Tales of Faerun

[GrueMaster]

We'tak listened to Conall and looked at first Eirene and then Rameses, antennae and arms drooping as his enthusiasm deflated in the face of their comments. "Why do softskins make everything to be so complicated..." he grumbled at first, but the thri-kreen was at least given something positive to think on. "So... what gifts are good for softskins?" he asked aloud, becoming animated once more. "Crafted items and tools, and captured prey are good gifts among thri-kreen, so maybe something like that?" He scratched one mandible absentmindedly, already considering what he would bring and pondering aloud, chittering away in his native tongue.

 

Meanwhile, while We'tak debated out loud about presents, he was actually mulling over Eirene's strange response earlier. Why would Dark Softskin Female fear Mother Moon so much? He thought with concern. He could surmise that some of the softskin fear of the night would be from their sleep cycles, and during their rests, they were weak, but this seemed to go on much further than that. What great fear stalks her?

[AurianaValoria1]

Abby crossed her arms, her toothy grin widening at Kellak's statement, "Well...maybe we should make sure you get in a jig or two with Rosie before it's over, eh?" At that, Conall made a distinct choking noise and coughed several times before recovering. Clearing his throat loudly, the paladin then answered We'tak's additional inquiries, "Crafted items, perhaps. Tools and the like could be seen as an insult to a noble couple, however, as neither would ever perform their own house or kitchen drudgery. Such things would be left for servants to accomplish."

 

Argyros, meanwhile, dismounted and held Eirene's steed as the ranger requested, occasionally squinting at the horse and giving it a few tentative pats on the neck. He had limited involvement with horses and was curious but also careful about them. While he made sure the steed did not go anywhere, he remained silent and merely listened to the banter that was freely bouncing about him.

 

On the other hand, Maydiira dipped her head to Rameses's words, "I...thank you for the support. And the compliment. Yet, I feel I must say that I am the only drow amongst you, and that alone is enough to warrant an attempted...arrest, I think you surfacers call it. Still, such a threat will not keep me away," she held her chin high. Turning to look askance at Leif, she added, "Cleaning basements of rats? Is that a common request in surface lands?"

 

At that moment, Rhaine rode back up to the company, pulling Kaliste to a halt and pointing to the flat stretch of grass that began a few yards from the right side of the road, not far ahead of them, "There's a nice patch of land there that should serve as a good campsite. A pond isn't far to the east, so we can water our horses as well. Let's get our tents pitched; it won't be long before the sun begins to set."

 

With that, Conall began leading his horse after Rhaine as she directed them to the proposed campsite, and as soon as they arrived, he was one of the first to begin setting up tents, offering to help the others once he had finished with his.

[FreemasonGamer]

"Eh, any brute of a guard who'd try to arrest any one of us due to race alone would be making a sore mistake." Rameses replied briefly to Maydiira's explanation before he perked up in his seat upon Rhaine's return. Soon spurring Jarl to follow the others as they moved towards the new campsite, the genasi reclined back and enjoyed a few more moments of peaceful laziness before he quickly hopped down from the camel's saddle to begin setting up his tent; as he deftly erected the simple canvas that would be his shelter for the night, Rameses took note of Eirene's absence when he spotted Argyros still tending to her steed quietly.

 

A shallow sigh escaped the genasi when he made the discovery, and he felt marginally regretful for inconsiderately upsetting one of his companions, even if it was her. While he felt that his abrasive grudge towards the Mulhorand was justified by her former affiliation with the outlaw that was out for Rameses's blood, Rameses himself did feel an intangible burden weighing upon his shoulders as her absence left the slightest void among the company. Nevertheless, the genasi pushed such dampening thoughts from his mind as he finished preparing his meager accommodations before offering his assistance to the others.

 

~

Eirene's senses feasted upon the scenic landscape of Aglarond while she sat upon a peaceful, silent hill. The sea of grass surrounding the scattered islands of deciduous and coniferous trees swayed to and fro in the same gentle wind that whispered in the Mulhorandi's ears and played with her mess of haphazardly short-cut locks of oily blackish brown hair. While her hazel-colored, vaguely reptilian eyes were still reddened and her heart was still pounding heavily from a suppressed pit of anger, Eirene fought to remain a tight grip over her emotions. When her eyelids slid shut, an inaudible sigh escaped her lips as she tenderly massaged her unarmored right arm, her fingertips daintily brushing over the colelction of horrific scars adorning the limb.

 

Sitting there without a soul within earshot gave Eirene an opportunity to think, and her thoughts always kept returning to the upcoming new moon; much to her concern and panic, she kept a close track of the moon phases, the Mulhorandi took a deadly gamble with each passing night she spent with them. Her lycanthropic curse weighing heavily on her mind, Eirene considered the two arguably useless curios that sat in her backpack: a peculiar amulet crafted from crocodilian scales and teeth and a bizarre crocodile skull carved from a bit of ebony about the length and width of a dagger. She had once hoped that the items would be her salvation, but they currently served no other purpose aside from being bitterly symbolic keepsakes. Sighing again, Eirene's thoughts began to drift once more as she considered returning to her friends soon, equipping her armor back onto her arm arm carefully.

[josh900]

"Like you wouldn't believe." Leif chuckled at Mardiira's question. "Growing up I used to have to clear them out of our storehouses all the time, thankfully they were usually just regular sized rats. It's when they're dire rats is when you're in real trouble, think having them eat your food is bad? Wait till they eat the cat and go after you! Had one chase me around for a good five minutes before one of the Watcher's took care of it. Thing took a nasty chunk of his leg off and would have had to be amputated if it wasn't for the healers around. So yeah, Rats in basements, sounds trivial until one the size of a dog is chewing off your leg." He said as the group moved to the clearing that Rhaine had spotted.

[Macman253]

Kellak laughed at Leif's story. "You 'tink they're big. Wait until ye' 'ave an' infestin' of Dire Mole Rats.... need a bloody spear to kill them 'tings." Said the dwarf as he followed them to the campsite. When they got to the campsite Kellak whirled Terra around, looking at the ground until he found a suitable deposit of sandstone not too deep under the surface. The dwarf slowly unsaddled himself, he reached under Terra's belly and unlatched her custom saddle, she shook gladly as it slid off her dark brown fur.

 

Kellak patted her neck as she rubbed up against him in thanks, the little dwarf heaved the large saddle onto one shoulder and set it on the ground nearby. He turned to a patch of bare earth and reached out with his hands, he clenches his fists and closes his eyes. Summoning the earth magic he used to manipulate stone. He stomped his foot hard and pulled his hands down to his side, two large slats of sandstone erupted from the earth to create a tent like structure large enough for the Bearcat and Kellak. He stomped his foot once more to seal up the rear opening with another chunk of stone.

 

The dwarf smiled at his work and dusted his hands off. Terra sniffed around the structure and crawled inside to lay down, after a long day of travel he couldn't blame her for behind tired. Kellak turned to face his companions. "Let's get a fire goin'."

[FreemasonGamer]

"Rats." Rameses mused as he listened to the discussion among his fellow adventurers. "Of everything in Faerûn, why is it always rats? Nothing good comes of them." After he voiced his thoughts, the genasi finished his rounds of offering a helping hand to whomever needed and accepted one. Once that task was complete, Rameses swiftly wandered back towards Jarl and his own tent where he then began the process of removing the great white camel's saddle and equipment. "Though, I suppose it's a start for greenhorns, cleaning basements."

 

His amused utterances quickly ceased, however, as he caught sight of the Mulhorandi venturing up the nearby road into view; several moments passed after Eirene reclaimed her steed from Argyros before Rameses finally gathered the determination to approach her. She was unloading her chestnut brown horse when the genasi reluctantly approached while noting briefly, "Sorry about earlier; didn't mean to run you off like that."

 

Even though she avoided Rameses's gaze, Eirene smiled weakly and nodded as she continued her motions. "I appreciate your sincerity, Rameses." The Mulhorandi replied simply.

 

"Good to hear." Her genasi companion said in return, turning on his heel without anything else to say to her particular. Rameses paced across the campsite towards his own bit of trodden grass where his tent sat, and he remarked to the others, "Suppose we aught to gather some firewood for that fire, hmm?"

Edited November 15, 2015 by FreemasonGamer

[GrueMaster]

*SSSSS!* The young thri-kreen gave a disapproving hiss at Conall's words. "What kind of person does not appreciate good tools, and does not do their own work? It makes no sense! How do such softskins even survive?!" We'tak added a string of what was very likely thri-kreen curses before chittering away in frustration. Maybe I will just play strings...

 

Luckily, there were other things to distract the thri-kreen. He looked at Maydiira, mixed feelings apparent on even his alien face. "Arrest? Do you mean that dark winged pointy-ears are punished? What for? You do not seem to disrespect the land or the spirits, and you definitely do not seem like a clutch-breaker..." This train of thought was immediately replaced by the discussion on giant rats, the prospect of new prey appealing to him. "Your 'rats' sound very large and fierce. Do they make for good prey?" However, when Kellak shaped a hut from the very earth, We'tak could only stop and look in awe. "You're a druid?!" he exclaimed, having only heard of such magic being possessed by the sages of his people, who commune with the land's spirits and work with them. "That is amazing!"

 

His poor attention span did not allow for much more focus, as he saw Eirene return and then she and Rameses made amends. "See! Clutchmates always are understanding in the end!" *Chee!* We'tak whistled happily, giving first the dark softskin and then the fireskin powerful hugs as he felt they would get along a bit better now. "Oh, I will help with wood!" And thus the bouncing insectoid went about helping gathering wood, chee-ing a formless tune without realizing his eclectic behavior just now.

[AurianaValoria1]

"Working on it," Conall remarked to Rameses's statement about firewood. He had already gathered a large amount of sticks and limbs and was beginning to arrange them neatly at the center of camp, "Though...if you want to offer a hand, too, it would be appreciated." Maydiira, meanwhile, gave the pile of wood a wide berth, as she had every night she had spent amongst them; she couldn't describe it in words, but there was a primal fear that sparked in her heart anytime she saw or heard mention of fire. The drow was not certain, but she speculated that it might have been because of her rather fiery demise...

 

Shaking her head to clear it, Maydiira then gave We'tak a weak smile, "I am drow. That is enough, I am afraid. No crime, other than that I was born." She did not expect the thri-kreen to answer her however, considering how quickly he moved on to the others, and she sighed, making her way over to a lush patch of grass sufficiently distant from the woodpile and plopping down, laying back, and then propping herself up on her elbows to observe the activity from afar.

 

Argyros, free from tending Eirene's horse, decided to linger near the Mulhorandi ranger. He leaned on a nearby tree, watching her work, before finally speaking up, "So...are you well? You were gone quite a while, there."

 

Rhaine, once finished with her own tent, set about collecting wood as well, and, overhearing the conversation about rats, added, "Well, at least it isn't bladelings and githyanki. I'd say rats are most definitely a better task to deal with."

[FreemasonGamer]

"As well as I can be, given the circumstances." Eirene swiftly answered Argyros sometime after receiving We'tak's powerful embrace, the Mulhorandi soon completing the task of assembling her tent. Brushing her hands together and resting them on her hips, the young ranger then faced the silver and met his gaze intently before remarking honestly, "I needed some peace to clear my conscience. Surely you must understand the value of such, friend, since you are able to soar freely in the sky where peace seems abundant." The slightest hint of admiration spiced Eirene's otherwise neutral words while her vaguely reptilian gaze observed the silver's elvish disguise with both curiosity and worry.

 

Meanwhile, Rameses laughed when he was nearly tackled to the ground by We'tak's hug, and the genasi returned the gesture before Conall mentioned a need for assistance. Grinning widely with his szuldar crackling vibrantly, Rameses patted the thri-kreen's shoulder and noted humorously to the youngling, "Let's see if we can't help Sir Whitefang, hmm?"

 

We'tak had not gathered much in the way of firewood when Rameses suggested helping Conall. Judging from the grin and tone the fireskin had, the hatchling guessed his clutchmate intended some form of mischief. "Well... Conall has been more worrisome than a first-time clutchmother... what do you have in mind?"

 

"I'm assuming your folk have ways of making fire?" Rameses began to elaborate as the pair of them approached Conall, who was occupied with the neat arrangement of the upcoming bonfire, "How about you and I compare methods? I'd be interested to see how you do it."

 

The thri-kreen looked at Rameses with curiosity at first, then chittered in agreement. "Okay!" He said. "Do you want to go first? I would like to know how you would do such a task as well."

 

Quickly lowering onto one knee beside the precisely constructed mound of fuel for the fire that would soon be, the fire genasi nodded briefly as he grabbed a bundle of grassy tinder from the base of the mound. "Excellent. You have your tinder, and I use some things that make the process much easier." Rameses explained, soon procuring a handful of trinkets from his satchel: a bit of glassy rock, a small object forged of metal, and a cloth pouch of unknown contents. "Your classic flint, fire steel, and char cloth. The flint and steel make the spark, and the char cloth catches it like hot bacon grease; works like a charm. How about yourself? You can have the honors of going first, I don't mind either way."

 

We'tak looked at the materials in his clutchmate's hand with great interest. "So that is a quick method you use? Very cunning... so bacon grease burns well? Maybe thri-kreen should remember this..." We'tak began to ponder this, but stored it away for later thinking when Rameses pointed for him to continue. "Oh, sure! First, since such tender that softskins use is not so common in the Shaar, thri-kreen will sometimes use this trick..." He took a stick roughly the length of his smaller forearm, and then, wanting to show off a little, placed all four clawed hands at the ends and pressed hard. Soon the stick practically shattered, his claws shredding the wood. It had a small strain on him, not quite possessing the strength his clutchfather was vaunted for, but it was enough. "Then we do this." He then took some of the smaller, thinner shreds and began chewing it thoroughly, until it had a wet, papery consistency. Spitting it back out, he kneaded it several times in his hands, until it had dried into a messy, shredded clump of paper. "Thri-kreen spit, much like our venom, dries quickly, and this shredded becomes easier to light this way. Then we take the fire stones," We'tak pulled out his own flint rock, then struck it against one of his gythka blades. Sparks flew onto the fire starter he made and it quickly began to smoke and catch flame. "See? It is very much like, what did you call it? Char cloth?" *Tck!* "Softskins use so much cloth... at least this seems useful.

 

"Fascinating. Also, we do use cloth for a great many things; it's an item of limitless uses, really." The fire genasi noted with an almost scholarly tone riding his words after intently observing We'tak's process of fire making. How the thri-kreen essentially made paper from wood mulch to use as tinder intrigued Rameses as an ingenious alternative. Quickly obtaining a pinch of char cloth from his pouch and depositing it in his own bundle of tinder, Rameses began his own method of bringing a fire to life. "Like your shredded wood, this bit of char cloth can take a spark very easily, and you already know the secrets of the flint and the steel." With a amused grin, the genasi deftly struck his steel and flint together to create a shower of star-like sparks, which swiftly ignited a diminutive wisp of smoke from the char cloth. After several moments of tenderly cradling the tinder and lightly blowing air over the growing source of smoke, Rameses grinned wildly when his tinder bundle erupted with lively flame. "There you have it! Like my mother once said, starting a fire by hand is like catching a butterfly; you have to be careful not to lose or harm it while it is in your hands."

 

We'tak listened intently. "Your clutchmother sounds very wise," he said. "I think she would be liked by thri-kreen. Although..." The young thri-kreen looked at Rameses with that tilt of his head. "I had thought being a fireskin would let you do something special with fire... Can you do any such thing?"

We'tak's innocent assumption regarding the fire genasi's heritage made him smirk, and he seized the opportunity to feed the thri-kreen's curiosity, "Yes, I learned while my sister and I were growing up that being fire genasi offered a good trick or two involving fire, but we also learned to control these tricks since they could have easily hurt those we cared about." While the bonfire crackled to life through their combined efforts, nostalgia claimed dominance over Rameses's thoughts as he remembered the exciting memory or two when he or his younger sibling exploited the innate talent of their race.

 

*Chee...* "I think I understand, " We'tak started. "It is much like our gythka: It is both a tool and a weapon, and part of mastering it is knowing how to control and use it... It is so exciting, how similar our races are, yess?" *Chee!* Happy to have been able to bond over such a simple little task seemed to bring yet even more good spirits to the thri-kreen, who started warbling again as he tended to the fire. "Now, do you have any bacon grease? I wonder if it really does burn like you said..."

In response to We'tak's inquiry regarding the volatile nature of bacon grease, Rameses chuckled with a wide grin, "Sadly, I do not have any, though you should be careful when discovering what burns and how well it may burn. Another thing my mother said more than once was to never play with fire, or else you will be burned. If you aren't careful, you could set something aflame, like one occasion when I was younger and foolishly played with fire and some whale oil meant as fuel for a lantern."

 

"So that is how those things work!" We'tak responded excitedly. "Thri-kreen do not have these 'lanterns' that you softskins, so I wondered how they worked. I know that fire can be dangerous. I just thought that you use bacon grease to help start them. Very interesting!" The thri-kreen gave what sounded like laughter. "It sounds as though you had caused your clutchmother to worry much sometimes." *Ss-ss-ss...*

"Hmm... Now that you mention it, bacon grease probably could fuel a lantern, and it'd probably smell like breakfast at that." Rameses mused thoughtfully until We'tak's laughter warranted his curious attention. When the hatchling mentioned the fire genasi's mother once more, he smiled sadly and nodded in agreement. "Indeed, I caused her more trouble than what I was worth, but she was a very forgiving soul..." A nostalgic sigh then escaped Rameses as he stretched.

 

The young thri-kreen sombered down a little, sensing that this conversation may be starting to take a sad turn. "She sounds very nice..." *Tck!* "Well, we should start making food, yes? I am getting very hungry now." *Tcktck.*

"Agreed, all this talk of bacon has made me hungry, too." The fire genasi chuckled lightheartedly, the slightest bit disappointed that they had no such comfort food among their supplies.

Edited November 16, 2015 by FreemasonGamer

[josh900]

"Dire.. mole rats?" Asked Lucas. "Those... sound horrible."

 

"I've seen a mole rat before!" Exclaimed Hexol. "I bet a dire one would look just like a giant pig with teeth then!" He suddenly let out an excited gasp. "I could put a saddle on one and ride it couldn't I!?!? I wanna try that!"

 

"Because that sounds safe." Azuris chortled as he sat down after preparing his tent.

 

"Oh it really doesn't, but that just makes it fun!" Hexol said with a wide grin.

-------

Moving away from the conversation about overgrown Rodents, Leif listened in on the conversation about fire that Rameses and We'tak were having, a sly grin eventually spread over his face as an idea came to mind as he approached.

"Ah yes, making fire the the good old way, a man, a rock, and some wood, nothing more basic than that." He spoke in a tone of reverence.

"Personally though I'm a bit of a lazy old bum so I prefer my method!" He said excitedly before making the proper sign with his fingers, causing them to glow for a short moment before a quick jet of fire streamed out towards Rameses's own fire, adding to the natural flame with the magically created one.

"A completely pointless display." Leif said with a satisfied smile while he folded his arms. "But one I couldn't help but make."