Scarlet Evalynne Black's Story

Kazu stretched his body, joints cracking as he did so. it seemed like he wasn't used to sleeping in beds and would make note of that the next time he stayed somewhere. He stood from his bed with a bit a laziness lingering as he gathered his belongings and dressed, donning his lightly armoured coat and blades across his back before shrugging to adjust the weight. "well, time to go see if Altara is ready. It would be best to leave as soon as possible."

Leaving the room, he glanced about to make sure he wasn't leaving anything then turned out of the door. He stopped a few rooms down where Altara had entered the previous night and knocked gently and waited, then a little harder. still no response... "Maybe she's getting breakfast. Kazu walked down the steps and an empty room except for the large Kern, his head resting on the table with a bit of drool pooling about. Kazu didn't want to wake him, but decided he should inquire about the knight.

The twinblade tapped Kern on the shoulder and received a muffled response that he couldn't quite understand, but a hand reached out with a slip of paper. Kazu took the paper and opened it. He read the note with a slight displeasure at it's contents. He looked back up to her room and frowned before giving Kern a pat on the back with thanks and set 5 copper coins beside him.

He left the inn and walked around to the side by the facet and turned it on. the water was freezing, but that's just what he needed to wake himself. He splashed his face and wet his hair, shaking the moisture out until it was just damp. He pulled a fine brush from his coat and started brushing through his hair as he walked down the pathway the lead out of the city.

"Alright... Alde Woods, hopefully I meet her on the way." He placed the brush back into a pocket of his coat and followed the trail into the wilderness.

Scarlet heard someone rustling around in the room next to her own and quickly dressed, gathering her X-Scythe and belongings before rushing out the door. She felt as though she were missing a great opportunity, so she hurriedly ran down the stairs just in time to see the red haired knight girl leaving. Scarlet looked on with a smile and followed her out the door and down the street before speaking up with a bit of excitement. "Hello Ms. Knight! Where are you going?" Her face showed a ponderous look of adventure and question topped with a little smile.

Merrowvale Brainde
Server Down for 3 Days

"Hello, Ms. Knight! Where are you going?"

Needless to say, Altara had not been expecting to hear those words at all. Looking back in surprise, she shoved the heel of her boot into the ground to kill her speed, but it only succeeded in spraying up a lot of mud, causing her to grimace. Whoever had called her name was running up from behind her--as Altara could now see, it was a girl in a red hooded cape, carrying an oversized scythe composed mostly of red metal. What the...?

Wait, come to think of it, she had seen this girl last night--she, too, had been at the Minstrel's Mug. She had been there when that half-elf tried to go for...Remeil, was it?

In any case, the girl strangely looked much more lively than she did last night--far more lively, in fact, to the point where she looked like another girl entirely with that smile. It was actually a little bit frightening, even...but Altara had already acknowledged her presence by stopping and turning, and she figured it would be rude to not respond.

"I'm leaving for Crystalden," she replied, putting on a smile to blacken out her suspicions. "There's something I have to do there." Argh, the blacksmith's shop was just a few meters away...if only she could just keep running.

"Good sleep, Remeil!" She happily chimed over to him. Card turned her back as well to him, as she continued to stripping out of the filthy clothing, leaving it lay near her other items. She only made a curious glance over her shoulder to Remeil to make sure he was indeed laying away from view. It wasn't so much that she was modest, but she did not wish to make him anymore uncomfortable as she stood covering herself with her arms before stepping into the tub. Oh the sweet joy that came over her as she sunk down into that warm water could only be describe as heavenly. Right away she went to work scrubbing over her entire body head to toes, until her skin glowed a healthy pink. She did spend extra time and care on her hair, carefully picking out all the small knots with her nimble finger. Once she felt quite content with her cleanliness level, she gave a small sigh as she laid back just wanting to enjoy the warm embrace of the water for a little while longer. It would appear as if her little body was swallowed whole, if not for her feet that seemed to sneak out to draped over the edge of the tub. Yes this was quite heavenly...She would have to convince Remeil to use this thing in the morning for it was more than relaxing. She had almost forgotten entirely about him as she hummed softly to herself, her feet swaying to the beat of her maybe up melody in head head, occasionally splashing more water over her face.

This went on for only a few minutes before she caught herself...hoping that Remeil was already asleep and had not heard her. A warm blush crossed over her cheeks. She was starting to feel increasingly tired now too, covering her mouth as a small yawn snuck out. After sitting up in the tub giving a great stretch, Card fished the stopper out with her toes to allow the water down the drain. She looked up and was happy to see a towel hanging on a hook just over her head. She wasted no time pulling that down as the last of the water spun down out of the tub. Thank the gods she felt clean again as she wrapped the towel tightly around her form before she exited the bath. One more keeping her back turned towards the bed, she knelt down rummaging through her bag once more, pulling out another white tunic that looked far too large for her. She kept it to sleep in really and that was what she intended to do now. One it was on, she gave her a head a small shake to allow her long red still dampened hair to cascade out over the back of the shirt. She hung the towel back up, and made way over the oil lamp still softly flickering and causing dancing shadows upon the ceiling. Leaning close she blew out the lamp, and proceeded to climb up into the bed.

It wasn't all that long before sleep took it's hold on her. Though throughout the night she tossed and turned having rather unpleasant dreams, and would eventually find her way curling up close to Remeil, draping a leg and arm over his still body, pulling close to him. This seemed to help because she laid still afterwards not stirring again until the morning's early light crept through the windows filling the room.

"Crystalden? That's just a few days west of here. That's where I'm from." Her smile grew slightly as she thought to herself. 'I may be able to make it home! Wait, how do i know that Crystalden is home? Have I been there before?" Scarlet made a mental note and realized she knew exactly how to get there. Head west, then southwest. but it would be best to avoid the Drow and Draconic cities. Humans and Elves weren't quite welcome in those areas. She was puzzled as to how she knew these places, but she pushed it aside. Knowledge is good, no matter how you proclaim it. "I can take you there if you would like to get there with as little incident as possible."

Revik

"Sounds good enough. We'll find an inn, I'll rally a crew of sorts and then we can set out. Funds are low and five spirits know I could use both the money and a good scrap to keep me from going rusty." He agreed with Drei's idea seeing as it worked just as well for him. Much to her likely displeasure he wasn't too keen on sleeping right at the moment. He figured they had at least weeks worth of nights on the road to rest, the city was simply too busy for him to just set his head on a pillow and relax.

Not to say that he particularly disliked resting but he wasn't exactly tired. Maybe a little sleepy perhaps but he couldn't see any reason why he shouldn't just pull a twenty four hour go like before. He once had to run for four days nonstop for training purposes. The days back when he really focused on his cestus training were rather... interesting.


As he walked along his merry way, keeping an eye out for places for his lovely companions to stay as well as someplace that might serve as a nexus for adventurers and like-minded folks who'd be interested in his proposal, a spray of mud suddenly erupted past the corner of the wall beside him. Thanks to his considerable reflexes he managed to catch himself on a loose brick and pull himself back behind the wall before the brown shower reached him. Looking around the mud caked wall corner he could see a red haired woman clad in meager yet sturdy looking silvery plate mail conversing with a younger girl in a red cloak carrying a large scythe.

There wasn't a group of people more likely to be adventurers. With little pause he stepped out to greet them. "Hey there, I'm looking for a crew of adventurers to join me in my quest to save the lands from evil and make loads of gold in the process. The pay's an equal share of the loot found." He put forth his offer in a rather blunt but straight forward manner. He was never much a fan of making small talk when it came to business. With ladies it was all smooth talking but for work he wasn't going to fool around the point. "Ya' interested?"

With that said, he put one hand out and leaned on the mud splattered wall with a casual air to him as he awaited their responses. Whether they were on board or not, he wasn't going to stick around much too long. If they accepted, great but if they didn't it wouldn't be much of a loss to him. If he couldn't find people to sally forth to fame and fortune with him then he'd just go do it himself like how it often was.

Merrowvale Brainde
Server Down for 3 Days

Even more surprises--it seemed this girl had elven heritage, if she called Crystalden her home. Though Altara still felt it strange she was just offering to help in their very first conversation, the red-haired knight merely continued smiling and replied, "I would be glad to have a guide. Thank you."

Right at that moment, someone else spoke up--good god, how do I keep running into these people?! This new speaker was a tall man with a helmet and steel gauntlets, though he had no other forms of armor, instead only wearing an aging sailor's outfit. He was accompanied by two people--one was a drow elf with blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and the other was a lady with pink hair and pink eyes to match, wearing a dancer's outfit. On closer inspection, it seemed her ears were pointed, like an elf...okay, just how many people were at least partially elf around here?!

In any case, the man in the helmet was asking her and that girl in the red cape about joining him on...a quest to save the lands from evil. Uh...wonder what "evil" he has in mind? Nonetheless, Altara turned to face him more directly. "It's an enticing offer, but we're already planning to head to Crystalden."

Thinking about it a bit more, she made a little decision and continued speaking. "I suppose we aren't exactly in a rush, but if it's too inconvenient for you to go in that direction, then we can't join you."

Drei snorted at Revik's reply. "I was thinking more along the lines of getting to an inn to actually rest," she muttered to herself inaudibly. She turned her tired gaze to Sariya, but after receiving no acknowledgement she assumed that her expression simply couldn't be seen from behind the shadows of her visor. Sighing a little, she nodded back at Revik. If she could just convince herself that this all-nighter was to test herself, it couldn't be that unbearable. "Let's get this over with, then." She flipped her cloak back and quickened her pace, walking ahead of the others with purposefully long strides.

Drei's eyes had beheld Brainde a great deal of times in the past, but the memory of the city was unknown to her. Though her body was feeling increasingly heavy and sluggish, her eyes flitted about, taking in every sight of this seemingly new location eagerly. There were people everywhere, and the sounds of their chattering made Drei's heart leap, but they were less exciting than the city itself. They were either slow and dawdling, talking to one another in a lazy fashion as their minds woke, or they were walking briskly with no time to talk to anyone. As far as Drei could see, there were no people of interest to her at all in the streets that she and her companions walked down, but it felt good to walk among them, even if they weren't worth watching. There were only a few frowns directed at her and even less children ushered off the street as she neared them and their paranoid mothers. Everyone else seemed too wrapped up in their own businesses to care.

It was then that Drei passed a corner, looking down at the road that turned off her path curiously, only having time to glimpse two figures when mud sprayed up from out of nowhere and before Drei knew it, she was back next to Revik and Sariya behind a wall. She had teleported, Drei realised as she checked herself for any mud that might have splattered on her emerald cloak. When she had confirmed that there wasn't any, she stepped out from behind the wall. Perhaps she was using too much mana by teleporting for things that could be evaded with a sidestep, but it wasn't entirely her fault. Though she would never admit it, she was still not in control of all of her abilities just yet.

This road was empty compared to the main one that the trio had been walking down, and Drei's eyes immediately flickered to the most interesting people she had seen upon arriving at the city. A woman with red hair and a muscular, melee-class figure and a girl with a scythe and a beautiful red cloak, her favourite color. Drei pushed her cloak-envy aside as she followed Revik, who was walking up to greet the two women. "Them?" She said aloud, frowning. As she drew nearer, the girl with the red cloak seemed to appear more threatening - or so the squeezing in her chest was telling her. Soon Drei could see why, as the girl had the same kind of beautiful and fragile face as somebody else she knew. Drei grit her teeth as she watched Revik extend his invitation. That idiot! What is he thinking, bringing another elf in here when -!

Keeping her body calm and poised, she stepped forward and looked over at the two strangers meticulously. She couldn't help but chuckle under her breath at Revik. ”..to join me in my quest to rid the land of evil..” The heroism is only optional, apparently. Drei thought sarcastically, raising one eyebrow as she glanced over the two girls, bored. Looks like these two tick that criteria however... Oh Drei, you're beginning to look a little out of place. Her gaze hardened between the two elves, but she shook it off and tossed back her head.

"I don't remember going to Crystalden before. Being there, maybe. Going? No.” Drei said strongly, more to herself than to anyone else, and yet loud enough for all to hear, “At least the journey shouldn't be a drag. We'll go, yes?” She turned her head to her companions briefly, blatantly ignoring the strangers themselves.

Revik

Well they had prior arrangements but they weren't so strict that he couldn't work with it. Drei was on board for going along so it seemed the issue was settled. "We've got nowhere better to be. It's settled then! We'll take fifteen minutes or so to prepare and then set forth for Crystalden!" He proclaimed, completely disregarding any prior plans his group might of made before. "I shall go and get a map and compass. If any of you can think of what we'll might need on the road do pick that up before we get going." With that said he strode past them, walking part-ways down the street before he suddenly remembered something. "Oh by the way, We'll meet back at this corner at the given time. Try not to be late, yeah?"

He didn't bother staying to hear a response. If they showed they showed, if not then too bad for them. As for him he had equipment to pick up. It was a lucky break that he was still holding onto the money he took off the slave hunters from earlier because he estimated that it'd cost him the twenty gold he started with for a decent map and compass.


It didn't take him long to find a supply shop which seemed to carry traveling supplies. He stepped through the rickety shop door to be greeted by a well worn out store full of various useful equipment for long trips, complete with a thin scholarly fellow behind the till near the back. The man looked up from his papers and adjusted his glasses, getting a better look at his latest customer.

"Might I help you sir?" The bored balding gentleman had a rather nasal voice.

"Yeah, I'm looking for a map and compass."

Trying to put as little effort into his job as he could the shop keeper limply gestured over towards where the maps of the land to kept. Revik looked over the selection of maps, making sure to find one that was of decent enough quality. He was actually decently qualified to read maps, a skill which he couldn't remember where it had been learned. Evaluating the quality to cost ratios he eventually found a map which was to his liking. With that he picked up a half-decent compass and head over to the shop keeper's desk. Various trading deals and storage tallies were splayed across the face of the table in front of the work weary shop keeper. With little exchanging of words he placed the map and compass down in front of the man as well as a handful of gold coins. After counting the coins the shop keep gave him a nod and just like that he folded up the map, pocketed it and took both the map and the compass out with him.

When he got back he saw that he was relatively quick in his dealings so he was alone for the moment. He stood with his arms crossed and tapped his foot while he waited for the rest of his crew to show back up. The city was little comfort to a free soul such as him and he saw little use in wasting his time there when there was loot to be had. Out there was where he wanted to be right now, the fresh forest air in his nostrils and fair winds to his back.

"Alright," Scarlet spoke up, her voice slightly questioning the newcomers. She had intended to only take one person with her, her choice members being this knight, or the twinblade girl from the night before. It would be difficult to sneak through the Draconian and ogre settlements with this large a group so they would most certainly end up fighting, and Scarlet still did not know if she could yet and she didn't seem to like the way the Drow girl was eying her. She just wanted to get home as soon and as safely as possible. She had to have a mother, or a father there, or at least some sort of family. "You can come as well, but I want to get there as soon as possible and if we can manage, with as little violence..." The half elf was very intent on this, and didn't want to waste any time if she didn't have to.

Merrowvale Brainde
Server Down for 3 Days

"Hey, wait, are you seriously going to..." But the man with the steel gauntlets was already far down the street, leaving Altara to scratch her head with a raised eyebrow and an expression of extreme worry upon her face. Did he seriously just make our business become his top priority? Something tells me this guy is bad news...

Oh well, since he already went off, it was probably too late for her to back out of it now. "I guess the more the merrier...?" the red-haired knight sighed, shrugging. "Anyway, I suppose I'll get my armor and weapon checked up before we head out. Sorry for the trouble...really, it's so bad I don't even know how many of you I'm apologizing to." Turning on her heel, she started walking down the last few meters to the blacksmith's shop. "See you in fifteen."

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

As it turned out, all her equipment was still in excellent condition, and Altara left the shop rather shortly afterwards, only 2 gold lost. "There's still the matter of food...wonder what the others would want? Maybe I should have asked them...ah, well."

Really having no good ideas, she went around town and purchased several random pieces of bread, meat and vegetables, not to mention a pack to hold them in. Everything save for the bread was uncooked, and she expected to try and prepare it over a fire or something like that when she got the chance. Though, Altara couldn't remember if she even had any cooking experience. Guess she'd just have to wing it...?

I swear, I am going to cause my own death if I keep thinking like this.

Looking over all the food one last time to make sure she hadn't accidentally misplaced anything, Altara put it all into the pack with a smile, then sealed it and slung it over her back. The person who sold it to her claimed it had two enchantments placed upon it: first, the weight of whatever was being carried in the pack would be reduced by about a quarter, and second, any food in the pack would last about half a day longer before it would normally go bad. So far, the first enchantment seemed to be working...not that she had actively tried putting heavy things into it.

Hopefully, it would live up to what the shopkeeper claimed it could do, and she wouldn't regret spending those 12 gold coins...

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

Finally, after all her shopping had been finished, Altara returned to their meeting place at the corner next to the mud-splattered wall. The man with the steel gauntlets was already there and waiting, with his arms crossed and one foot tapping impatiently. Well, with that sort of behavior, it made sense to her why he agreed to coming with them so easily...

...no, it's best not to judge him now. "Hey, I'm back," Altara greeted him, taking a hand off the pack and letting it hang from her shoulder as she raised that hand in greeting. "So, how did things go for you?"

Something else occurred to her just after she finished that. "Ah, and I don't think we exchanged names...or should we wait for the others to get back here before we get on with introductions?"

Scarlet had followed behind Altara for a bit until she saw that she was going to the blacksmith and realized that she didn't really have a need for such a shop. She wore no armor and her weapon couldn't be maintained by anyone other than the creator of it and people listed as their "friends". He remembered looking over the X-Scythe before and reading a strange alphanumeric name inscribed upon it. She now ran her thumb over the engraving as she had done many times before, D34dlyBL4d3z. She seemed to feel a warmth coming from that spot on the long handle that made her feel as though someone was missing from her life and that was all she had left of them. She held the scythe close as she walked about gathering supplies to take with them. She hadn't intended for this journey to take more than 3 days, but she wasn't quite so sure now that their party had more than doubled. Maybe she should have waited for the twinblade girl instead of taking the first option available to her. As she finished gathering a few things, her thoughts cleared up. It was too late now. she had to work with the cards she had been dealt. Making her way back, she saw Altara approaching from her left and made it back just a few seconds after she had. "Sorry sir. I didn't mean to take so long." She curtsied somewhat clumsily, the weight slightly offbalance in her pack as she moved to adjust it.

To prepare...? Drei thought and watched Revik walk away from them, tempted to follow.

"Hey, wait, are you seriously going to..." The knight called after him, and Drei shrugged at her.

"We seriously are." Drei replied dryly, more harshly than she had intended before turning away and walking back onto the main road, where the people were. After turning the corner, she sunk down against the wall and removed her helmet, shaking her hair out and blowing stray strands from her face. She had nothing to prepare at all. She had her compass, her gold, her weapons... her food? Drei silently mouthed a curse and tilted her head to lean against the wall. They should have discussed what each group member was getting before they split, but Revik's impatient drive had left Drei clueless as for what to get. Drei stood back up and dusted her pants down, when suddenly Prick was back floating by her side as if it had sensed they were alone. She gave it a half-smile as they made their way to where the larger crowds were gathering.

"Stay close to me and don't stab anyone, unless they look like they deserve it." Drei commanded it as she pushed through a small crowd. When Drei had broken out the other side of the crowd, her pouch was a brooch, an ebony comb and a handful of coins heavier than before, and two men were sporting new piercings. It was a small marketplace that was attracting the people, and there were stands littered on the side of the streets with carts filled with fruit, fresh vegetables and interesting objects. Drei grinned at the scene before darting to each individual stand, one by one.

She bought a bag of apples, perfectly red and shaped like hearts, and about a dozen of strange, jewel-like fruit she hadn't seen before. They were small and oddly shaped, glinting in the sunlight and brightly coloured. Drei wondered what the fruit tree would look like when fruiting and how she would like to see it - a tree with jewels hanging heavy from its branches. Carrying the fruit made Drei think of Revik, and how he would have to remove his helmet to eat it. The thought made her laugh out loud, as she began imagining the silly reasons he had to hide his head. He was probably just balding.

After purchasing a bottle that could decontaminate any water source and sacrificing a coin for an orange flower from a small girl, Drei found the elf's pouch nearly empty. It didn't worry her, however, as she could remember having a lot more gold stashed away somewhere - a lot more, and all she had to do was remember where she left it. After another minute, she found herself at the last stand. Cages of poultry were stacked upon each other, each cage small and pressing against the birds inside. Though there were gaps in the bars, the sight of it looked suffocating.

"These are for eating?" Drei asked the young man tending the stand casually as she walked towards him. The boy lifted his face up at her, the bored look on his face changing into something else unreadable as he beheld the drow woman.

"Mm-hm. Eatn', sacrificin', whatever you wants to do withem, drow lady." The boy stood up from his seat and rubbed his hands together, expecting to make a sale. Drei glared at him in distaste, annoyed that he had to bring up 'sacrificing' simply because his customer was a drow. She nodded her head slowly, looking at the crushed birds, unable to move. She stared into the eyes of one particularly helpless-looking bird, and it stared right back at her.

"Interesting. So, you keep them locked up until they're ready to die for the sake of something above them?" Drei mused. Somehow, the chicken reminded her of somebody. She didn't like that. "Do what you've got to do," Drei said dismissively, waving her hand in the air and turning on her heels to walk back down the road to her corner, alone. The boy was left behind, scratching his head.

Drei slouched back down in the shadows, back to where she started. A scream sounded in the direction of the marketplace, followed by much yelling and laughter. Seconds later, a stray chicken strode past her, clucking triumphantly. Drei laughed, not being able to control it.

"Good job," she congratulated Prick as it returned to her, "Stitching and lock-picking. Is there anything you can't do?" Prick returned to its rightful place down Drei's top and Drei's mood took a downhill once more. "That's right... you can't get into your godforsaken bag..." She heard footsteps approaching, heavy footsteps that may have belonged to Revik. She didn't feel like speaking to him, not right now. From her hiding place, she watched him waiting, arms folded and foot tapping. No, she would wait until everyone was ready to set out before getting up, Drei opted sleepily as she shut her eyes and disappeared from view.

Merrowvale Brainde
Server Down for 3 Days

While waiting for the others to show up, Altara started leaning against the dirtied wall, putting her new pack on the ground next to her. The mud wasn't quite so bad in those places, so she didn't have to worry too much.

Opening the dark red pouch on her left side, she was about to take out the charcoal and start doodling on a blank card to pass the time, when she suddenly noticed one of the cards towards the back sticking out ever so slightly--and there were markings on it already. What have we here? Ignoring the other cards, she caught that one with her fingers and pulled it out of the pouch.

She was rather confused when she saw what was on it. There were a number of straight lines going from the left edge of the card to the right, and small black ovals bearing tails sticking straight up or down were overlaid on top of these lines. 5 horizontal lines were grouped together, followed by a few words written underneath before more of these lines followed. The words, too, were broken up into pieces containing only one or two vowels, each "piece" directly beneath one of the ovals on the lines.

Is it some kind of foreign language? Altara wondered, scratching her head. But she could perfectly understand the letters...wait, as she read them over, they seemed to make sense. They really were words she could understand; it's just that there were spaces in the middle of words. But why would it be written like that? For some reason, she started reading it out loud, but not quite loud enough to disturb the man with the gauntlets next to her...

"Lively laughing voices are illuminated by the city's lights,
as my footprints are left behind in the back alleys.
Wondering how much of what I wanted to tell you made it through,
I'm constantly turning back to check."

As she read these small black letters, sometimes accidentally including the bizarrely placed spaces between syllables, something strange surfaced in her mind. Yes, it was becoming clearer--there was a voice repeating these words in her head...but rather than simply saying them, the voice was singing them. She could almost even hear the pitches, and slowly, her reading began to adhere to this melody as well.

"You never hesitate, so I'm sure you'll come running to me,
no matter who I've become."

Her senses continued to play tricks on her as she continued reading the words to the slow, gentle rhythm her mind was providing. The voice continued to resound in her mind, lilting and soothing, somewhat high-pitched but not to an annoying extent. Other things were beginning to surface as well--a rather salty scent hanging in the air, mild heat upon her face and arms, a gentle breeze blowing past her ears, the sound of waves lazily rolling up against a shore...

"As I stare intently into your eyes,
my reflection in them is the proof I exist."

The scene was still hazy, but becoming more and more vivid. She could even start to see something now--a sky dyed with the orange shade of dusk, hanging above an expanse of sand next to the gradually calming ocean. No one else was around, except one person--it was that blue magician girl, sitting on a rock and singing as she watched the sun set. Everything still seemed blurry, yet it seemed she was wearing a peaceful expression...

"And my heartbeat, which seemed it would stop any minute,
is resounding louder and louder.
I want to try to move beyond the present..."

Right after that, everything snapped back to reality. That distant shore, the ocean, the sea air, the blue magician girl--they all vanished, and Altara found herself leaning on a mud-stained wall once again. Looking down at the card in her hand, she blinked. The last line she had read was at the very bottom of the paper, and the illusion ended along with it.

"...what was all that just now?" she wondered quietly, looking over the card again. It almost felt as though it had lost its magic, and the scene she had just imagined was already fading. With a long sigh, Altara placed the card back into her pouch.

It took her a bit longer to notice that the man with the gauntlets was still next to her, and they had been joined by that girl in the red cape. "Sorry, I must have dozed off," she muttered with an abashed expression, looking away from both of them. "W-who are we waiting for again?"

Revik

He looked over as the first one to return, the red haired spear-woman, mentioned introductions.
"Let's wait a minute. If the others don't come around shortly I suppose it'd be a waste of our time not at least learning each other's name." He answered her question before looking back out towards the street, scanning for familiar faces.

Soon after her the red cloak wearing girl came around with her supplies, offering a simple apology for her tardiness.
"It's all alright. Just a couple more folks and we can hit the road." He was counting down the people who were with him before he left to get supplies, trying to remember exactly who was unofficially part of his crew so far. He's been through a lot of adventures and seen many faces so a bunch of new ones was something he was so accustomed to that he had trouble keeping track of them. It helped that everyone who was with him thus far had one major detail to identify them by. The bright red girl, the silver armored woman, the black skinned drow, the pink haired elf, all very different colors which separated them nicely.

The silver armored woman brought up a good point, asking about who else they were waiting for and all.
"Well, the only one I can think of that isn't here is my pal Drei." He took another hard look around but saw no sign of the lovely young woman's purple grape colored skin but all for naught. He could only ponder her location, having very little else to go off. "Hm, since most of us are here might as well get started with the introducings. I am Revik, Weapon Master of the Cestus." He began introductions since they were just waiting. "Your names are?" He gestured to the two he hadn't gotten the names of yet, awaiting their responses.

Sariya shook her head, not realizing the dancer had completely spaced after entering the town. She remembered sang as the sun rose and not feeling at all tired. She didn't even look tired since she had a long nap before setting out to the town she had spoken about to the others. Though from that point she had no real recollection as to what had happened before she spoke to Revik, with a kind and sweet tone, "If you don't mind, I'm going to gather up some more resources for our travels." soon she turned and hummed a sing as she lightly walked about in the area, absolutely confused what she needed, since she seemingly had enough food and gold in her small bag to keep them going for a while, and topping it off, swhat does everyone like in both food, weapons and all that? Brushing it aside, knowing she didn't think her plan through, since she had no idea of the other's tastes, yet, Sariya had an idea, which she decided to throw into movements.

As she passed Drei she paused, handing her bag over to her since they were close to the main square, "Drei, could you hold this for me please? I'm going to try something to get some more money for the party." she said before walking to the square, as she stood aside from the multiple crowds, she sighed slightly, having never danced without musical accompaniment nor through her own choice, usually she was asked. As the nerves built up as Sariya stood there patiently, her breathing became more calm, and with one step after another, a dance was formed. Though she couldn't see the size of the crowd watching her, she had an idea that there was a small crowd at least watching. She had not cared what Drei or Revik was doing, since the focus was shifted to dancing, and she loved it.

---

Now for something completely different.

---

It was morning, something Amynta was patiently waiting for as she lay restless in her bed in an upstairs room of the tavern. As she lay she watched the sun peek it's head through the window, before fully coming through the window and into her face, what a way to start the morning in her eyes. Brushing aside the fact that she was basically blinded by the sunlight at the moment, she rose from the bed she was resting in, making it and everything before going to her things, which were on the table close to the bed, she grabbed her cloak, which she put over her shoulder since she was still inside, and there was no need for the heavy thing just yet, and soon had her boots on. Sighing a little, Amynta gripped her staff as she went downstairs and talked to the proprietress, paying for last night before turning around to a rather merry bunch of travelers, though she passed them by, putting on her cloak as she exited the tavern into the streets.

Though soon enough she found another group, from what she could tell, there was one in a red cloak, though looked smaller than she was, or about the same height at least, then there was the scarlet woman whom looked much taller than Amynta and the red cloaked one, then there was the pink elf whom had walked away, she guessed to get resources that they could use, and finally, the really big man, she stood there analyzing and thinking of the party as she approached as if passing by in the still streets, not many were in this part at the time, most likely they were either at the square for some reason, or something else. Though few of the shoppes were open, she sighed as she stopped gazing around for some sort of shop for food, though she turned to the party and spoke sweetly,

"Excuse me, but I'd like to ask where an open shoppe is for me to get a little bit of food?"

Merrowvale Brainde
Server Down for 3 Days

Before Altara could even get the first syllable of her name out, she noticed that pink-haired dancer walking off towards another part of the square. She dropped her belongings off into what seemed to be an alleyway...no, wait, there was someone there.

It was the drow who had been that group Altara was now travelling with; it looked like she was resting. While Altara wondered why she was getting some shut-eye in such an uncomfortable place, as well as why she didn't notice the drow elf until just now, the red-haired knight figured there was no point in bothering her, and went back to watching the dancer.

It seemed she was dancing, and a small crowd had formed around her...Putting on a street performance, now of all times? This kind of feels like...really bad timing... Nonetheless, she did seem quite good at it--not that Altara was very interested in dancing, so she wasn't the best judge.

Right then, the man with the gauntlets suggested they start introductions, and began by giving his own name. "Revik. Got it," she replied, standing up and getting her back off the wall. "My name is Altara. I'm pleased to be traveling with you." Right in time with the last sentence, she gave a short bow, with her left arm bent in front of her, as though it were pre-rehearsed...that was odd.

Just as she was straightening up from the bow, some other woman with blonde hair walked up to them, asking if there were any shops open where she could get food. The question surprised Altara, especially because she had no idea why they, of all people, were asked, but she still answered immediately. "There are plenty of shops like that open by now...do you have anything specific in mind?"

Drei opened one eye, annoyed, but before she could say "How in the world did you find me?", the bag dropped to her lap and Sariya went off and started... dancing. Drei could do nothing but stare blankly after her.

"She trusted her bag with a thief," Drei murmured, watching the dancer's graceful movements from her seat, "She trusted her bag, with a freaking thief." Ten seconds of disbelief later, Drei stood up, grabbing both her bags and Sariya's, with her flower tucked into her corset as she had no place to put it just yet, or no-one to pass it on to. She had been planning on sneaking it into Sariya's hair, as orange was in no way her own colour, and she just wanted to see how it would look against the light pink. Her own hair felt free and light, and Drei realised that she had left her helmet on the ground by her seat. She glared at it before tucking it underneath her arm. It was much too stuffy and heavy to wear, and she had suffered greatly by keeping it on for so long. How does Revik do it?

At last she walked over to where her group was waiting. "I bring fruit," Drei announced, holding up one of her bags, "Also, an enchanted bottle, but if you think you're going to be drinking from mine then... another one?" Drei's strong voice faltered, taking in the sight of the beautiful and fragile-looking newcomer. She turned her head from Revik to the stranger, to the other two girls and back to Sariya, to the stranger again, then finally back at Revik, drawing a rash conclusion from what she was seeing.

"Well, Revik." Drei said offhandedly, rolling her eyes. She really couldn't care less about the man's motives, though after just picking up in it she couldn't help but have something to say. "Looks like you're quite the charmer."

Scarlet didn't seem to have much of an interest in anyone in the group other than the young knight, and didn't quite feel comfortable with putting herself out to any of them either. She thought, only for a short moment on a nickname, and settled upon Red It would work for the time being, for she didn't plan to stay with the group very long. "It's a pleasure Mr. Revik, I'm sure, but we shouldn't waste anymore time here. If we attempt to pass through Caleah after their curfew, we'll be forced to stay there over night, and that's time we can't quite afford. So introductions on the way?" She didn't quite know why they couldn't waste any time, but she knew they must at least pass through Caleah before nightfall. Something seemed to happen in the small town at night, and she didn't care to remember what it was.

Revik

While he waited for Sariya to return from the supply trip he listened as Altara introduced herself. He nodded in turn after she had bowed. "A pleasure to have you along Altara." He welcomed her just before looking over to the red hooded girl. Instead of giving her name she instead urged haste if they were to make it to Caleah before nightfall. Now that was puzzling indeed.
"You mean New Caleah right? We wouldn't make it to Caleah before nightfall even if we left town right this instant."
He mentioned, straightening out what she just said. There were two cities by the same name, Caleah located in Albia and New Caleah in Merrowvale. Both cities were named Caleah but people all generally call the one in Merrowvale New Caleah since it was built after the one in Albia.

"Assuming you mean New Caleah we wouldn't be passing through there anyways if you wanted to make it to Crystalden in a timely manner. New Caleah is east of here and we'll want to go south." He pulled out his map and traced out what he knew as the fastest route with the least amount of obstacles between them and where they wanted to go with his finger tip.
"We'll want to go around Cabaea, Continue south along the mountain path along the cliffs until we hit Pwllhyre Harbor and sail straight through to Crystalden. All goes well and it should be around about a month and a half's travel." After illustrating his plan he rolled the map up and stuck it back in it's container. "I'm not sure which way you were planning on going but given the distance unless you're planning on using magic to teleport there or something the fastest way to get there is my route."


And speaking of magic, a most serendipitous encounter had occurred just as he was just finished talking. A young woman who was quite small in both height and frame had come up and asked them about where to find a place to get some food. Looking at her a number of details stood out. Firstly, she held a fairly interesting looking staff. He could tell that it was a magical foci as certain attributes were present in it's design which made it ideal for channeling certain schools of magic. How he knew that, even he didn't know. He didn't even know where he could of even picked up that information since he's never read any books on magic as far as he can recollect.

Secondly, She knew a bit of something about hand to hand fighting. There were ways a good fighter could tell another fighter apart from the rest, certain behaviors developed from training that could be picked up on by a watchful eye. He'd keep a close eye on her as long as she was around, not that difficult given how she was quite attractive.


"Say... You wouldn't happen to know magic now would 'ya?" He asked after Altara was finished answering her query. He didn't peg anyone in his current crew as being a spell slinger with the exception of Sariya to a limited extent. If this girl could cast spells she'd be a useful addition to their cast.

Drei finally came around and remarked about how he was most definitely charming, or at least that's how he heard it. It didn't strike him as strange at all, most beautiful women found him irresistible and he came to expect as much generally. The only thing that came as even remotely surprising about her observation was that it took her that long to realize it.
"Of course I am. It comes naturally." He stated it as though it were an undeniable truth like the sun always rising in the morning while still keeping that charming swashbuckler flare in his tone. For him, life was all about being either out in the battlefield laying waste to his foes with a flurry of blows or in the bedroom with women clad in jewels that he took from his enemies not hours ago.


Well, perhaps all about wouldn't be putting it right. Very little of his life was quite so easy or simple despite him. He took his pleasures where he could, be it flesh or flattery.