Tales of Faerun

[Flipout6]

Weyland looked sidelong at Dri as she chewed on bacon she stole off of his plate (Grinning mischievously at him the whole time.) and then, with a smirk, took two of hers and shoveled them into his mouth and hugged his food close to his chest to prevent her from grabbing any more...a good effort that was useless given her roguish reflexes and speed. He ultimately failed to notice Sir Meowsalot drinking from his mug until the cat jumped right past his face onto Ianthe's shoulder, which startled Weyland so much that he accidentally kicked himself off the counter and out of his stool, where he seemed to hang in the air for a second before hitting the ground, all the while shouting "Huah! Cat!" before landing with a thump.

 

"Smooth." Sybille commented.

"I thought warriors were supposed to be brave." Marie added drily, sharing a smirk with Sybille and her sister.

 

"Hey!" Weyland squaked in protest. "Cats are deadly creatures!"

"Only the one you stabbed." Arland butted in.

 

"I hate you all." the eldest mumbled sarcastically.

 

Dagny's news that she wished to leave, however, quickly put an end to the mirth. Weyland looked up from the floor, stood up and dusted himself off while the attention was focused on her.

"Nahh, Dagny, you pull your own weight alright." Sybille reassured the dwarf. "But if you're homesick...well, none of us can argue with that, can we?" She looked her friend in the eyes. "You'll be missed, though, make no mistake."

 

"Nawen's right." Amendale stated. "If you want, we can help you."

 

Upstairs, Annette watched with amusement as Aera tore into her steak with surprising enthusiasm. "Well, if it makes you feel a little happier, it's already better than nothing." Her voice lowered in volume, though, as she addressed the metaphorical elephant in the room. "It's okay to be afraid, Aera. It happens to all of us. Sybille's even confessed that she gets scared a lot, and I know for sure I do." She gave the weretigress a small smile. "Just....let someone know next time."

[AurianaValoria1]

Rhaine was unable to stand the sight of Ianthe so sad any longer, and she rose from her chair with a heavy sigh. The Doomguide then pulled the half-nymph to her feet and into a tight hug, "Amendale is right in this: what's done is done...and you did what you thought was right. I do wish things had been done in a better way, but I don't hold it against you. Welcome back."

 

Zorica, now aware of Sir Meowsalot's antics after Weyland's unceremonious tumble into the floor, snapped her fingers at the kitten and pointed at the pouch on her hip. True to his nature, the brindle furball completely ignored her. Conall smiled slightly in response and was instantly reminded of Aera; he felt guilt seep into his heart at her fleeing from the room, and his smile quickly transformed into a frown once more. Excusing himself from the table, he made his way upstairs to see Annette with her head poked halfway into the room he had booked for himself. He gestured to the alchemist and mouthed, "Aera in there?"

 

Argyros's brow rose at Tannin's suggestion, "Hmm...I don't relish the thought of trying to fly at unnaturally high speeds...but I suppose it is necessary. I will at least try it."

 

Heidi hopped off of her stool again and began pulling things out of her cart while muttering almost unintelligible words that sounded like, "Better be appreciated....going to be hard...hasting might do damage...need lots of compensation for this..." and other phrases of the same ilk. She would occasionally glance up at Hexol during his storytelling, though, and grin widely, her freckled cheeks turning pink. Any time it looked like he was going to catch her gaze, though, she quickly looked down again and continued sketching designs on a bit of parchment, her mechanical dragonfly hovering near with an extra pot of ink.

 

To Nawen, Dagny replied, "I dunno lassie...just bad feelings is all I'm gettin'. We've had problems with clan in-fighting before. Sure hope that hasn't started up again." At Sybille's words, the dwarf managed to crack a small smile, "Thank ye. And if all ye can help, all the better...though gettin' ye in Eartheart without questions or protests is going to be tough with drow blood and an illithid amongst us. But we can worry about that when we get there. Argyros? You mind makin' a stop there? At Eartheart, I mean?"

 

The dragon in elf form nodded slowly, "I can manage that, I think. So long as Rhaine is all right with it."

 

The Doomguide nodded, "Seems a good place to stop, if the dwarves will have us."

 

Rhaine then did a double-take as it appeared a blonde-haired girl in the far shadows of the tavern was watching them...specifically Lucas, upon whom her big, sapphire blue eyes were glued. There was a half-dreamy look on her face, but when it seemed she had been found out, she quickly corrected her gaze to focus upon the dirty dishes and tankards she had been gathering. The girl scrambled to collect them up on a tray and almost dropped them before scurrying back into the kitchen, her face as red as a Thayan wizard's robe.

Edited August 15, 2014 by AurianaValoria1

[Deleted6317247User]

"If we're really going to visit Dagny's family," Shalena said, "there's one thing I'm dying to know first: do they live in a clanhold? I hear dwarves keep a lot of treasure there."

 

"One day someone's going to cut your hands off," Nawen said, "and even if they lived in one no one would let you rob them."

 

"Spoilsport." Was the only thing Shalena said.

 

When Nawen went back to her seat she noticed that something seemed to be bothering Tannin. "Is something wrong?" She asked him.

[AurianaValoria1]

Dagny's eyes narrowed, "If ye're plannin' on tryin' to steal from me clan - or any of the other clans in the Rift - ye'd best bank on spendin' the rest of ye miserable days in the Eartheart prison."

 

Upstairs, Annette had entered Conall's room, and the paladin followed, peering past the alchemist to find that Aera had, indeed, taken his quarters. He cleared his throat to get the weretigress's attention and put his hand on Annette's shoulder.

 

"Mind if we talk, Aera?"

[tokyobiohazard]

Ianthe hugged Rhaine back, tearing up again. She felt bad for leaving her friends for a near-stranger, but Arva thought it right at the time, and she'd go nowhere without him. "I love you all. I'm still so sorry."

Arva frowned, "What, no love for me?"

Ianthe shot him a look.

Aera smiled and ran her hands through her beige mane with a sigh, then uttered, "Thank you, Annette. I'll try to remember next time. I'm grateful we could talk."

As she took another bite of her rare steak, blood and juices dripping down her chin, Aera's heart began to thump in her ribcage so quickly it reminded her of a bird startled into taking flight. Another person had entered the room and asked if they might speak. The one person she'd felt bad about leaving. Conall.

Aera swallowed hard and wiped her chin with the back of a hand, breathing hard as she tried to calm herself down, "I suppose so."

Edited August 16, 2014 by tokyobleach

[josh900]

"Lots and lots of things." Tannin said in a far off voice. "But nothing that wasn't expected." He said, turning to smile at Nawen. "So don't worry, I'm just... plotting." He chuckled half to himself.

 

After finishing his tale, Hexol downed a rather large mug of ale in an instant to wet his throat before he continued speaking. "And Rhaine? Do you think that maybe you could check on Giz tonight? He's been acting kinda... weird." He said in a concerned tone.

[AurianaValoria1]

Rhaine ruffled Ianthe's hair like she would a child's and glanced to Hexol, "Actually, I was wanting to speak with you, as well. About whatever you found in the ruin. But first, let me see your cat, as you wish."

 

"Oh, boy," Zorica muttered, predicting trouble. She snapped her fingers at Sir Meowsalot again, but the kitten still did as he pleased, playing with the laces on Arva's boots and trying to gnaw them in two.

 

Dagny excused herself from the table at that point and bid them all good night, eager for rest after the day's journey and slightly uncomfortable with spending more time with the group...especially now that she had expressed a desire to leave their company. As she walked down the hallway upstairs, she noticed Conall and Aera in one of the rooms, along with Annette, and she merely chuckled to herself, shaking her head as she continued on to her own chambers.

 

Argyros, interested in Heidi's work, had turned his attention to the little gnome, chatting with her about her plans and offering input whenever he felt he could be of help. Unknown to him, the tinkerer was glad for this distraction, as it kept her eyes from wandering to Hexol too often.

 

Meanwhile, Conall found himself quite amused with Aera's habit of wiping her mouth rather savagely with the back of her hand. Once Annette left the room, he smiled wryly and approached the weretigress, taking a napkin that had come with her plate of food and cleaning the staining meat juices from her lips with quick precision. Then, he sat beside her on the bed and sighed heavily, "Now that you've made yourself quite at home in my room, I'd like to apologize for my...confrontational...attitude earlier. If that is what ran you off from the dinner table, I am deeply sorry. I must admit, I was somewhat surprised that you would frighten so easily. You...don't seem the type to run. You didn't when Raidan's men attacked me in Iljak."

 

Aera flushed as Conall wiped at her lips, before clearing her throat at his words, a bit fearful for and embarrassed at the same time, and began, "I fully expected for the party to become slightly hostile toward me if we'd ever meet again, however, I didn't expect to feel quite so badly about it... Therefore, it's fine that you were so upset at first. I didn't expect you to welcome me back, exactly."

 

He fell silent for a few breaths, watching her intently with his blue gaze, his brow furrowing, "Did the assassination attempt really scare you that badly? Or was there something else? Something doesn't seem right here to me, Aera."

 

Aera's face flushed deeper beneath her white fur, and she hunched over her plate, pretending to pick at her fruit with her fingertips, "I think..."

She paused, taking a deep breath, before making eye contact with Conall and gaining a momentary bout of confidence, "I think that I was afraid of losing you, Conall. I couldn't watch you die, so I ran away."

His mouth fell open. He was flabbergasted. He felt as though he had been hit by a two-tonne boulder. He looked away from her, trying to grasp her words; she cared about him enough to worry for his fate and that was what had caused her to flee?

 

He had caused her to flee.

 

"Then..." he trailed, gripping the edge of the mattress tightly, "I...this is my fault. Had I just been more alert...had I not been so stupid...you would not have left us, and taken Arva and Ianthe with you. It is ultimately my fault that you weren't there with us..."

 

"NO!" The words came out forcefully, and Aera realized as her plate clattered to the floor that she'd stood up off the mattress and turned to face him. "No... It's my fault, Conall. I made the decision. I didn't tell Ianthe and Arva not to come with me. I was the one who threw away your trust and friendship and fled off to this town. But you were always in my thoughts, Conall. I regret it, yes. But it'll never be your fault."

The paladin felt his cheeks growing hot with emotion, most of it a mix of anger and shame, and his own voice strengthened as he, too, stood up. "I took the blow that would have gone to Rhaine...I played a martyr-hero instead of following my own damned instinct and doing something that would have minimized the risk to both of us! I didn't listen to my blood, I listened to my heart, and look what happened! Had I not tried to be so...so...typically chivalrous...you wouldn't have felt the need to leave!"

 

Aera leaned down and leveled her eyes with Conall, pulling him into a hug inexplicably and said with tears stinging at her eyes, "I'm sorry."

He swallowed hard and, after a few seconds, pushed himself away, grabbing up his belongings and stepping over the mess of food in the floor. As he strode out of the doorway, he replied quietly, "So am I."

Edited August 17, 2014 by AurianaValoria1

[josh900]

Leading Rhaine up to the room that he had taken, Hexol slowly opened the door and peaked in on Gizzy, who was sitting on the bed. "There he is." He whispered before pushing open the door. "Giiiz." He said in a concerned tone.

 

"Meow?" Responded the cat.

 

"YOU SEE!?!?" Hexol yelled. "He's meowing! When was the last time you heard him meow? It's not normal. He hasn't said a word since we were in the place that you guys all messed up... It was really cool looking in there too but that's beside the point! The point is, I have a talking cat, that's not talking! He just.... sits there and.. and, and meows! IT'S NOT NATURAL!"

[AurianaValoria1]

Rhaine blinked once, glanced down to Hexol and then back at Gizmo, before sighing heavily and turning around, "Don't worry about it. We'll talk later."

 

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

 

By the following morning, Heidi had prepared a container sufficient for holding the shrunken horses. It would be a tight squeeze, but she assured them that it would work flawlessly...after demanding a hefty sum of coin for its construction. Rhaine winced as she handed over the money and realized they were rather rapidly using up what funds they had remaining. Once Nawen experimentally shrank the steeds, however, Heidi proved both the worth of her skill and and that of the crate - it was designed to sustain the enchantment indefinitely until the horses were removed.

 

Argyros had left the inn early, before dawn, and was waiting for them outside of Channathgate in his true dragon form when the party began to gather together. Conall, who had chosen another room far from the one Aera had claimed, was one of the first to awaken and meet the silver, readying himself for the awkward method of travel. He, Sybille, Annette, Marie, Amendale, and Arland had volunteered to go with the horses on the first trip across the plains to Eartheart, staying there to take care of the steeds whilst Argyros flew back and retrieved the rest of the group.

 

Dagny followed soon after, practically bouncing with nervous energy. She was both excited and dreading to see her homeland again; she missed her clan, but she also hated to part ways with her new-found friends. Zorica brought up the rear, having spent much of her time chasing down Sir Meowsalot and trying to keep him from climbing all over Gizmo.

 

"You think this is gonna work?" the half-drow asked once she finally stuffed the little furball into the pouch at her waist.

 

"No idea, lass," Dagny replied with a bit of uncertainty in her tone as she gaze up at Argyros's towering form.

 

At last, everyone was gathered, and Argyros motioned for the members going on the first trip to secure themselves atop the crate. Once ready, the silver wrapped his limbs about the container and began to beat his wings furiously to get air under them. It was a rocky start; his natural lack of grace was made worse by the load, and he veered first one way and then the other before righting himself and gaining altitude. He had a firm grip on the crate, and he was in no danger of dropping it...but the ones who rode atop it would have their balance put to the test...

 

A few hours later, after soaring high across the plains and over the Landrise, Argyros saw the outskirts of Eartheart ahead. At Tannin's suggestion, he had been Hasted, and Amendale had cast a few beneficial spells upon him as well, so his journey was far quicker than he had expected. A good thing, too...his limbs were becoming weary with the weight of the crate and those on top of it. As he neared the city, he began to descend, and he warned them before he came too close to the ground. He all but dropped the crate into the dry dirt - at a distance of at least ten feet - as he could go no lower without crashing. He then immediately began ascending once more, bidding the first part of the group farewell and wheeling about above them to return to Channathgate.

 

Double the amount of time after that, when the sun began to set in the sky, he at last deposited what remained of the party with the others and the now-normal horses. There was a cluster of four or five people in each paw, plus a few on his head, and he gingerly released those in his back paws before settling onto the ground and letting go of the ones in his front. Then, he lowered his head and let off those riders, too, snorting grumpily as he did so. Once their feet were on land, he rose up and spoke with a certain flatness in his voice.

 

"If anyone suggests such a thing again, they will receive an instantaneous refusal."

Edited August 19, 2014 by AurianaValoria1

[Flipout6]

Sybille spent her time in the air atop Argyros's head, carefully avoiding the frill along his neck and enjoying the adrenaline rush of riding on the least stable ride of the bunch. Annette clutched Sybille's waist tightly, white-knuckled as she looked down and felt her stomach spin, but she also found it exhilarating in it its own terrifying way. Amendale, who had begun the journey by hanging on to a semi-flexible spine on Argyros's back, startled everyone by suddenly leaping into the air off Argyros's back before he made it plainly obvious that he'd cast the overland flight spell on himself and now flew in the air, keeping pace with the silver dragon. They conversed casually as they went.

 

Arland and Marie had little trouble keeping their balance within the surprisingly spacious second floor of the carriage. Marie, used to ducking and diving, found breaking the only fall she had to be a trivial task while Arland stumbled but stayed on his feet. Weyland was having a much tougher time of it; the warrior was having trouble adapting to the pitching and tilting of the floor beneath him and at more than one point tumbled off of his feet and rolled.

"Stlarn!" He cursed. "I could take it if Argyros gave me a dragon-sized haymaker but I can't keep my balan-OOF!" He hit his head on one of the bars of the cage and stumbled, falling flat on his rear. "AMENDALE, YOU'D BETTER TEACH ME HOW TO FLY AFTER THIS!"

 

"Nah." The Elf shot his friend a smirk.

 

"OW!" Weyland rolled and his elbow hit the ground numbing the entire arm for a brief second. Amendale saw fit to fly around the cage a few time, rolling in mid-air just to prove his point, before waving a sarcastic good-bye before disappearing above them.

 

It was several long hours of this kind of treatment until they finally reached their landing point. Everyone in the cage nearly went airborne was it was dropped the rest of the distance to the ground. Amendale casually landed in the grass and opened the door for them, letting the horses go through first. They were restored to their normal size as they went, and once the last of them were out Arland and Marie came casually striding out while Weyland stumbled and held his hands out in front of him to grab a hold of anything he could.

"Well," Marie began. "At least we know what shape he'd be in if we rolled him down the hill in a barrel."

 

"We should try that someday." Sybille commented from atop Argyros as she slid down to the ground and helped Annette off, catching the smaller woman and setting her down in the grass. "'Course the couple times I've done it I always wound up taking out entire clumps of bystanders so maybe it's not so good an idea after all."

"That was fun!" Annette exclaimed, wide-eyed. "Thanks, Argy!"

 

"I wanna fly." Arland grouched. "Damn wizards get all the luck." Annette set his pantleg on fire and blamed Amendale.

 

Weyland, feeling nauseous, drank the rest of his water to make himself feel better and then followed the horses to the nearby river for a drink. The water was delightfully cool and fresh, and Weyland cupped some in his hands and drank greedily as he refilled his canteen. Once that was done, he returned to the others.

 

"Well, guess we oughta head into town. Lead the way, Dagny?"

The dwarf nodded and pointed them in the right direction, working her way to the front of the group and forging ahead. She seemed to know the area like the back of her hand, and Sybille guessed they'd arrive well within the hour.

"Damn, it's surprisingly fresh out here." Weyland commented as he coughed. "Westgate's usually warmer than this." A shiver wormed its way down his spine as a breeze hit them.

 

"Are you kidding? It's hotter than the hells out here!" Arland commented. "You're sweating like a dog, no way you're cold."

 

"Stomach still feels like it's in knots from the cage." The eldest Grey reported, wiping his brow. He looked nauseous, alright; clammy and sweaty, his skin yellowed.

"I think some time sitting down and eating'll do you some good." Amendale told him factually.

 

"If you hurl, for the gods' sake do it in the bushes." Arland rolled his eyes. "I swear even Marie's made of tougher stuff than you." She slapped his shoulder playfully. It was a few minutes later before the warrior stopped, having gone from light coughing to hacking up a lung and finally to gagging.

 

"Something's wrong." He managed to croak between coughs before he dropped to his knees, retching.

 

"Yeah, I'll tell you what's wrong, you can't handle motion sickness to save your life." Arland deadpanned, brows raised...at least until a particularly loud cough left a puddle of crimson in the dirt and Weyland stopped talking. "Oh stlarn. What the- what did you ea- Amendale, Rhaine!" He cried as Weyland fell sideways, twitching.

 

The moon elf rushed to Weyland's side, rolling him onto his back and sitting him up so he didn't choke just as his friend spat up more blood, his breath rattling as he heaved and gasped for breath, his lips red.

 

"What's happening?" Sybille asked, alarmed, as Amendale cast a healing spell on Weyland to stop the internal bleeding.

 

 

"I don't know." Amendale commented. "Better?" Weyland paused and almost nodded, but then with a lurch he hacked wetly and needed Amendale and Annette to hold him up as he gagged and spat it all over the ground. "Healing isn't working."

 

"It could be poison." Annette suggested. "Some venoms cause severe internal hemorrhaging." She fished one of the multi-purpose antivenoms out of a pouch, let the warrior clear his throat and then forced him to swallow some of it. "If this doesn't work, try purging his system of disease."

 

Nothing happened for a few seconds.

 

When Weyland curled into a ball, his hand on his throat, that was when Amendale began to get truly worried. An acrid, sulfuric gas visibly poured from his mouth and nostrils, coloured a sickly pale yellow and the warrior threw up the potion, the clear mixture diluted with red. Amendale cast a spell that would cleanse any sickness he was suffering from. Or so he thought. It did seem to help some; the gas pouring from Weyland's orifices thinned, the rattling became less pronounced and he didn't cough up as much blood, though his situation seemed to worsen as the seconds passed. Amendale hit him with the spell again, and then a third time, before healing Weyland a second time, hopefully neutralizing whatever sickness held him and then patching up the internal bleeding.

 

"Agh." Weyland grunted. "Better, better. I-" he coughed. "I think you got it."

 

"What in the hells..." Marie breathed.

 

"I don't know." Amendale said again.