(Casual D&D III) The Man in Black

Guilt Puppy · Sep 4, 2004

(Continued from The Fellowship of the White Dove.)

Once all are assembled, the knight leads you downstairs, pushing through the tables of now-thinning games, looking over the heads of the now less than glamorous.

"Right outside," he says, smiling.

It's true, you realize slowly: There is someone just outside the doorway, clothed in darkness, almost indistinguishable from the blackened nighttime streets. But he is definitely there, pacing upon silent feet.

As you come through the doorway, he turns...

wings · Sep 4, 2004

Blast from the past, with a pipe.

He waited outside, moving from one corner of the stairs to the other. His silent, gliding steps carrying him over the worn stones of the street, a thin blade tapping out a soft rhythm against his thigh. A golden coloured hawk watched him from the rail of the nearby stairwell.

He was patient of course, as elves were wont to be- and indeed the pipe that touches his lips here and again gives him a chance to relax. He has been too relaxed these past four days, wanting only to ride out and meet the group half-way, but knowing that it'd be more difficult than doing simply that.

Rather than letting his thoughts drift back in ages only found in his memory, he focused on the last several weeks. The 'quest', the fellowship, and his hand in it.

The sounds of approach reach his pointed ears, but he hardly bothers reacting to it, continuing his circuit without sparing his rose glance towards the source. When they finally pause in front of him, he exhales fragrant smoke from between his lips and turns to the group and those it now consisted of.

He bows gracefully, touching his half-gloved fingertips to his forehead in greeting. Dark coloured hair flirts with his deep, scarlet eyes; the stars and moon saturating his raiments in silver. "Welcome to Eivanrach," Aerda says with a grin. Astrule punctuates the greeting by flying to his shoulder and assessing the group with it's predator eyes.

Aerda continues, "Sorry I could not make the journey o'er the Ashen mountains with you all- I had a journey of my own to make." He makes a step, trying to bring his small frame closer to the rest of you, "Perhaps, now that we are reunited, you can mend my ignorance?"

Festy_Dog · Sep 4, 2004

Nurthk looks at Aerda with a hint of suspicion. He had never trusted elves, half-elves he found tolerable, but elves he had faced on the battlefield before and he had no great love for them.

He leans over to Fendric to ask quietly, "You know this guy?"

[ooc: Welcome back, Wings.

]

Guilt Puppy · Sep 4, 2004

(OOC: IIRC Aerda was actually the one who first met Nurthk, although it was brief and understandable that you may have forgotten/Nurthk may have not recognized him.)

Hiritus takes a moment to read Fendric's reaction, then slowly begins to grin. The water-drinking knight, meanwhile, shuffles quietly back upstairs.

Shavah breaks through the relative silence, addressing Aerda loudly over Nurthk's side-question:

"You are a... cult'f Hexter. Ain't ya?"

dpdx · Sep 7, 2004

"I do indeed, Pelor be Praised. Fellowship of the White Dove, meet Aerda Darlmeth Akylaine, who along with Niccolo and myself, is one of its original company."

Fendric turns to face his long-lost trueblooded companion.

"And that magnificent beast on his shoulder is Astrule, whom I believe those of his particular talent refer to as a familiar."

"When last I saw you, good sir, you had disappeared with Exantrius' ring, which signs portent to be of no good purpose. It is good to see you again, and I take your good health to mean that you did indeed dispose of that evil artifact without further incident, for which I am thankful.

As for us, I am happy to report that we are poised to deliver our third letter from Exantrius to its proper recipient in Eivanrach tomorrow. In the meantime, our Fellowship has grown in number to replace Victus, Merrim and the others. I'll leave them to introduce themselves, but you may remember Oliver here from the tavern in Hedrogura.

After you left to dispose of the ring, Bethel erupted in mayhem, not the least of which found Father Premule kidnapped and taken from the city, and his guard ordered to stand down by none other than the Visach himself. The guard therefore left Bethel to search for him, and for a while, we joined them until they insisted we return to our quest. I know not how we made it as far as the mountain passes in such little time, but with Raven's help, we cleared them and are here in Eivanrach since the morning.

We have been set upon by parties most hostile throughout, wherever we go. During the search for Premule, it was crazed beasts, who seemed to be set to attack Niccolo and myself directly. After that, it was a party of orcs over the mountain passes, but not before a shaman bid us not to proceed for Eivanrach the night before we left. I have been told that we are being watched even now.

That is the short version. The rest can wait until the morning, for it is late, and we are tired. Come, you shall share a room with me tonight. In the morning, we approach the Jury of Sages."

Fendric, smiling, turns to go back into the inn, looking over his shoulder to make sure he's not alone.

Guilt Puppy · Sep 10, 2004

Hiritus seems quite visibly relieved at Fendric's suggestion of rest, doing his best to herd any stragglers up toward the rooms. Shavah is the worst of it; it seems that she's sobered up enough to enter that intentionally-comical stage of intoxication -- just drunk enough to want to keep up the same sort of behavior she's had all evening, though now it rings tin and phony.

...

When morning comes, it comes inevitably late, though it seems early enough to those who made the most of the night before. Hiritus is clearly tired, and more awkward than usual... He remains quiet and avoids eye contact, particularly with Fendric, seeming focused on packing and repacking his things until perfection, even with no sure word that the Fellowship would leave this inn any time soon.

Shavah, despite her excess, takes the morning on the opposite cheek: She seems refreshed and invigorated, with no trace of embarrassment or regret about the show from the night prior.

(Plans for the morning? And make Spot checks, Fendric with a +4 bonus, I'd say.)

Festy_Dog · Sep 10, 2004

[ooc: Spot check: rolled 17 + 6 = 23]

Nurthk wakes in the morning and goes to have breakfast, having had a notably non-violent night as he could remember most of it.

"I should have drank more," he grumbles to himself, a little disgruntled.

It's after a short while that he realises that at one point he did make Aerda's acquaintance, if only briefly. Brief enough to warrant forgetting while he was somewhat intoxicated no less. He eats quietly and waits for everyone to gather to discuss the next move.

wings · Sep 11, 2004

Hawk's eye.

Aerda is up early, as all elves are rejuvinated by the dreaming trance they call Reverie, an ability gifted to them that allows them to replinish themselves in half the time as other races.

With his gear on him, he leaves Fendric's room while the man still slept, and crept up onto the roof of the Inn. He spends several hours perched there, calmly contemplating and speaking with his familiar, as well as refreshing what spells he needed to refresh; which were nothing but cantrips, as nothing exciting had caused him to expend any others.

When the others began waking up, he resecured his dark blue spellbook and moved over the lip of the roof again, climbing down onto a balcony and moving into Fendric's room. He was soft on his feet, very much so as he moved into the room.

He still had something he needed to do before the group had no time, but he was afraid how they may react. Astrule's cry betrayed his presence and Aerda put on a smile.

"Fendric," The elf says in his velvety, mysterious voice with it's heavy elven accent, "I had little chance to inquire more of the others. Who are these people that have joined the Fellowship of the White Dove? Why did the one suspect me to be of the Cult of Hextor?"

Beyond these questions, Aerda follows Fendric out to meet with the others.

(My spot was 13, Astrule, on the other hand.. 27, and we can communicate verbally, he has 8 intelligence. Sorry if my posting isnt too on topic- i feel like ive been thrust into this without any reassuring foreplay. Think I could get a run-down of the current party, it has been a while, and my memory is pretty sorry anyhow)

Guilt Puppy · Sep 11, 2004

Nurthk and Astrule both notice (as will anyone else who beats DC 20, I should mention): As much as Hiritus is avoiding Fendric, he's also avoiding Shavah... She seems to be following along, as well, being quite directly friendly to everyone but him. (OOC: I'm quite curious to see what the hawk makes of this, if he cares, heh.)

(Note to wings, as I'm not sure you've seen me use this trick before: Just cut and paste the above to somewhere the font won't copy, like notepad...)

(i feel like ive been thrust into this without any reassuring foreplay)

(Heh, sorry about that... Forgot just how much the party had changed. Here's a brief run-down, so you don't have to wait, although the rest can correct and elaborate when they get the chance.)

Fendric is still Fendric, the young fawn-haired half-elf acolyte of Pelor. Although he's lost a bit of his youth, it seems.

Niccolo is still Niccolo, the gnome violinist and storykeeper. He hasn't lost a bit of anything since you last saw him, it seems, which is appropriate for a man of histories.

And Oliver is still Oliver -- the old lutist from Caval's Horde in Hedrogura, although when and how he arrived with the rest of this group is, well, his story to tell. He seems to have regained quite a bit of youth; perhaps he picked up some of Fendric's.

Nurthk... You did meet Nurthk briefly, at a bar in Bethel, before disappearing to bury the ring. He's a half-orc of stern character and strong build, and it appears your initial assessment, that he may make a trustworthy and devoted companion, was fairly accurate. He's still here, after all.

Raven is a new face, entirely. Tall, well built, and carrying a nice big greatsword. He'd remind you a little of Victus, if his mood wasn't all wrong: Too openly high-spirited.

Hiritus you may have met extremely briefly before leaving... He's another follower of Pelor, plucked from the temple in Bethel at right around the time you parted ways with the rest of the Fellowship. He definitely still has his youth.

Shavah, as is clear once she dons her standard-issues with morning, is a follower of Heironeous... You recognize the look of her various insignias as originating with the temple guard of Bethel.

dpdx · Sep 12, 2004

[Spot: 12 +5 +4 = 22]

wings said:
He still had something he needed to do before the group had no time, but he was afraid how they may react. Astrule's cry betrayed his presence and Aerda put on a smile.

Fendric, who had reveried, arose a moment after Aerda left, washed, dressed and prayed while he was gone, now turned and smiled back at Aerda and Astrule as they 'greeted' him.

"Fendric," The elf says in his velvety, mysterious voice with it's heavy elven accent, "I had little chance to inquire more of the others. Who are these people that have joined the Fellowship of the White Dove? Why did the one suspect me to be of the Cult of Hextor?"

Fendric tells Aerda what he can of each of the new members:

"Keep in mind, my trueblooded friend, that these our newest companions have been tested and found true, many times over. I do not wish my honest assessment of them, therefore, to cloud your acknowledgement of that simple fact. I would happily lay down my life for any of them, Pelor Willing.

Shavah's had a rough time of it, may her God grant her Mercy from her thoughts. We have no news of Premule, and I believe she wished she could be with her guardmates, still trying to find him. She came with us from the halfling village out of a sense of curiosity, fondness and protection, before we had picked up even a clue of where the Father had been taken, and as the time grows longer, I suspect she believes her decision to be a mistake. So she had also been drinking quite a bit when she encountered you - I'm afraid she's not used to encountering friendly souls, much less friends. Think nothing of the challenge, I say.

Hiritus I met in Bethel shortly before you, Merrim and Victus left. He is a Knight of Pelor, steadfast and loyal in combat, strong and passionate in our faith... and troubled. I can tell it. I intend to ask him, may Pelor Guide me to the Truth. I do not relish that confrontation, and I will seek to delay it, especially if it is of unimportant things. But at its base, I believe he has lost his trust in us, especially in me, and that must be resolved.

Speaking of confrontation - that's also how Raven and I met, so to speak. We were at a waystation before the mountains, preparing to cross, when a shaman and his band of orcs appeared and attempted to prevent us from going over. I resisted the idea, and Raven took issue with my manner toward the shaman. We've managed to improve our relationship since then, but I still bristle around him, especially when he speaks.

Oliver, it seems, I've known from a long time before. He managed to escape Hedrogura before it fell. Before his time playing in the bar where we all originally met, he was a gladiator at the Pits. I tended to him there shortly after I entered the Order... Oliver has his demons, but he'd stand to the last when it counted, which I admire of him. He is not, however, a pleasant man, and in fact, I fear him.

As for Nurthk, he also joined the Fellowship in Bethel before we set out. His background is that of a bodyguard, or bouncer, I believe. It's not often you meet someone like him. By that I mean, I'd march confidently into the Nine Hells were he at my side. I feel a kinship, there, as if underneath his countenance, there lies my brother.

Come, we have much to do.

Oh, and Aerda? I thank the Radiant Light you are back."