replied to his congratulations, "you as well performed amazingly." She said and while talking to him she was reserved, her joy over the victory came back as she heard Tannin's voice.

 

She spun around to face the half-drow. "I won!" She exclaimed happily as she hugged him and kissed him on a cheek. "I don't know what you did but thank you."

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Shalena followed the man and stayed to watch the jousting practice. She did not know where her crewmen were but most likely they were causing trouble somewhere in the fair grounds.

Edited October 21, 2013 by Guest

[AurianaValoria1]

"I thank you, goodlady," Argyros replied to Nawen with a small bow.

 

Suddenly, over the noise of the announcer calling for magicians to sign up before sundown, Conall heard a distant crash. Glancing over towards the jousting grounds, he saw a spray of splinters over the top of the tents.

 

"Looks like some folks are practicing," he remarked, "Care to spectate?"

 

The elf shrugged, "I've nothing more to do. Let us see who is testing their mettle."

 

At that moment, a dwarf woman appeared at Conall's side, looking up at him and grinning from ear to ear, "Well, look who it is! You!" Glancing to Nawen, she added, "Congratulations on your win, lassie. 'Tis not often one sees a dark elf win a surface competition. I'd be shakin' in me boots if I didn't know you were with Sir Conall, here."

 

Straightening her tunic, the dwarf cleared her throat, "Me name's Dagny, by the by. Dagny Flameheart."

 

"A pleasure," the pale elf nodded, "I am Argyros."

 

Looking upwards at him and meeting his steady gaze, Dagny visibly shivered, "Ohh, your eyes give me the chills, they do, elf. You could freeze a mug of ale with that stare! Don't take me words the wrong way, though, friend. I'm sure it could also seize ye an elfin lass in a heartbeat. Oh!" She practically jumped a foot off the ground, "I almost forgot! Speakin' of lasses, that black-clad lady-knight is over on the jousting field, goin' up against the one she was arguin' with last night."

 

Conall glanced knowingly to Nawen and began walking towards where he saw the fine spray of wood, "I think that's something we should see."

 

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Crash!

 

Time came rushing back to normal speed as Rhaine's lance connected with Azuris's shield and exploded into splinters, showering over the horses as they snorted and thundered past each other. She dropped the broken shard as her body was forcefully slammed into the cantle, her torso thrown backwards at a severe angle. Her right arm briefly went numb from the impact, and her heartbeat pounded in her ears as she tried to maintain her balance, her arms flailing as she raised herself back upright. The Doomguide shook her head to stop the world from spinning, her panted breaths the only other sound besides her racing pulse.

 

After a few moments of recovery, she took hold of Azrael's reins again and raised her visors, looking backwards over her shoulder at Azuris and Bob to make sure they were both all right. Azrael snorted again and stamped his foot impatiently, but otherwise stood as solid as a rock. Rhaine thought she heard a string of swearing all the way across the field. Grinning, she lowered her visors again. If Azuris could curse, he was likely not hurt too badly. Besides, they would not be able to stop for aid between passes in the real joust unless one of them was bleeding.

 

She was now beside Arland, and she gestured for him to hand her another lance, "Two more passes with Azuris, and then it's you and your brother against each other."

[GrueMaster]

*WEEE! TCK!* "Nawen!" Tak'we shrieked as he jumped up with joy, temporarily forgetting he was supposed to be disguised as an old softskin. Oblivious to the bewildered looks he was attracting, the thri'kreen quickly left the crowd and shuffled over to Nawen. When he got there, he let out another whistle-click of delight and engulfed her in a massive hug as he brushed past Conall. *SCREE!* "Dark pointy-ear won!" *WEE-TCK!* He released her and looked at the two strangers standing there, finally realizing what a spectacle he was making. "Oh, uh... *TCK!* ..."Greetingss, " he spoke from under his hood. "Forgive this old one for getting so excited. This one hass never sseen such skill!"

 

 

Thank the gods that's over! Dri thought as she recorded the final results of the archery contest. Ever since that strange new judge had arrived, she'd been constantly (much to her annoyance) scratching out her writing every time that man changed the rules or somehow managed to disqualify contestants left and right, before disappearing at the very end.

 

Crazy gent, making me waste good ink... The scribe was packing her things when she looked up and her thoughts trailed off, staring at the sight of a robed figure giving the archery winner (what her name, Nawen?) what must have had been a bone-crushing hug. Okay, then. don't see that every day. She then heard resounding crash as something struck metal very hard, followed by a very loud and large amount of cursing. Curious, she looked around and saw two figures on horseback, apparently doing some practice jousting before the main event. Hmm... she thought, this looks interesting. She wandered over and leaned against a fence post, curious as to how the jousting would turn out.

Edited October 21, 2013 by GrueMaster

[Flipout6]

"HAAAAAAAAHAHA!" Arland cheered as he watched Azuris and Rhaine slam into each other. To his dismay Rhaine didn't seem as badly hurt as Azuris was- at least she blocked the blow- but she did break her lance. That was a hell of a hit. "Right then, we'd better replace that lance."

 

That was right when Rhaine decided that the Grey brothers would be pitted against each other after two goes.

 

"Ha! No contest." Weyland bragged breezily.

 

"You've jousted before, have you?"

 

"Couple times, yeah." Weyland answered. "Two competitions, couple of rounds total for each rider. I won one of them, money helped me out for months. Most of the other riders were more experienced than I. I'm just better at staying balanced and using a shield." He smirked. "What about you?"

 

"Never." Arland admitted.

 

"Can't even handle a shield that well, can you?"

 

"To be fair, I can use one okay. I just don't." He defended.

 

"That, and you can't take a hit like a real man and putting your arm in the way of one just makes you squirm."

 

"I can take a hit just fine!" Arland protested. "Anyway, RHAINE, AZ, GO!" He swung his arm down, gesturing for them to start. "TRY AND HIT EACH OTHER HARDER THIS TIME!"

"I'll hit you pretty hard when our rounds come up..." Weyland murmured, grinning slyly.

[josh900]

Having never seen Nawen this energetic, Tannin was rather surprised with how she was reacting to the win. Apparently it meant a lot to her, making him rather happy with his rule bending, but he certainly didn't want Nawen to find out about it so he simply gave her a shrug while wearing an even bigger smile than before. "All I did was ensure that you were given a fair chance, nothing more."

When Tak'we rushed poor Nawen and engulfed her in a hug, Tannin had to laugh at Tak'we's excitement. "Easy there big guy, Don't want to crush the poor girl after her victory now do you?" He asked with a laugh.

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

 

Finally catching his breath Azuris looked back and saw that Rhaine was readying for another pass. "Damnit... Two more." He reminded himself grudgingly as Bob turned around and moved back into place. "You want me to do this right you gotta let me lead." He muttered to the stubborn horse.

He sucked in a deep breath of air and slowly let it out as Arland gave the signal.

"Now." He said, relaxing his body as Bob took off down the field.

He raised up his lance as the horses drew nearer, He had no intention of hitting Rhaine's shield, his lance was gonna make contact with her armor one way or another, either that or he was gonna end up either on his ass or with a broken arm... or both, regardless he was thankful there weren't any children around (save for the Grey brothers) to hear the string of profanity that this little practice match was drawing out of him.

[AurianaValoria1]

Dagny and Argyros had followed Conall to the fence that surrounded the jousting field, the two men leaning against it while the dwarf sat on the bottom rung, her legs dangling slightly above the ground. They arrived just in time to see the two riders take off again.

 

"That winged woman," Argyros mused, "Is she a Celestial being?"

 

Conall shook his head and grinned, "No, but you're close. I'll just leave it at that."

 

"She's a private one, that lass," Dagny added, "But I'm sure there's a good reason, aye Sir Conall?"

 

"Aye, she--God's above, he's going for her head!" he leaned over the fence and hollered, "DUCK, WOMAN, DUCK!"

 

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Rhaine's lance was already leveled at Azuris by the time she noticed a slight shift in the direction of his own, the tip aimed directly at her throat. The Doomguide could hear a faint yelling even as she reflexively brought up her left arm, ducking her head protectively behind her shield. All grip was lost on her lance, which went crossways of Azuris's body and snapped in half between them, her splintered end dropping to the ground. Her sudden movement threatened to overbalance her, and it was all she could do to keep from tumbling over Azrael's right side, her body bouncing as she leaned over his neck and gripped his mane.

 

When she finally regained control over herself and her horse, pulling him to a sliding stop in front of Weyland, she angrily shoved her visors upward and wheeled Azrael around with a cry.

 

"What in the Nine Hells were you trying to do, kill me?!"

 

Not waiting for a reply, she lowered the visors again and gestured to Weyland, "Give me another lance, quickly!"

 

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

 

"I think she is angered, now," Argyros muttered, his face unreadable.

 

"What in Moradin's name was he thinking?" Dagny remarked, "A blow like that could kill a person!"

 

Conall shook his head, "Either he wasn't thinking at all, or it was purposeful. I'm going with the latter. Did you see how he aimed at her shield at first, then raised his lance at the last minute?"

"I did see that," Argyros replied.

 

"Judging from all that cursing earlier," Dagny added, "Do you think he was avoiding her shield for a reason?"

 

The paladin sighed, "It's possible. The hit could have injured him. But that's no reason to compromise her safety. I..."

 

He trailed as he glanced to the side to see Fenrir trotting towards him, Nawen's puppy at his heels. A mangled, black-feathered form dangled from the wolf's maw, which he lay gently at Conall's feet. The paladin recognized it instantly as Theron...the black eagle that often accompanied them.

 

There was nothing left of him but a bloodied head, feet, and a lump of feathers.

 

Taken aback, Conall began, "Fenrir! Did you-"

 

He halted abruptly as a string of whines emitted from the white wolf's throat. Rhegar added his own voice to the mix, turning it into a cacophony of sad whimpers.

 

The paladin paused for a moment before clarifying for the others, "Fenrir brings this half-eaten bird as proof of a fearsome hunter that has been prowling about ever since we arrived."

 

He knelt in front of his animal companion and pressed his forehead to Fenrir's, closing his eyes. After several breaths of silence, Conall added without moving, "It is a monster...a woman with the body of a panther. She has slain several drunkards who wandered outside the confines of the fairgrounds...and those unlucky loners who attempted to walk back to Sarshel at night. He found Theron - this eagle - dead outside the tent of the brothers of clan Grey."

 

Standing once more and turning to Nawen, he spoke to the drow, "Fenrir thinks it best if you kept Rhegar with you. He cannot guarantee protection against this monster."

[Deleted6317247User]

"Still, thank you." She said to Tannin.

 

Nawen was lightly relieved then Tak'we let her go. She was overjoyed that he rooted for her and how happy he was with her victory but Gods, was his grip tight.

 

"Thank you, Tak'we for the hug and for your cheers," she said, "I think I heard you in the crowd."

 

She then left to watch the jousting practice with others.

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

Nawen was wondering how strong those practice lances were when Fenrir and her little friend Rhegar approached them. She picked up a wolf pup and it seemed that he was just as happy to see her as she was happy to see him, as the little wolf licked her face.

 

"I've missed you too." She chuckled as she scratched behind Rhegar's ears.

 

Sadly, the wolves came back with unpleasant news. Fenrir brought back dead Theron or rather what was left of him. "Poor bird." She thought as she watched the exchange of thoughts between Conall and his wolf companion.

 

"A woman with the body of a panther? That sounds fami-"

 

"Great!" Shalena said interrupting whatever Nawen wanted to say. "There's already a lion-man in the group and now we're going to deal with a panther-woman too."

 

"They're called Lamias." Nawen said.

 

"Whatever, still creepy." The pirate captain replied.

[Flipout6]

Weyland and Arland watched the second round of jousting with interest while Amendale watched for injuries, wincing when Rhaine took a nasty blow that nearly unseated her. However, she was still on the horse, and there wasn't a lance through her throat, so he instead turned a scornful eye onto Azuris.

 

"WHOAAAAA!" Arland shouted, delighted at the suddenly much deadlier show.

 

"EASY THERE, WE DON'T WANT TO SEND HER TO KELEMVOR EARLY!" Was Weyland's angry response to Azuris's little trick, before he reached for another lance and tossed it to Rhaine.

 

"ALRIGHTY, ROUND THREE!" Arland announced loudly, bringing his arm up. "GOOOO!" Like before, his arm chopped downwards through the air.

 

"TRY NOT TO KILL EACH OTHER!" Weyland added, while Amendale winced at the yelling. Covering his ears, he accidentally glanced the apparently vivid conversation going on by the fence, but couldn't hear anything, and was more concerned with making sure nobody got hurt than finding out what they were saying, and thus ignored it. The Grey brothers were too busy bickering to do so either.

[Quintatas]

Xundus sighed in relief as he reclined against a nearby tree, placing his bag behind him so he could lean against it. His face would have glistened with sweat, had he not been wearing a mask. Reasoning that nobody should see him, he pulled the face-concealing stage mask off, revealing his sharp, black features, as well as his red eyes. He'd been training since morning, mainly strength workouts with some running mixed in. He took out a cheap, crumpled map he'd purchased in Westgate, before he'd taken a boat to the port city of Sarshel. Other than general geological features of Faerun, as well as a few cities marked, it was relatively empty. His destination was a tourney in the area, where he hoped to enjoy some good food and entertainment, and hopefully sign on with some adventurers. He was late, though, and the tourney was likely already halfway through. The drow sighed, this time not in relief, as he pulled his mask back on and began to walk.

[AurianaValoria1]

Rhaine was vaguely aware of the commotion over by the fence, but she paid it little heed. She took the lance from Weyland and spurred Azrael into a third charge, thundering down the list towards Azuris. She tucked the lance firmly under her arm and leveled it again at his shield, holding it with a steady enough grip that not even the tip wavered...

 

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"This Lamia," Conall began, gathering Theron's poor remains into his cloak, "Has she troubled you in the past? You were saying something about her being familiar to you, Nawen."

 

Argyros merely grumbled, "Filthy beasts."

 

Dagny's brow rose, "Sounds like you all keep very interesting company."

 

Conall smirked, "That's one way of putting it."

 

Weyland and Arland were shouting so loudly that most the group couldn't help but return their attention momentarily to the field again, watching Rhaine charge for a third time.

 

"Oh my," Dagny remarked as her eyes followed Azrael's fluid strides and the rider's readied lance, "She's definitely got her seat this time...this one's going to be a hard hit..."

 

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The spells of Ravenna and her wizard friend did wonders against the cube, and it wasn't long before the thing dissolved into a gooey mass of digestive slime and mostly-eaten adventurer parts on the tunnel floor.

 

Quarylene once again spurred her Nightmare forth, the demon horse's flaming hooves stepping gingerly over the acidic remains. Glancing over her shoulder with a wicked, fanged grin, she addressed her devilish companion with unnerving calm, "Come, Ravenna. There is still much ground to cover, yet."