Tales of Faerun

[AurianaValoria1]

Abby finished her routine, yellow-green eyes flashing with mischief as she strode up to where Leif sat, "You know...if you ever annoy me that much again, I think I'll barf acid into your bedroll instead of leaving a rotten egg there like I did last time. How's that sound, pretty boy?" She was about to add something when she noticed him looking up at the sky; craning her neck to see what it was he was staring at, she blinked, "Oh...well that's...wow..."

 

Conall and Zorica poked their heads out of the barn - the latter with Sir Meowsalot in her arms - as they looked to see what Rameses was calling them for. Zorica said nothing, enraptured by the sight; only Sir Meowsalot made a sound with his loud and contented purring. However, after a few moments of watching the silvery streaks that randomly darted across the horizon, Conall finally spoke up, "I think I'm going to start a bonfire...should warm us up and let us watch this scene in comfort." As he turned to collect some wood, he called, "Rhaine! You really should come out and see this!"

 

From her position in the loft, Rhaine heard all the fuss and sighed heavily; she could see from the gaping hole in the roof that it was almost night, the last vestiges of lavender quickly fading from the sky and the stars beginning to twinkle brilliantly in the clear air. Closing her books and folding her map, the Doomguide made her way down to the ground and looked out, "What's all the-"

 

She then halted mid-sentence as she caught sight of the same thing that had seemingly stunned the others to near-silence. Falling silver stars raced across the sky in bright trails of light, vanishing beyond the edge of the horizon where the sun had recently vanished. They zoomed through the purple-black void of night amidst a bright field of their glittering, stationary companions, their presence surreal and yet astonishingly beautiful. Rhaine quietly stepped out from the threshold of the barn and wandered forward, her shining eyes fixated on the sky. Finally stopping, standing by herself near the road, the Doomguide felt such a serene, sublime sensation settle over her. She stared into the void above her, which was punctuated every few seconds by one of the falling stars, and she felt the beauty of it all fill her with a certain contentedness...an emotion that she had not felt since Mulhorand. The celestial spectacle soothed her spirit, and it somehow reinvigorated her with a since of newfound purpose once more.

 

Meanwhile, Conall had begun building the bonfire with fallen limbs from the nearby copse of trees, and every once in a while, he would glance at Rhaine, who was lost in the experience. He merely smiled, as he understood what she was feeling. Faerûn had a way of reminding a person what he or she fought for on a daily basis...

[tokyobiohazard]

Aera and Lucas had decided to use a spot under a large tree in the middle of a clearing to start their training, and had been at it for a few hours when night began to fall. Aera had showed Lucas some basic hand-to-hand techniques, and slowly showed him how to counter each move if someone were to use it against him. Lucas knew most of these techniques already, but had trouble executing them, so Aera and Lucas both decided it wouldn't hurt to go over them until Lucas could successfully block an attack from Aera and then counter it with one of his own. With Aera holding nothing back, it was a fairly difficult challenge for Lucas, but he didn't complain much.

As the sky settled into a deep blackness, permeated by the bright stars above them, Lucas and Aera decided to rest for a few minutes before they made their way back to the inn. The two settled down in a patch of grass next to a berry bush of some sort, a decent-sized distance between them, despite being in such close proximity to each other just moments before, the two not feeling excessively nervous, but still respecting the other's personal space.

A small point of light streaked its way across the sky, and Aera cast her gaze upward, grinning hugely. "I think I saw a shooting star!" She paused a moment, realizing how childish she must have sounded, before adding, "It's been a while since I've seen one..."

[Deleted6317247User]

Nawen, just like several of her companions did, chose the barn loft. Even if she did enjoy sleeping in beds, the drow was used to sleeping in various conditions. Some far worse than a pile of hay. She spent most of the evening by herself outside, wandering outside. When she finally retired for the night, Nawen found herself unable to sleep and thus spend most of the night staring at the ceiling and failing to get some rest. After what seemed like several hours, she was still awake and decided to ditch the efforts getting some rest and went outside instead. The night air felt so refreshing and at first she thought to take a walk but then noticed Rhaine standing by the road and walked up to her.

 

"Rhaine?" She spoke as she approached the doomguide. "Can we talk?" She asked. "I need to talk to you about something and it's important."

Edited August 28, 2015 by Guest

[AurianaValoria1]

Rhaine was quite suddenly broken out of her nighttime reverie by Nawen's voice; the Doomguide turned around and cocked her head at the drow ranger, crossing her arms atop her breastplate, "Yes, of course...what do you need, my friend?"

 

Conall, meanwhile, had gotten the limbs stacked just so and had lit them, fostering a healthy fire to chase away the chill of the evening air. Zorica sat nearby, cross-legged on the ground with Sir Meowsalot perched on her lap. All three - paladins and cat - continued glancing up at the sky and watched the random darting shards of silver as they streaked across the blackness.

[Deleted6317247User]

Nawen sighed, feeling unsure how to word it properly without worrying Rhaine. It wasn't a casual conversation they're about to have after all.

 

"I promised to see this journey with you until the end," she finally said, "and I'm not taking my words back, but I fear I need to leave the group for a while." Nawen knew that she couldn't leave it like this, and that Rhaine might expect some answers and even if she didn't, the ranger felt that she owed one regardless. "It is nothing important, so there is no need to worry, but I can't leave it be either. I will join you again later, it shouldn't be difficult to track a group like ours."

[AurianaValoria1]

Rhaine was a bit dumbfounded by what Nawen told her; a wave of worry washed over her as she heard what the drow wished to do, and this worry was difficult to hide. Her countenance became hard, her lips pressed together tightly as she studied Nawen's face. There were several moments of silence between them, the Doomguide's eyes reflecting the light from the now-roaring bonfire behind Nawen.

 

"Nawen," Rhaine finally began, glancing away and sighing heavily, "If there's anything I've learned about you in the time we've traveled together, it's that you rarely do things for unimportant reasons. But I also cannot keep you here if you are so set on departing our company. I would ask you, however...isn't there anything more you can tell me?" She could sense that the drow was choosing her words carefully, and it made her all the more concerned for her friend's safety.

[FreemasonGamer]

As Conall built a bonfire for them beneath the brilliant show of shimmering, showering stars dancing amid the heavens above, Rameses also went about collecting a suitable supply of wood they could use to sustain their bonfire for as long as necessary. Once the fire in question crackled lively, well-fed and offering plentiful light and warmth, Rameses happily took a seat as close to the flames as was safely feasible. The fire genasi's runic szuldar markings etched across his skin flared happily with a likeliness of the flames, and the inviting orange and yellow light reflected in his crimson red gaze. With a content smile, Rameses spent the next several minutes happily glancing between the stars racing overhead and the bonfire blazing before him.

 

Although, the peacefulness of the situation was encroached upon when a certain unease began to fester as Rameses overhead Rhaine's and Nawen's mildly worrisome discussion nearby. To distract himself and the others from the possibility of eavesdropping, the genasi cast his gaze around towards his fellows who encircled the crackling fire. Clearing his voice slightly, Rameses began to speak with a relaxed and almost nostalgic demeanor, "When some old companions and I went on a camping trip long... long ago when I still resided in Tethyr, they included me on this odd little game they had fashioned. They had called it something akin to "truth or dare," and we would take turns jeering each other using either revealing inquiries of truths or ridiculing dares. A truth was usually an embarrassing question to be answered honestly, and a dare was often a bold taunt that was equally as embarrassing. The entire premise of the game was for sporting fun, of course."

 

Waiting a moment before he continued, Rameses added finally, "For example, if one was to ask a truth from me inquiring when I had my first drink, I'd say I was fifteen when I had my first taste of alcohol. So, anyone care for a truth or dare?"

[Deleted6317247User]

Nawen listened to what Rhaine had to say. For a moment it seemed that the doomguide had nothing to ask, but then she did and it was not an easy question to answer. "For the moment, all I have is mere suspicions," she said but then paused. She did not want to pointlessly worry Rhaine, but sadly Nawen wasn't very good with words nor was she a good liar. "There is a small possibility that someone were following us before we came here," the drow said, "perhaps they followed Shalena and not anyone currently in the group, but I want to make sure just in case."

 

"It is better if I did this by myself," she added, "whoever is or were following us were stealthy, but I don't think they know I noticed them following us, and I'd rather learn more about them than rush headlong into what could turn out to be an ambush. That's why I need to do this alone."

[AurianaValoria1]

Rhaine listened to Nawen speak, and after the drow was finished, she nodded silently, absorbing her friend's words. Then, she finally replied, "Very well, Nawen. You will most certainly be missed while you are gone, and I will pray for your swift return." Pausing a moment, she blinked, and then added with insistence in her tone, "I assume you will be leaving in the morning? Please...see me before you go. There are some things I want to give you that may mean the difference between life and death, should your endeavor come down to such. It is my hope that it will not...but you can never be too careful."

 

Meanwhile, Zorica took in Rameses's proposal and a smile spread across her face, "I'm game. How so we start?"

 

Near her, Conall sat on the ground, across the fire from the genasi, and raised an eyebrow, "I suppose I am as well...though I hope I don't regret it..."

 

"Oh, it can't be that bad," Abby snorted as she plopped in front of the fire too, jogging away from Leif and his antics. "We're all friends, right? Won't dare each other to do anything too terrible, will we? I know I won't...well, not really."

[josh900]

"I vote we all get horrifically drunk beforehand." Said Leif as he approached the campfire. "Make things much more interesting with drunken antics, decreases the chances of people lying or refusing the fun dares." He chuckled.

 

"These are all horrible ideas." Azuris grunted. "Alcohol would make it more bearable." He then admitted.

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

 

Looking up, Lucas noticed the shooting star as well, which was quickly followed by another. "Yeah... same here." He replied before returning his attention back to her. "Thank you.. for this, I know I'm not really the best student but, I appreciate the help."