[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/24975/posts/ooc]Character Reference[/url]

[center][b]The Hallows Inn[/b][/center]

A year of isolation in a place like the Drakenwald has the potential to do a lot of damage to a man's psyche. Not being able to predict the time of day, never truly knowing if you're being watched or hunted (until it's too late), the lack of food and water, all among other things would be enough to break a man, especially a human. However, the Drakenwald was kind to Barden, perhaps the entities of the forest could see he was pure of heart (in most cases), or at least that he didn't mean them any harm and so took care of him, in moderation. Barden, on the other hand, was of the impression that the forest acted as one connected being and that this one being had helped him to survive, while perhaps out of some selfish loneliness was also trying to keep him within its boundaries. The weary ranger, carefully tread through undergrowth, his sword drawn, an unstrung bow worn on his back. He had found that recently the temperature within the forest had gotten cooler and so he had his cloak worn as well, the hood pulled over his head as if for some sort of camouflage. A light breeze whistled through the branches, rustling them, leafless but swaying. Barden looked over his shoulder for a moment, halting his step, listening to the wind. Deciding nothing of it, he pressed on.

About an hour passed before he came across a small, clear pond. It was strange, it was the first in a long time that he had seen that was not overcome with scum and plants and pond-life. "Thank-you." He whispered, under his breath, in reference to the forest as if it were showing him some sort of grace. His grip loosened, and the sword he held fell to the ground, almost silently. Barden took several steps towards the crystal clear water and allowed himself to fall to his knees. Quickly he washed his face, before cupping his hands and drinking from the pond. Refreshed, Barden made his way back to his sword, hunched over and raised it from the ground. After listening to the next gentle breeze he once again, pressed on.

Over the course of the year, Barden had come quite accustomed to the different smells and sounds of the Drakenwald, the more putrid and terrifying often coming out at the late hours of the night. However, during the day, or at least what Barden thought to be the day, everything was much more peaceful, it had almost become the kind of place that one would want to spend an afternoon walking in. That is, provided they did not end up lost like Barden, wandering aimlessly for days, weeks, months or even years on end. Strangely enough, in the whole time Barden had been in the Drakenwald so far, he had never once come across another humanoid being, and rarely did he come across any kind of life in fact. In a sense, Barden supposed he was lucky, while in another, he couldn't help but feel as if he was missing out. Occasionally, the ranger would come across bones of animals and such, and more often than he would care to talk about, the skeleton of another human or at least, humanoid. These were occasions that Barden would try to forget almost as soon as he had encountered them. He did not like his mind to linger on his own inevitable fate, at least not while he was stuck in this place, regardless of how well he had been treated.

Suddenly, a noise, or more like a series of noises. The ranger could feel his ears physically perk, while of course, all Barden heard day in and out was noises, these were different. These were noises he had not heard in a year, something that Barden recalled as... Laughter! The ranger rushed forwards in the direction of the noise, it was as if the Drakenwald himself was leading him at this point. Within a matter of second, Barden found himself present at a tree line, ahead of him was a clearing and in the middle, a beautiful building like he remembered from his homeland. The laughter had come from two women, human or... elf? It didn't matter, these were people. Barden was free.

Placing an open palm on what he expected to be a gnarled trunk, like the rest in the Drakenwald, Barden found the bark to be like nothing he'd felt inside the damned forest. He turned his head to view the tree and what he saw next came as a shock. "It's alive." He whispered, and upon examining the clearing from his perch he saw that all the trees lining the clearing were the same, living. Leaves, swayed with the wind atop all the branches. The ranger looked to the ground, smiled and laughed, quietly, inaudible to anyone else in the clearing or the Inn itself. Pressing his forehead to the trunk, his boot resting on one of the roots, and an open palm now holding the bark, he sighed. "Thank-you." He whispered, before entering the clearing and walking towards the building that lay ahead of him.

People of all races in the clearing, albeit it was only two or three smiled at him, a welcoming smile as if they had some idea of what Barden had gone through. And, while no one said a word, Barden knew they did.

Upon reaching the door, the ranger sheathed his sword and wasted no time upon entering the building. To his delight, it turned out to be an Inn, the first thing that hit Barden was the sweet smell of ale and home-cooked meals wafting up his nostrils and through his body. Barden breathed it all in deep, his eyes wide open, taking everything in. He almost didn't notice a man welcoming him.

"Hello wanderer, welcome to my Inn, the Hallows Inn." The man examined his clothing, the ranger's clothes were a bit worse for wear. Mud-stained, and torn, crinkled and messy. The coat he wore atop of all else had stitches ripping along the underside of the lengths of the sleeve and at the shoulders too. While Barden had not noticed, the left sleeve of his coat was all but ready to fall off. "Rough few days?" The Innkeeper asked, a smile showing at the corners of his lips.

"Try a year..." Barden replied, nodding his head in unison with the Innkeeper.

"Well then..." He started, almost as if he was not surprised, "We'd best see what we can do for you... Follow me." The Innkeeper led the ranger only a few steps towards what must have been some sort of reception desk. It was beautiful, like everything else in the inn, running his hand along it, Barden noticed it was Oak, with a beautiful finish. "So, your room is on the third floor, the top floor that is, down at the end of the corridor, you have a corner room and can see most of the front of the clearing from where you are." The Innkeeper paused, "Not that you want to see much of the forest I imagine..." He joked. The ranger interrupted him, 

"Hold on, Innkeeper, I have nothing to pay for this." Barden explained, holding his hands out as if to refuse the key that the Innkeeper was holding out towards the ranger. It was a normal key of a normal size, black in color, probably made of wrought iron, despite its size the key was very detailed and beautiful.

"Payment?" The Innkeeper laughed, "My boy, this is a place of refuge, take the room, before the next wanderer gets it."

While this all seemed a bit strange to Barden, he was not about to refuse the man's kindness and so took the key from the Innkeeper's hand. He turned, so dumbfounded, he forgot to thank the Innkeeper, and began to walk towards the stairs. "My name is Lazarus, just for future reference, not Innkeeper" Lazarus joked.

"Barden..." The ranger replied, in a sort of mutter, barely audible, but the Innkeeper caught it.

"Rest well, Barden."