Snippet #2764328

Not long before the group disembarked, Calliope retrieved the rest of her belongings. Her sword seemed sharpened to her taste, but before she returned the stone to her pocket, she gazed upon it. It was once smooth from the mountain stream that flowed past her home. She had grown since she first found it. It appeared smaller in her palm than ever before. In the places where Calliope's small fingers once struggled to enclose around it, she now held it comfortably. It reminded her of the days she spent antagonized by her brothers, sharpening twigs in the snow, trying desperately to get the upper hand in their next quarrel. She allowed the thought to pass, and hid the stone away.

Calliope returned from her room with her black, leather weapons bag. The bag was sizable, about as tall as she was, but she slung it around her shoulder like it was the size of a coin purse. It hung suspended from her back with a single thick strap. Along the strap were intricate designs and ancient ruins embossed and painted in gold. They originated from her ancestors, the Dragon Kings: the Pterok. One rune requested protection from the Gods of war and life, while the others allegedly enhanced attack and awareness. In fact, Calliope's whole weapons bag seemed adorned in a myriad of blessings and runes. The Empire was very superstitious, but she at least found the symbols comforting.

Aside from the hulking bag, Calliope travelled light, like most of the others. She had one extra pair of robes in a smaller compartment on her weapons bag, a tightly wound bedroll she managed to fit somewhere in the bag, a hair brush she prized greatly, and enough rations divided in small amounts to last maybe three weeks. The robes she wore now were less for combat and more for presentation. On each shoulder was a white lotus like design. A coveted flower by her village that somehow grows in a sacred water not far away. Her robes had a high, upturned collar, and they were held together by a large pink bow under which she tucked excess material.

Calliope returned to the deck. The light of the sun made her complexion less jarring. The sun was something that was dear to her, it felt good on her skin, and she took a moment to enjoy it, inhaling and exhaling, but it wasn't long before all of them were off the ship and onto the next hurdle.

The Noble was unperturbed by Lux's sudden tizzy, but still intrigued. If one didn't know any better Calliope's posture and manner would have seemed to fit right in with one of the five women that greeted them. Well, one thing that did set her apart was the vexed expression she had on her face at all times, a compliment of her furrowed brow. Calliope did, however, let out a short, guttural and masculine laugh, and stated, "I find this variety of courting mmost entertaining," totally misinterpreting the whole turn of events.