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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Xorne" data-source="post: 6400093" data-attributes="member: 61194">The leather tunic Rhallick wore creaked softly as he leaned on the rickety wooden fence at the side of the road, listening to the many wagons of the caravan he'd signed on with moving slowly behind him, heading east towards the next town or village along the way.  Beyond the fence stretched a large, grass-covered field dotted with the occasional cow, lazily tearing clumps of vegetation and methodically gnashing it to pulp in a cycle of swallowing, vomiting, and chewing that encompassed the simple existence of a cow's life.  Farther out across the pasture he was watching, there was a small building, too far distant to make out all the details of, but he could tell the front was spanned by a covered porch, so it was probably the ranch owner's house.  That probably wasn't a bad life then, tending to the simple needs of cows, chewing their cud by the road the world moved on around them.A soft breeze pulled at a wisp of his long silvery hair, trailing it across his face in the cloudy light of the afternoon.  He absently reached up and tucked the loose hair back behind his pointed ear, and squinted to the west, toward the sun as it dropped lower in the sky over the road he'd been traveling for the last day.  Another wagon from the caravan train was passing by him, with two human men pacing it on either side, wearing leather tunics and casually resting a spear over their shoulders, talking softly to each other as they passed.  Both of them gave him a passing glance, no doubt determining if Rhallick was a human or an elf, and reaching the correct assessment shortly after passing, and exchanging a knowing glance at each other.  One of them spoke softer than they had been, thinking Rhallick wouldn't hear, but that was because they didn't realize how acute that sense was."Half-elf." One of the caravan guards said matter-of-factually.  There was nothing negative in his tone; it was the same voice he might have told the other man that porridge was what he ate for breakfast that morning.  Rhallick found that the men guarding the caravan had little care for whom they shared the road with, especially when it was another guard, which was the means by which the half-elf had signed on with this group of travelers.Rhallick's skin was paler than most of the human's in the southern Sword Coast, but darker than his elven father's clan.  His frame was light and slim, perhaps slightly sturdier than most elven-kind, but again, not quite as broad-shouldered as a human.  His eyes were smaller than elves', but larger than humans, and his ear tips were slightly pointed, but not as pronounced as an elf.  He wore well-tailored, brown leather armor which covered his body except for his arms, soft boots with laced that rose half-way up his calf, and had two short swords in crossed sheathes on his back, with unusual blades that curved forward.  His long, silver hair, which fell past his shoulders, had a lustrous, elvish sheen to it, which was the biggest indicator of his heritage, even more so than Rhallick's ears.  His hair on the top of his head was pulled back into a simple braid which kept the rest of his mane out of his face, for the most part.As he glanced eastward down the road after the two humans casually, he heard the wagon he was assigned to behind him, approaching from the west.  It was still fifty paces distant, but he had grown accustomed to the rhythmic banging of loose metal works in the cart, mostly pots and pans for cooking, hanging from racks inside the covered cart.  He pushed away from the fence as the cart came closer, and moved over to fall in step with the another figure walking beside the same cart, clad in leather armor like him, but dyed a deep black, to which the dust of the road clung heavily, giving the ordinarily crisp lines of the armor look worn and ratty.  A similarly dark cloak draped over his companion, complete with a hood which was drawn up over the man's head, as well as a thin silk scarf, which covered his face, keeping the road dust out of his mouth and nose.  But his eyes were like Rhallick's; too big to be human, too small to be elvish.Rhallick didn't look at the other half-elf as he walked beside the cart with him, his gaze instead passing over the mule-drawn wagon, their employer sitting atop the driver's bench, occasionally praising his mules, amid the constant, soft clatter of his wares under the canvas canopy behind him.  Not seeing their third companion, he spoke."Where is Rubick then, Aligheri?" he asked.The dark-clad half-elf glanced at Rhallick.  His mouth and nose were concealed, but his eyes betrayed amusement as he answered.  "He's in the wagon again," he said quietly, taking on a squeaky tone of voice, "as the talents he offers through his contracted services are wasted on the pointless task of walking down a filthy road," the half-elf mimed the voice of the gnome in the cart."I heard that," came a high-pitched voice that sounded eerily similar to how Aligheri had just spoken."Please," admonished the driver of the cart, "I really don't need to hear two of him..."Aligheri chuckled softly to himself and held up a hand to the driver showing his ascent.  He caught a subtle look from Rhallick and quick adjustment of his posture.  Casually giving his full attention, Rhallick spoke."So how long have you known Rubick, old friend?" asked Rhallick.  Is he still reading that book? the half-elf added with sign language.Aligheri nodded quietly.  Yes, the one from his "secret" pocket.  He grinned and spoke, "About three years.  I did some work for him on a 'research project' he was involved with back then.  Kind of kept in touch ever since."  He's asked me to 'obtain' quite a few books over the years, and he pays well.Rhallick nodded his fellow rogue, in answer to that unspoken comment, as opposed to what Aligheri said for everyone else to hear.  His old friend had reached out to him through the guild in Baldur's Gate as the caravan passed through.  He told Rhallick something big was happening, and there were bad people involved--and there was likely coin to be made in stopping them.  Rhallick looked to his left, back towards the small ranch-house off in the distance, and thought to himself:Some day.***</blockquote>

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