[IC] A Journey Through Space - A DnD story
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NoriWasHere
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0-24 hrs ago
One year prior.....
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Outfit: NormalEd was closing in on a new home, and the road to Greyharrow was quiet. It was far too silent for her liking. It was as if the natural world around her waited with bated breath for a coming change. Her eyes scanned the road ahead, and off to the side of the cobblestone, she could see various ruts that were deep, yet filled by the rainwater that fell and the blood that had been recently spilled. The mud itself was torn apart by a wayward carriage, the scramble of armored boots, and the eventual dragging of bodies that followed. Edwina slowed her pace the moment she saw the wreckage further ahead. The shattered cart wheel caused the carriage to list to the side, and the various crates that were originally in the back lay strewn across the street and mud. Their tops were split open by axes, and whatever content they contained inside was no longer to be found. Some of the crates were still stained red despite the best efforts of the downpour to wash them away. Ed sighed. She knew what she would find on the other side of the carriage; the cycle always announced itself before it arrived. Ed moved forward past the carriage and looked out towards the tree line.
They lay several yards apart.
The first person she spotted was a woman slumped against a battered milestone. Her back was braced against the stone, and her posture held high by stubborn will alone. Her face was more pale than a highborn elf who had never seen the sun, and her breaths were shallow but consistent. Edwina’s eyes drifted down her body. One shoulder hung lower than the other. From her location, she could tell it was either dislocated or fractured. The other arm looked fine, save for the gouges those fingers dug into the mud beneath them. As her eyes scanned further down the woman’s body, she finally spotted the biggest threat. An arrow had punched clean through her thigh. The shaft was snapped short, but it was still stuck deep within the leg. The trouser leg, and the bandages that were haphazardly applied around the wound were soaked red with blood that grew heavier as heavy pulses pushed more blood out of the wound. A severed artery? Ed scanned the spot on the leg and could assume that it was the likely culprit and the biggest threat to this woman's life. Despite her pale visage and dangerous wound, the woman dug into the ground with strength, and Ed could tell she still wanted to live.
Edwina’s eyes drifted towards the center of the road. A man lay close to the true center of the cobblestone, facedown towards the street. Edwina could see the faint sight of his back rising and falling as he still drew breaths. She walked over to his side, knelt to him, and gently rolled him over. Edwina caught her breath at the sight of his wounds, and her usual dour demeanor softened as she tilted her head to the side. She saw that his abdomen had been opened by something heavy and clawed. She could see on the lower marks where the claws had dug into and cut through various sections of his stomach. Blood flowed out faster than anybody, human or otherwise, could replace. The second claw mark was a hair higher, but she could tell that the initial strike of it had cut deep, and the wheezing, uneven breath told her that his lung had collapsed entirely. The man opened his eyes weakly and found hers a short while later. They were glassy, but that did little to hide the pain and terror that resided inside. The man tried to raise a shaking hand towards her cloak.
“Please,” he begged, voice breaking apart around the word, “please. I want to live.”
Behind her, the woman suddenly began to sob. From the raspy tone that came with it, Edwina knew that she had been crying for a while. “Save my dad,” she said forcefully, “don’t worry about me. I have the strength to hold out for a little while longer. He is about to die, so save my dad. Please don’t let him die.”
Edwina closed her eyes, just for a breath, and opened her tome. She shook her head side to side as she flicked through the pages until she landed on the spell she needed. “I hear you,” Edwina said quietly, to both of them. “I promise you I do.”
She turned first to the man. Edwina placed a hand on his brow, the other over his chest, and began chanting “hurt turns to peace.”. Her voice was low, steady, yet surprisingly informal. Green light bloomed softly from her palms; the color may have been faint but it was oddly soothing to look at. The color washed over him like a wave over a rock at the beach before the color ended almost as quickly as it came. The pain left him almost immediately. His breath slowed. His shoulders sagged into the mud. “Your cycle is coming to an end. I wish I could do something for your wounds, but I can’t save you both.
“No,” he whispered. Ed could tell a panic was trying to form in his heart, but her healing spell was calming even his emotions. Ed looked down and placed a hand on his shoulder, gripping it ever so slightly, before she nodded her head. “No one ever wants to die. Your life is ending, but I can still save her.”
“No, no, no, don’t you dare,” the woman shouted as she tried to get up, yet the pain in her leg quickly forced her back down. Ed shot her eyes over, monitoring the woman's breathing and color. It seemed she was beginning to transition towards the end, and Edwina needed to be fast. Her eyes returned to the man
“Be at peace, friend, and know that I will do what I can to get her to where you were going.”
“Greyharrow, we be heading to Greyharrow,” the man whispered, “others are coming for us. Trying to kill us. Will you protect her?”
“Dad, no, stop, don't say that,” the woman shouted with a newfound strength as she lunged forward and began to crawl towards her father. She groaned, and that sound was only drowned out by the sound of her teeth grinding. Edwina slowly turned her head back towards the girl before taking slow, yet deliberate steps towards her. As she did, she flipped the pages of her tome to the page she needed. The heavy boots clacked against the cobblestone for a brief moment before she knelt at the woman’s side. With a quick motion, her left hand lifted the right thigh, and her right hand found its way to where the arrow exited the leg. With one quick tug, the shaft was pulled clean through. The woman tried to scream, but the pain pulled her voice from her body. The scream bellowed as Edwina placed one hand on both sides of the arrow wound “Many faced goddess, heed my call. Take this wound and mend it whole.” As she finished the chant, the same green light shot out from her hand, only this time its glow only hit the wound and inside the leg. Instantly, the muscles, blood vessels, and arteries began growing back towards each other at a sickening pace. The woman’s face contorted and and her eyes rolled back as the sudden healing did not come with any form of pain relief. Pain was part of the cycle, and thus the goddess never took away the pain from bones shifting, wounds closing, and arteries mending. A sickening pop was heard as the woman’s shoulder was forced back into position. The woman’s eyes finally rolled back as the healing spell finished, healing up her body and pulling her back from the brink of death.
The woman tried to throw a punch, cocking her arm back as she did, “you bitch,” she whispered as she sent it forward, yet her strength was clearly missing.
“The healing process takes a toll on your body. Soon, you will need a long rest. Before then, you should say your final words to your father,”
The woman panted, and the rage that filled her eyes slowly faded as she scanned the road and spotted her father, his head turned to the side and a nearly glazed over look in his eyes. The wheezing sound of his breath still filled the air, but it was growing faint and distant. The young woman tried to move, but the muscles in her leg collapsed immediately. Ed, waiting for this, simply moved to her side and pulled her up over her shoulder and helped carry the girl to her father. Over the next fifteen minutes, the two shared limited words. The girl apologized for her actions, the father said he loved her, and before long, the final goodbyes were shared, and the man passed on to the final part of his cycle. The woman shared one final, loud sob before she succumbed to her tiredness and passed out in the middle of the road.
The shouting and sobbing caught the attention of the assailants. As Ed worked to create a makeshift shelter on the side of the road for herself and the girl, a human male and an armored gnoll strolled out from the wood line with wicked smiles on their face. They did not make a single step onto the road before they spotted a massive, armored skeleton emerging from the opposite tree line. The skeletal creature was at least eight feet tall and covered in a thick, armored plate that, while rusted, looked thicker than their weapons could breach. Edwina turned her attention to her construct and saw that it had a rather large, purple flower in its right hand. The constructs' eyes scanned the flower with an intensity that only the hollow sockets could conjure. Slowly, its head rose from its downward angle and looked at the two bandits ahead.
The flower dropped.
One week prior.....
Interactions: None
Outfit: NormalLila was carried through the streets on a gust of mountain wind and she skipped her steps as she went. Her boots were dusted white with powder from the cobblestone streets and wet from the melted snow of the mountain. Branches, bramble, and other bundles of nature found a home on the clothes, the cloak, and were carried forth by her body. She did not seem at all bothered by the cuts and scrapes, and the singular, but large, bruise on the side of her face. This was a fun environment to learn from! The swamp was nothing like this. The swamp was warm, smelly, and teeming with life, while this land was cold, devoid of any other sense besides the one that signaled coldness, and completely barren of anything else. It made foraging difficult, but the land spoke to them, and she listened when she could.
As she moved through the streets, she eventually spotted her destination. Some helpful locals had told her that there was an apothecary in town, the Wildenbloom, and Lila had spent the better part of the past week canvasing the mountainside for herbs, spices, and everything nice that she could find. Lila knew that this town was a place where she could lay low for a little while, earn some coin, before she moved on to keep one step ahead of the bounty hunters and corporate hit squads that trailed her. She did not know how much these herbs would sell for, but she could tell that each one had various properties that should fetch her enough money for a hot meal, a room, and a well-deserved rest. Thus, as she found herself in front of the door, she nudged it open with a hard shoulder and strolled inside with a confident, yet aloof, step.
“Good morning, Wildenbloom Apothecary! You smell like dried herbs and quality in here. I like it. Nice spot you got!” Without waiting for a response from the man behind the counter, she set her bag on the counter and loosened the drawstring. She began to pull bundles of herbs wrapped in twine or pressed between the bark of the mountain trees. There were pale, feathery leaves that were dusted with some form of chalky residue, small blue flowers that seemed to vibrate when they touched whatever waxy coat the counter had, knotted roots still cold from high elevation, and more. She arranged them with the care that a loving mother might arrange an outfit for their child, and she took her time doing so. “I picked these above the snowline. Well. Near it. The wind screamed at me up there, you know? Couldn’t tell if it was the nature or some animal comin’ for me.”
The apothecary owner sighed before he leaned forward, brows knitting as he studied her wares. “You new in town?” he asked, tone cautious but curious. “Don’t recognize your face. Or your smell..” The man grabbed a nearby clothespin and used it to close his nostrils.
“New-ish,” Lila replied, rocking back on her heels, her hands rocking from side to side as she spoke. “First day here! You know what’s funny? You are the second person to ask me if today was my first day in town. The first one gave me this,” Lila pointed towards the rather large bruise on her face, “and his friend gave me this,” she moved her cloak, revealing a small gash that cut through the fabric on her hip, leaving a rather large gash that was covered in some swamp moss. The smile dipped from her face as her head tilted. “You’re not gonna try what they tried after they asked me that, are you?”
“Not a chance,” the man sighed and shook his head. Not another crazy one. He picked up one bundle, removed the clothespin, and sniffed it. Suddenly, his head shot up as his nostrils flared. To Lila, the man’s face looked like he smelled something truly foul, yet the up-and-down nod that preceded the head tilt as he looked over the bundle told her he liked it. “Mountain herbs, huh? You know most folk bring those in dried properly, have you ever dried mountain herbs before? These are quite good quality, all things considered.” He tapped the blue flowers. “And these weren’t ripe yet. If you had waited even a couple of days, you may have had quite the bounty on your hand.”
Lila tilted her head, confused. “Are you sure they are not ripe? When I brewed them in a tea, they felt quite relaxing.”
He snorted. “Relaxing? If you like seeing things that aren’t there, perhaps,” he muttered, then looked at her more closely. “You travel alone up there? Dangerous country. Monsters. Snow slides. Thin air. If you ain’t used to it, all of it, you’ll be claimed right quick.”
“Oh, yes, I did. It was,” Lila said cheerfully, “an adventure.”
He chuckled at the woman. This woman was going to be trouble in town. “And this? Looks like a scree vine. Stuff’s useless. Grows in cracks where nothing else survives. You’re better off looking elsewhere if you spot this junk.”
Lila’s smile sharpened, like a blade polished. “Useless? Junk,” she echoed, voice still light, still musical. Despite that, it was clear that the woman had taken offense at the word choice of the man. “That vine is the only home I saw for those mountain birds. Are their nests so beneath you that you would consider their home worthless? And have you even tested it? Or did you take one look at what your eyes saw and not what the plants were showing you?”
The man laughed as he knew he was right. This woman was trouble. She was going to fit right in. Still, he had a reputation to uphold, and this woman, angry as she was, was not going to push him around. “Sounds like something a druid, out of their element, would say about a plant they know nothing about.”
Lila reached into her component bag and pulled out a thorn.
Lila leaned forward, hands on the counter, eyes shining a little too hard. “Say that again.” Her smile only grew as she leaned forward.
The man opened his mouth to retort, but stopped as a hand gently wrapped around Lila’s wrist.
“Hey,” a feminine voice said, with her body practically materializing at her side as if she’d always been there. “You’re doing the spiral thing that Cleric was telling me I do!”
Lila blinked. Once. Twice. A third time more. Her eye slowly slid from the man in front to the hands around her waist, before resting on the woman to her side.
“Oh,” the woman laughed, shaking her head side to side. “Right, right. Sorry. I often forget that strangers don’t know me yet. I am Sadie!”
“Hi…Sadie,” Lila’s smile still did not leave her face, yet her right eyebrow arched at the audacity, “You like grabbing strangers?”
Sadie’s fingers loosened, but didn’t leave. “Only the ones ready to cast a spell. Or grab a dagger. Oh! And a fighter cracking their knuckles once. He looked like he wanted to drive a fist through the good owner’s face, so I gave him a big old hug!”
Lila shifted her eyes back to the man behind the counter. He simply shrugged his shoulders and sighed again. “She’s still learnin’ her manners. Means no harm, but I doubt she spent long around people wherever she is from.”
“I see,” Lila tilted her head as a warmth returned to the smile, “Well, Sadie, I just love your energy! You are infectious! I am Lila,” Lila closed her eyes as she laughed aloud, wrapping her free hand around Sadie’s shoulders.
“Oh no,” Bram sighed as he realized, too late, that the two were destined to be friends.
One day prior.....
Interactions: None
Outfit: NormalAs night fell on the city of Greyhaven, the air felt heavy as if the area itself was holding its breath. Kel moved silently through it, from roof to roof, and from shadow to shadow. Her boots never rested long enough to leave an impression. As she moved, she looked down at the road below. The lanternlight pooled on the cobblestone, illuminating the puddles that covered it. She knew she had made the right call once again traversing the city this way, as she could not be seen on the streets this night. It wasn’t like anyone would be able to tell who she was, as her body was covered from head to toe, from front to the tip of her tail, in black cloth that hid her brightly colored skin and hair.
“Ahead.”
The voice rumbled through her head as the road lay ahead of a stampede of bulls. Her patron’s presence had followed her like a corpse on a wave. It was cold, devoid of kindness, but oddly direct with its want.
“Below.”
Kel looked down as she jumped across a narrow alley and saw a young teenager creeping along the walls. In her brief glimpse, she could see that the hood and cloak he wore were too large for his frame, yet the extra fabric did little to hide the shaking that emanated from his body. She knew at that moment her mark was already secluded, and she could simply wait for the right moment to strike. She slowly crept back towards the edge of the alleyway and looked down. Kel could see glimpses of the dirty blonde hair that she remembered from that night a long while ago. His green eyes would occasionally catch the light, and she could see just how wide they were. Above all else, he could see how young he was. The kid was no older than thirteen at this point, barely a teenager and with a full life ahead of him. He did not choose to offend the sea, he did not know the dangers that came with fishing those waters, did he truly deserve to die?
“Yes.”
The patron's voice crashed against her mind like the tide. It was a heavy presence that carried with it the smell of salt and an anger older than comprehension. Images began to flash across her mind. The cove that the family fished clean. The village was large, with fifteen different families making up a population of one hundred individuals. From what she learned, this village was formed two hundred years ago as a small community moved to the area, intending to supply the nearby towns with food. Yet, as the old guard died, the new generation only took more. More fish pulled from their home, more destruction wrought on the sea, and eventually, their brutal practice caused the collapse of many different species in the area. This extinction spread outward and threatened more and more, until her patron balanced the situation. Yet, as her patron balances one end of the scale, it must do so with the other. Thus, her patron called on Kel to right the balance. In the night that she struck, the waves smashed the ships against the rocks, the buildings were locked from the outside and put to the torch, those who made it out were cut down by many blades, and all who had wronged the sea were pulled into it save for one.
He had not grown since that night. Kel watched him now as she clumsily slipped into an abandoned courtyard, and made his way to a dilapidated shed to spend the night. Kell knew this boy was too young to have chosen what his village did. Kel knew that he was innocent and did not deserve to have this curse placed on his life. She struggled against the patron's will and grimaced as it felt like its tendrils wrapped around her heart.
“No, no I can’t, Kel pushed her patron back as she whispered her objection, “he’s just a child. He had no part to play in that disaster. Spare him.
“No.”
The pressure doubled on her mind, and Kel fell to her feet as her hands pressed against her head. She felt like her patron was just as likely to kill her in this moment as kill the child. Still, Kel had experienced this many times before. Early on in her pact with her patron, she had quickly realized the creature did not like when it was challenged. It would remind her of the power balance in many ways, but causing physical pain was one of its favorite ways. It was also a way that Kel could overpower, even for just a minute. Kel focused her mind on the task, and she pushed back against its influence all across her mind and body. Eventually, the pressure lessened before it disappeared. After a few pained breaths, Kel rose to her feet. She knew she might have a couple of minutes if she was lucky, but she needed to warn the child to run.
She dropped from the rooftop with a silent step. The boy was still unaware of her presence, and she quickly closed the distance. As she drew close, she allowed her feet to make noise on the muddy dirt, which forced the boy to turn around at once. “You need to run, Kel began as she held her hands up, trying to disarm the boy's frightened energy. She could see he had a knife drawn on her, but his shaky hand would do little to harm her if he actually tried anything, “I know what happened to your family. That same evil is coming for you as we speak. Stick to the main road, and run, Kel paused as she stepped off to the side, giving the boy a clear path to run down and away.
The boy looked at her for too many seconds before his eyes darted to the path he had taken and began to run back the way he came, but, before either Kel or the boy could react, her patron roared back into her head. Her eyes swirled like an angry whirlpool in the dark ocean, and she watched in horror as her tail coiled around the shoulder of the boy. She felt it pull him in close and knew what came next. Her blade was in his throat, and a second later, it was pulled through. Her tail let go of his shoulder, wrapped around his ankle, and pulled him off his feet. As he fell, her free hand filled with a ball of water, and she used this magic to summon a tentacle. The tentacle roared to life like an angry wave and shot out and grabbed the boy by his head. As it pulled the boy back, she watched as one of his hands pressed against his open neck, while the other reached and grabbed for anything that could save him from being pulled under. A second later, he was pulled into the tentacle and through the watery threshold into his grave.
“Finished.”
Current day.....
Interactions: None
Outfit: N/AThe Waystone Inn was loud in a way only desperation could muster. It was filled with the layered roar of voices, clattering mugs, and the surprisingly good singing of the Inn’s very own Sharmin Mildmeadow. The crowd was massive, and the sheer mass of people meant that those traversing the bar often had to move sideways, shuffle along the bodies of others, and often feel crushed as the crowd moved too and fro with the music. Kel sat hunched at the bar, hair damp with sweat and rain, and her fingers weaved themselves together around a large, glass stein of an alcoholic beverage known as Something Else. The drink was created near the end of many keg's life, and would often use the last few drops of several different kinds of alcohols, liqueurs, and spirits. The alcohol would burn, the taste would be awful, but it wa strong. And the strong burn of this alcohol was an easier pain for Kel to manage than the thoughts of that poor boy who tried to claw his way to freedom the other day.
In the corner closest to the door, Gulda was doing what Gulda did best when she wasn’t at her forge. She was a winner, and she was winning. Her eyes watched the cards as they slapped the table with crisp noise. The first three cards revealed two aces, diamonds and spades, and a four of spades. The tabaxi across from her, who had sleek black fur and who smiled far too wide for an honest game of cards, pushed all his money into the pot. Gulda tossed her cards down on the table, folding. He purred as he raked in another pile of money, tail flicking in the air behind him, until a singular card slipped free from his sleeve and slid across the table until it stopped right in front of Gulda. Gulda’s smile widened, the tabaxi’s smile vanished. The table fell silent, waiting for what came next. Instead of a fist, Gulda simply started laughing. She laughed hard, and loud, and bellowed this laugh for fifteen seconds before her hands reached under the table and flipped it with a quick, sudden jerk. The table fell on top of the tabaxi, and Gulda finally raised her fist and crashed it across the jaw of the feline felon. Next to Gulda, an older, more gruff tabaxi began to cheer her on.
On the opposite corner of this unfolding chaos, Lila sat cross-legged at a table that was far too crowded for her. However, empty steins littered the table as if she were building a shrine to bad decisions. She laughed at nothing; she laughed at everything. Her cheeks were flushed red, and her eyes were bright yet unfocused. She tipped back yet another stein, and a hushed voice whispered that she should have been down several drinks ago. “What d’ya mean I am ‘too cute for my own good’! That’s just *hic* silly,” Lila somehow laughed out before she threw a punch towards the shoulder of the latest man who tried to join her at her table, impacting with a sicking thud that was much harsher than any punch from her had any right to be. She swayed too and fro as she chuckled.
Rosa, the bartender, stood ready behind the bar. She watched the crowd like a hawk watching a small animal, waiting for anyone to step out of line too far. Rosa was not willing to let her bar fall into too much disrepair tonight; however, she knew that often this was out of her control. If it wasn’t for the litera servant army that was hidden behind those kitchen walls, it would have been impossible for her and her husband to keep up with the damage these idiots brought each night they were crowded. Still, the money was flowing tonight. Money kept these walls together. Money kept the alcohol flowing. Money was everything in this town, and as long as she had more than the others, she was ahead. Still, she hoped that tonight there would be no cause for her to step in and use the training. Her eyes shifted towards the door and saw the flickering of a cloak caught in the wind, and knew that a healer was at least ready for that potential conflict.
Outside, Edwina stood just beside the doorway, half in the glow of the inn and half in the night. Her tome was open in one hand, a pencil poised in the other, and she calmly recorded fragments of the conversations drifting past her. Through the broken glass came the layered sounds of the Waystone: the thud of a fist meeting wood, the reckless optimism of youth drunk on cheap ale, the clumsy, hopeful attempts at flirtation that always seemed to bloom before things turned ugly. She listened, not to judge, but to understand, trying to make sense of the beautiful, tangled mess of it all.
This was more hobby than duty for Edwina, but she found it necessary all the same. In a town like Greyharrow, it was vital to keep one’s hands and mind occupied. The place had a way of pressing in on you, urging you to become more, to take more, to be sharper, harder, louder. Lose sight of what you enjoyed, of who you wanted to be, and it was frightening how easily the town’s rot could sink its teeth into you. Writing, observing, anchoring herself to quiet patterns—these things kept her steady.
To her right, she kept one eye on her construct, which had followed her into town once again without being asked. It crouched near the wall, skeletal hands cupped gently around a trembling field mouse. The construct tilted its skull this way and that, studying the tiny creature with the same wide-eyed curiosity a child might show, careful not to squeeze, careful not to frighten it further. Edwina allowed herself a faint smile at the sight.
Then a sudden flicker across the road caught her attention.
Her head snapped up toward the looming arcane tower opposite the inn. She studied it carefully, eyes tracing its silhouette, searching for any sign of change. At first glance, there was nothing, no warping of stone, no visible aberration that suggested the barrier had altered. Her head tilted slightly, one eyebrow arching as doubt crept in. Edwina had never believed the tower to be something that could be forced. Some things, she knew, were beyond mortal will. If the goddess of change wished the cycle to open the tower, it would. Until then, it would remain closed, as it always had.
And yet.
That flicker lingered in her thoughts, an itch she couldn’t quite scratch. Something about the barrier had moved. She considered her options. She could go inside, report what she had seen, and within moments the inn would empty of wizards desperate to test their luck once more. Fire would tear the sky apart, the earth would tremble beneath reckless spellwork, and when it was over, Edwina would be left stitching bones back together and whispering prayers over bodies that hadn’t needed to break in the first place.
She didn’t want that. Not tonight.
Tonight already carried the promise of blood and bruises. A fight was raging inside, and experience told her several more would follow before the night was through. Adding arcane ambition to that volatile mix would be cruel.
Besides, she thought, closing her tome just a fraction, what was the worst that could happen if she kept her mouth shut?
1x Like
Atrophy Meddlesome Kid
Member
Seen
0-24 hrs ago
The Waystone Inn
Interactions: Lila, Kel @NoriWasHere
Outfit: Well-worn“No no, my dear, I said that I must be too cute for my own good,” said Ransom over the rowdy crowd. “It is loud in here, isn’t it? Perhaps we should go somewhere a bit quiet-OW!”
Lila’s shockingly iron fist smashed against Ransom’s pauldron so hard that it sent him stumbling into the person behind him. How was her hand not broken? More importantly, how wasn’t his shoulder? His teeth clenched together as he seethed. He grasped for his wrist, his hand caught by something before it could tear off his glove so he could throw it down in a challenge.
Ransom turned sharply to see what idiot had stopped him from defending his honor and nearly blinded himself on the tusks of a towering half-orc, freshly soaked in what had once been a full beer, flanked by several of his less-than-happy looking pals. After a quick bit of mental calculus–four against one, minus one arm–the look of indignation on Ransom’s face became a nervous smile as he took up his cloak in his unhooked hand and dabbed at the half-orc’s soaked shirt.
“Gentlemen, let’s not do anything that Rosa will make us regret in the morning. Allow me to explain myself,” said Ransom, watching for any sudden movements.
This was what had happened: he’d been made the fool by some swamp bitch. Ransom had been quite happy to spend the entire night losing his life savings in a card game against Gulda and friends. That was until he noticed one of his bounties laughing when he suffered a bad beat, pretending to look away whenever he threw her a knowing smile, yet ordering round after round so that she could keep watching the show. What else could it have been but flirtation? Now normally Ransom wouldn’t be caught dead reciting poetry to someone so dirty that their lice had lice, but he wasn’t above going for a romantic moonlit stroll through nature if it meant bagging a bounty early.
After all, the antes had been practically eating him alive. So Ransom made his move moments before the game went all tits up and Gulda saw to it that the cheating cat went from nine lives down to eight. Now his last few silvers had been spent replacing the beers and paying off the tab of the new “friends” he had made. The bastards had even taken the drink he’d ordered for himself. It was hard to say which one would suffer the bigger bruise come sunrise: his shoulder, his coinpurse, or his ego.
No, no, it was definitely his ego. Every drop of blueblood that coursed through his veins demanded that the insult Lila had suffered on him be met with satisfaction in the form of a duel. Only she had really done a number on his swordarm; Ransom winced and rolled his shoulder. Perhaps it would be better to listen to the advice from those annoying heavenly pricks and turn the other cheek. At the very least, he should consider the amount of zeroes on Lila’s bounty before taking it to the streets.
Sod it. Ransom allowed the stupid angel massaging his wounded shoulder to talk himself out of getting killed, so he turned only to spot a devil over his other one. A rather pretty devil. A rather pretty familiar devil. Ransom huffed out a half-laugh as he shifted closer to one of Waterdeep’s Most Wanted. The overpacked Waystone Inn was starting to feel like a treasure trove. Nearly made up for his rotten luck during the card game.
“Buy a guy a drink?” asked Ransom as he sidled up to Kael’zar Vexmoor with a smile that got him into trouble as often as it could get him out. Ransom snapped his fingers together and pointed at Kel, his voice rising with realization. “Wait, haven’t we met before? How do I know you?”
4x Like
Latrom Lyve
Grayharrow
Interactions:Ransom
Outfit: normalLatrom was about to buy a meal after the long travel to arrive at Grayharrow, however the instant he entered the Waystone-Inn he was bombarded with visions he couldn't ignore, A vision of bog was triggered when he neared a completely covered woman with horns drinking herself away with the strongest alcohol sold, in the vision Latrom didn't need a visions precursor to notice her guilt and regret before the vision ended.
Having made brief eye contact with a woman so covered by dirt and foliage he would've been convinced that she is of aboriginal origin as well, if she wasn't a half-elf, lacking all traditional apparel, accessories and utterly drunk next to a pile of empty steins, a second vision of clarity struck Latrom showing him a man talking to the woman and ending with her punching the man so hard it bruised him through the shoulder pauldron and pushed back him into a very disgruntled orc.
Latrom was about to intervene and rejuvenate the mans bruise and until he looked into the mans eyes and a third vision of clarity showed the foggy mans unseemly if not evil intentions, convincing Latrom to only will a massage distantly through his pendant to ease the pain from the physical and maybe metaphysical bruise.
Nearing a group playing cards a third vision of bog showed a male tabaxi playing cards with a female orc the vision continued with the sound of shuffled cards against fur, the reveal and the orc's great intent for violence ending the vision following the fallout.
With his appetite ruined and unwilling to stick around the crowd of now overly drunk, violent and morally dubious wombats, he decided to head out the bar entrance, unwilling to get involved but staying near to kindle the lights of those who are; especially the horned women the visions showed him earlier.
Unfortunately just outside the inn door he gazed at the arcane tower in the distance and was struck by yet another vision of omen filled with overwhelming fog, all he could see was an explosion before the vision overwhelmed him, knocking him unconscious.
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FernStone One Again Addicted to Pepsi Max
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The Waystone Inn
Interactions: Ransom @Atrophy, Kel, Rosa @NoriWasHere, Latrom (via stepping over him) @Cosmic
Outfit: NormalGodamn, how much had that Goliath been drinking to fall over like that soon as he stepped outside the Inn?
Cali grimaced as she stepped over his prone body and inside, weaving her way between the heaving bodies and brawlers towards the bar. A glare, along with a hand going towards her hunting knife, kept anyone from getting too close. Rowdy, shitty men, but at least Gulda was almost always there to beat some sense into them. There were a few decent people in this shit hole.
With a thud, she deposited a large tanned leather bag on the bar and slid it over to the bartender. It was filled with most of the small game she’d caught today- a good mixture of rabbits and grouse today. She’d considered venturing deeper into the forest for something bigger, but it was always a pain to carry back into the city. Easier to cut it up there and then, but then the meat wouldn’t be fresh to sell.
So, small game it was.
”Here’s today’s hunt, Rosa… If Cedric’s got complaints about the size’ve the game again, you tell him he can come out with me next time and try freezing his lazy ass out in the snow. Maybe then I’ll be able to drag a fucking boar in!” As she spoke, she began to pull off her snow dusted thick fur cloak. It revealed the deadly longbow hidden underneath, along with much more fitting clothes. A fox seemingly turned into a scarf remained draped around her neck.
Looking at it for long enough, it almost seemed like it was breathing.
”Also, a big fucker’s passed out on the door. You might wanna get him moved a lil more outta the way.” She jerked her head towards the door.
“Buy a guy a drink?”
Cali’s attention was immediately taken up by her asshole senses tingling. She twisted her head to see the sleeziest looking fucker chatting up an attractive tiefling woman Cali had seen a fair few times in here. Never talked to her, but that didn’t matter. These kinds of men always went for the women they perceived as weak, or those that wouldn’t be missed. There were plenty that wouldn’t be missed in a town like Greyharrow, but somehow Tiefling still found themselves at the bottom of the ladder. Even in this shithole people still whispered about devilspawn.
This woman was clearly drunk too. He really was the lowest of low.
As much as she wanted to kill him there and then, she couldn’t. Outside of the trouble it would bring her, he hadn’t done anything quite bad enough to warrant it. As much as she’d love to kill every man purely for the crime of being born with a dick (with most proving to be one too), she couldn’t. Unfortunately. It was more fun to drag it out anyway. To torture the worst.
Play the part, wait for him to slip up, then kill him later.
”You wanna drink? Sure, it’s on me!” Cali slid along the bar, sandwiching Ransom between her and Kel. ”Two something else’s, Rosa! Make ‘em extra spicy for me.”
With a wink to the bartender she turned back to Ransom, and Kel behind him. Her own smile was wide, and oh so similar to his. A charming, winning smile.
Now that she was closer, she’d definitely seen him around town too. She’d probably find something nasty if she dug into it enough.
”You may’ve met her before-” You overinflated asshole- “But I definitely recognise you. I’d never forget a face as pretty-” punchable- “as yours. Ain’t ever had a chance to talk!” Or kill. “Just had to admire from afar, y’know.” She was almost unnaturally alluring as she spoke, easily flirting with a man she planned to assassinate later. Manipulating. Her glowing, pupiless lilac eyes squinted coyly up at him. ”But seeing you down that bar, I knew I had to finally talk to you.” And save that poor woman. "Why let the opportunity slip by? Don't get many like you round these parts, after all."
Still smiling, her arm reached out around and past him down the bar. It brought her body much closer to his, and she suppressed the nausea that came with it. Disgusting, but necessary. She tapped the bar in front of Kel with a sharp nail. ”You alright, sweetheart? You look like you’ve had a lil too much to drink.”
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GM
NoriWasHere
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0-24 hrs ago
Current day
Interactions: Ransom x Cali
Outfit: NormalKel sat at the bar with her shoulders hunched forward. In this moment, there was nothing she wanted more than to press herself into the bar top itself until she was one with the grain of the wood itself. The Something Else in her mug had grown even more gross the more she threw it down, yet she still drank it. All her sense of grace and warmth had disappeared after the last night. Every time she blinked, the boy’s face haunted the darkness, stuck forever in the moment he had looked up in that brief, terrible instant before it was over. Her patron had gone quiet afterwards, but even in the silence, she could tell it was more satisfied in making her think she could control the outcome than the killing itself. And thus she found herself in the Inn, dressed in the clothes that she felt most comfortable and pretty in, with the vain hope that either the alcohol or someone could help her forget the past night, and the past week, and the past however long it had been since she went on the run. Despite this hope, she remained alone at the bar with several empty steins in front of her.
Being alone still felt unnatural for her. Kel traveled city to city, port to port, and she was always moving just ahead of the bounty hunters that hunted her. Some nights, she could almost convince herself that this long trek to freedom was her choice, and every stop along the way was a freedom that Felix had wanted for her. She blinked, and she saw the boy's face again.
“Fuck, Kel whimpered as her clawed hands dug into the stein, throwing it up to her lips and downing as much as she could consume at once. As she finished, she took a deep breath in and out, burped, and wiped away the wet sensation from her lips. Her eyes drifted back towards Rosa, who was already staring at her behind the bar. Kel pointed towards the stein and held up a single finger, but for some reason her vision showed that she raised two. She looked at it more closely, and after a second, the two fingers became one! Kel shook her head side to side for a brief second before they returned to Rosa.
“Oi, are ye sure you want to get another? You seem,” Rosa grabbed three of the empty steins and placed them in the cut-through to the kitchen, “drunker than normal.”
“Is that a problem, Rowssa, Kel speech slurred just a bit as she spoke, “I am fine, I’m fine.
Rosa looked towards the door and saw some fresh meat walk through the door. She sighed. Rosa grabbed one of the dirty steins and walked over to the various barrels, and made Kel her final drink of the night. She quickly slid it back down the counter towards Kel. “Either forgive yourself or get over him. I don’t care which one it is, but you’re cut off, love.”. Rosa stared down one troubled Tiefling before turning her attention to another one.
Kel nearly missed the stein, yet she found it in her head before long. Forgive herself, or get over him? Kel’s eyes dropped low as her shoulders hunched forward. What if she needed to do both? Felix would not be proud of the woman she had become. While she knew he would be ecstatic that she got revenge and survived the harsh life that followed, he would never forgive her for what she had been made to do. She blinked, and she saw the kid trying to free himself from her patron. Her eyes looked down at the two steins in her two right hands. Maybe one final drink would be enough for her to get enough liquid courage to make a mistake or two to feel better.
“Buy a guy a drink?”
Kel’s eyebrows rose, and she tightened her shoulders. Her back arched ever so subtly as her tail wrapped itself around the chair. She was prepared to look his way when his words suddenly truly hit her ears. Why was he asking her for a drink? Her shoulders slouched noticeably as her head tilted to the side. Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Besides, even if he was cute, could she buy him a drink? That was wrong. Drunk Kel knew that was wrong. Kel was going to give that man a piece of her mind. She turned on the stool, and then she saw him.
“Wait, haven’t we met before? How do I know you?”
“Felix, through the blurred, double image for a moment conjured the visage of her dead fiancé. She blinked twice, the dead boy growing further and further away each time in her mind, and when her eyes opened the final time, a noticeable frown crossed her face. Inside, her emotions threatened to spill out through her tear ducts, but she held the flood back with a sudden strength. Her eyes narrowed as she looked over the man. He was pretty, that much was certain. The pickings were rather slim here in Grey Hell, so if a pretty bone was thrown her way, she normally would be ready to eat it up. Yet, with the events of yesterday still fresh on her mind, she was suddenly fussing over the nerve to ask HER to buy HIM a drink. He was pretty though, so she’d let that slide. At least for now. They’d likely have a problem with Rosa after all.“I am unsure, what city were you a prince…prince? Princess? Prince! You look like a pretty prince?”.
”You wanna drink? Sure, it’s on me!” Kel looked towards the sliding Tiefling and marveled at how she made the air around her sparkle like a firework going off. The slow-motion slide across the bartop was cool as well, and Kel would need to ask her later if that was something she could learn how to do!”Two something else’s, Rosa! Make ‘em extra spicy for me.”
”Blah blah blah, Kel’s head turned sideways as the woman talked. What language sounded like nonsense? ” Something, something-ust had to admire from afar, y’know.” Kel focused her attention through the drunken fog and was finally able to hear what the pretty woman was saying to the pretty prince. Though she grew slightly jealous that she wasn’t in the middle. ”But seeing you down that bar, I knew I had to finally talk to you. Why let the opportunity slip by? Don't get many like you round these parts, after all."
Kel’s face felt warm. She hoped that neither would notice her pink face turning a few hues redder. A sudden taping sound caught her attention and her head twisted quickly towards the bar, seeing the hand, and following it back to the Tiefling. ”You alright, sweetheart? You look like you’ve had a lil too much to drink.”. Kel smiled a half smile, though her eyes drifted downward. Was it that obvious? She knew she could not have another drink tonight and ensured she remained safe. But she didn’t want them to know just how drunk she was. “They were just.. so tasty the number of drinks just got away from me.
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Blizz Archmage of the Fucking Universe / Etc
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0-24 hrs ago
The Waystone InnDuring the early evening, as the snow fell and began to white out the horizon, a horse strode through. It was pretty quiet throughout this town as Grask rode along. A dingy place on the fringe of civilization, where few people went and even fewer stayed. Or so the stories went. The only interesting thing about it was that ominous tower in the distance. Having planned this route in advance, the Artificer knew that the structure was there. He hadn’t come here with the intent to tamper with a legend of the area. The aftermath of a meteor, in this place, with that on the horizon? Interesting as it was, Grask was just passing through.
Greyharrow was the only place between his place of work and a Coldrest, a colony far up into the mountains. They were better off than here, and their proximity to the sky gave access to unusual metals. Meteorites charged with energy from beyond the material sphere, shards of ice that first froze when the gods were said to walk the land, and, if one could believe the superstitions, a haunted platinum mine. They got a great deal of trade despite the location, largely through entities that had access to air travel or teleportation. Grask didn’t, so he had to leg it by horse.
And yet he still had another day of travel ahead of him. And it was getting damn cold. He knew it would. He was about an hour ahead of schedule, thanks to the weather being clear most of the day.
Grask paid a stablemaster to keep his horse for the night. And then the doors to the Waystone Inn flung open.
The lightly armored Artificer stepped inside. A wool cloak was draped over a leather cuirass, mostly hiding the hefty satchel slung across his chest. On his arm was a piece of armor with what appeared to be glass tubes filled with a purple substance. They glowed subtly enough one could miss in. And around his waist was a rather hefty-looking pistol. He looked the part of someone not from around here.
The Inn was awfully lively. The smell of foul alcohol hit his nose like a mallet, about as hard as he could imagine that Goliath hitting the floor. Something strong must have been on the menu. There were card games afoot, drunken fools all over the damned place, and music. Conventional wisdom back home was that Greyharrow was a depressing sight. Sometimes, people were wrong. Grask stepped around the throng of reveling drunkards and gamblers, and managed to find a path to the bar. The warmth from the fire was quite pleasant after a few hours on horseback.
Grask sat down and reached into a fold of his armor. He waved a bartender over and ignored the blatant seduction happening just beside him.
”Ale if you have it, beer if you don’t. And a bowl of goat stew, please.” He sat two gold coins, and five silver coins down. A pretty respectable tip to the cooks and bartender herself, since Grask wasn’t a stingy man. That, and he was hungry. In his experience, showing some generosity to those who cooked usually meant food was warmer by the time it was served. And he was more than happy to pay extra for some warm food right about now.
"And keep the rest, thank you."
Atrophy Meddlesome Kid
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0-24 hrs ago
The Waystone Inn
Interactions: Kel @NoriWasHere Cali @Fernstone
Outfit: Composed entirely out of recycled red flagsRansom was so distracted by living out a teenage boy’s dirty fantasy of being the meat in a tiefling sandwich that he hadn’t even registered the relief in his shoulder. Perhaps if he were a bit more inebriated then Ransom would’ve snatched at the bait thrown out by Cali and make the best mistake of his life. Unfortunately, momma didn’t raise no lightweight. He recognized Calamity Harbinger immediately from the wanted poster he had and noted with a lingering glance that the image had been ungenerous. It was no surprise she’d been able to kill so many men.
Unlike them, Ransom knew what he was dealing with. He wasn’t just some other idiot guy. A batted eyelash wouldn’t make him drop his guard. Cali was about to learn that she couldn’t out bullshit a bullshitter. She thought she was trapping him, but really he was trapping her. A classic gambit. He could feel his light coin purse already growing heavy.
Then Cali pressed herself against Ransom and his brain went away to its vacation home. He was certain now that Cali’s flirtation was purely genuine and, with Kel crowning him as a pretty princess prince, felt that it was his noble duty to reach down from Heaven and lift Cali out of the pits of Hell. Hell, if Ransom didn’t see scales as a dealbreaker, he would do the same for Kel.
”But seeing you down that bar, I knew I had to finally talk to you. Why let the opportunity slip by? Don't get many like you round these parts, after all."
“From where I’m standing, I can only see two others,” said Ransom with a scummy little wink as he followed her lead and slipped his arm behind her. “I am glad you seized the opportunity. I’m even better looking the closer you get, or so I’ve been told.”
He took a swig of the free drink to punctuate the least humble humblebrag ever. He no-sold the disgustingly unexpected burn of the extra spice as the liquid touched his tongue and slowly, silently spit the swill back into the mug by pretending to take another drink. What the fuck? If he hadn't seen Rosa pour it he would’ve been sure it had been mixed with some kind of poison. Who could like this shit?
“They were just.. so tasty the number of drinks just got away from me,” said Kel as Cali checked in on her, inadvertently answering Ransom’s rhetoric.
“And what’s wrong with living it up a little?” asked Ransom. He slid his drink over to Kel and gave her a pat of encouragement. “Why, you’re almost empty again. Please, it’s on me. I’m afraid if I have another drop Rosa will have to cast me out before I–wait, cast out? Ah, that’s it! You’re Kael’zar Vexmoor.”
“Our friend here is with the Outcasts,” he explained to Cali, his partner-to-be, before revealing to Kel how he knew of her. “Did a couple of unofficial milk runs with a group of them the last time I was in town, but ended up turning down the recruitment offer. Call it a style clash. Still, for a bunch of cutthroats and thieves they’re a real fun lot. Most of them, anyway. If you see Sorren, tell that little bitch he still owes me a Cloak of Billowing. He’ll know what I’m talking about.”
“Ah, but where are my manners?” said Ransom, striking his forehead with his palm. ”Ransom Labelle, pleased to meet you.”
“And you,” he said, his hand adventuring from the bar and resting on Cali’s waist to pull her a little bit closer. He lowered his head down to her ear and whispered so that only she could hear, his breath warm like poisonous gas creeping out across a trapped chamber. The hand that he should’ve offered in his introduction to Kel instead moved to tug at the fox scarf around Cali’s neck. “Follow my lead, baby, and you won’t have to wear this cheap shit anymore. Just silk and satin, Calamity. Silk. And. Satin.”
He pulled back just enough to definitely still be invading Cali’s boundaries and raised his voice so that Kel could hear.
“How would the two of you like the opportunity of a lifetime?” asked Ransom, sounding as if he was about to make an indecent proposal.
The bounty hunter was so swept up in the bullshit of his game that he’d failed to notice he had already misplayed his hand. He had a solid reason held together by a couple of half-truths for why he knew of Kel. If Cali asked how Ransom knew her name all he had were bad bluffs.
And he was already on a losing streak.
GM
NoriWasHere
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0-24 hrs ago
Present day
Interactions: Latrom
Outfit: NormalEdwina remained outside the Waytsone Inn as more patrons and merchants moved through her front doors. The night air was still cold against her skin, and besides the sound of a fight inside the area, it was quiet enough for her to think. Her undead construct remained where it had stood for the past thirty minutes. The rusted armor and large protruding spear did little to diminish just how outlandish it was to see such a creature sulk over the loss of its new pet. The field mouse that had been with it for much of the night had seen an opportunity for freedom and leaped at the chance, fleeing into the alley and off towards the outer walls. The bird skull of whatever creature it hailed from gave her no emotions in its sunken, hollow eyes, yet she could tell it was sad. Which was interesting to her because he should have returned to the Earth shortly after she cast her spell, and yet here he was, a year and a half later, showing emotion.
She cleared her throat softly. This caught the attention of the undead construct, and its head slowly turned to match her eyes. “Do you remember anything,” Edwina asked. While she was not expecting words, her eyes watched the creature's head to see if there was any light behind those empty eyes. The creature tilted her head a fraction, and Edwina squinted her eye in response. To her, that movement required consideration, and consideration required thought. Edwina reached out to her connection with the creature, and she felt the same faint presence she always felt. There was something more than the magic at play with the construct, and whatever caused that presence to linger is why her spell failed and her fall from grace with her goddess.
She had broken The Cycle, and paid the price.
Edwina began to pace away from the door, heading slowly towards the tower on the other side of the street. Her tome was tucked in under her right arm, and she crossed them over one another. As she moved, she watched her construct follow with its hollow eye sockets. Suddenly, the two turned their head towards the door as a red tiefling huntress returned victorious with the spoils of their job. No doubt Rosa would pay a good price for fresh meat. Edwina shifted her eye back to the construct as she pulled her tome out, narrowing as she watched the construct's hand twitch. She quickly spun through the pages until she landed on one of her history and custom pages and looked down. Her eyes scanned the page until they landed on the Fierna Bloodline paragraph, and she skimmed it.
“Fierna Bloodline Tieflings typically display strong personalities when compared to other bloodlines. They hail from a master manipulator, yet each one should be trusted until proven otherwise. Bloodline does not equal prediction, yada yada,” Edwina slammed the tome shut suddenly as her eyes darted back to her construct. “Did you know any Tieflings back in your life,” she paused, watching a singular finger twitch again, “I wish to learn something about you. What you like, what you dislike, whether or not you find this area amusing or abhorrent.” How your soul is still bound to your bones? Edwina paced back towards the side of the door, and the construct did not move, nor did it give any indication that it understood what she was saying or if it could comprehend language at all. All she could feel was the sense of uncertainty creeping back in. Had she called forth someone sacred b accident, or activated some long-dormant magic with her spell?
And The Cycle, and by extension her Goddess, answered her no more tonight than any night in the past year and a half.
Footsteps filled her ear, coming towards the Inn door from inside, and Edwina turned her head to see who was leaving. A Goliath named Latrom stepped out into the night. The massive goliath paladin filled the doorway for a single heartbeat before Edwina noticed that something was amiss. His face betrayed his feelings, as his eyes had trouble focusing and his body swayed ever so slightly. She watched as his gaze locked the Arcane Tower across the street, and watched as it was the final straw that broke his ability to stand. He fell forward like a felled tree and hit the ground with a heavy, clanky thud.
Edwina blinked.
“Oh,” she said mildly, already moving toward him. She knelt down at his side and reached into her bag that sat snug against her own side. She pulled out a mirror and held it up to his mouth. When it fogged, she used the mirror to pull his lips up, and she looked at his gums. The color looked normal. She pulled the mirror away and put it back in her bag. She then placed her fingers on the side of his neck and found his pulse, which was consistent and good. Edwina leaned back on her ankle before standing back up. Medically speaking, he was fine. She only wished she had a clearer picture of what caused that fall, and why he remained unconscious. The last step for her quick medical check was on her. While she figured he was simply drunk, she had to check. She kicked the man in the side gently.
“You good?”
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Latrom Lyve
Present day
Location: Waystone-inn entrance
Interactions:Edwina Eldritch
Outfit: normalAwakening with a light impact to his side Latrom immediately grasps at the fading insights revealed to him by the last vision, however only manages to hold onto an image of the arcane tower at the center of a foggy explosion.
Discombobulated he slowly processes the surroundings, noticing a presence standing above him he realizes he is lying prone on the ground, turning over and sitting up from his prone position he silently examines the nearby presence. He recognizes her as Edwina the cycle-domain cleric who heals those in need, because of the distinct undead-summon said to following her.
Some ill-rumors say Edwina is evil and is here to practice forbidden necromancy, however after looking into her eyes Latrom views her actions through the vision of bog, revealing the actions of good-will that speak louder than the ill-rumors he heard. Waking from the vision the eye contact doesn't end and he is left staring into her eyes for a few seconds longer than he is comfortable, not very outgoing in social activities he stays still and silent waiting for her to break the silence.
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FernStone One Again Addicted to Pepsi Max
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0-24 hrs ago
The Waystone InnThough it was horrible to admit, his not so humble brag rang true. He was attractive, pretty in a way that even Cali could find aesthetically pleasing if she couldn’t easily sense the scumbag underneath. It poisoned the pretty exterior that never would’ve won her over anyway. After all, she didn’t even go for the nicest of men (if any existed).
“They were just.. so tasty the number of drinks just got away from me.”
The other tiefling must be even more drunk than Cali thought if she was calling Something Else’s tasty. They were drunk for their strength not their taste, after all. Though its taste was more mediocre than awful to Cali, who’d drank far worse in her years. The extra spice added just about gave it a bit of a burn in her mouth. Must be the Tiefling thing. Though finding it nice was extra odd.
”I ain’t met many who find these tasty. Maybe you should get your tongue checked out?” Cali half laughed, as if she wasn’t knocking back her own horrendously strong concoction. A little bit of alcohol in her system would help her pretend she didn’t want to claw out the lecherous navy eyes Ransom was looking at her with.
But she’d initiated it, and she’d see it through. Push through the simmering irritation and nausea until she lured him somewhere quiet. She’d let him think he could obtain something unobtainable to him before tearing it away.
So she just smiled and nodded as he explained how the two knew each other, as if his voice was singing some beautiful melody rather than painfully grating. Her gaze shifted past him to watch Kael’zar for her reaction. Cali knew about the Outcasts, of course. Everyone did. But its members didn’t tend to like people just outing them. It was like an unspoken secret that everyone in town knew certain people were part of. This one was new, though. It made Cali look at Kel with an arched eyebrow and slightly appraising look.
Her gaze snapped right back to Ransom as his disgusting hand wrapped around her waist and tugged her even closer. It was through sheer willpower, and imagining cutting off that hand later, that she managed to keep her playful smile. It felt like insects were crawling across Cali’s skin. No, she’d much rather have insects crawling all over her.
“Follow my lead, baby, and you won’t have to wear this cheap shit anymore. Just silk and satin, Calamity. Silk. And. Satin.”
Calamity. Her eyes narrowed just a hint, easily played off as a flirtatious squint. He knew her name. Her full name, which she never introduced herself as for both safety and out of embarrassment. There were only two reasons someone would know her full name. First, she got drunk enough to talk about it. She’d never seen him before. Second, they’d seen her wanted poster. Sure, he could’ve seen it in passing… But people in these parts didn’t bother checking that shit, unless they wanted the money. Either he’d grabbed it and gotten lucky, or he was here specifically to cash in on wanted criminals. Or it was even more targeted- maybe he knew a victim. No matter what, it was a bad outcome.
There was a split second decision of whether to keep playing along, or immediately drop the act and stick in the knife.
But she wouldn’t win in a fair fight. She had more than enough life experience to know when to pick her fights. He came across as an obnoxious noble prick, but the worn armour told a different tale. People round these parts didn’t just wear weapons for show, because they’d soon be stripped of them and left dead in a gutter if they couldn’t use them. Unfortunately, even adequate with that sword of his was probably enough to stop the second blow and overpower her. It was why her kills were always done at a range, or by luring someone in and slitting their throat.
But there was someone who had no such worries.
There was a low growl. The tugging fingers stopped, but were still close as the fox around her neck stirred from her peaceful slumber. Without hesitation, the fox went for Ransom’s hand, sharp teeth clamping around whatever fingers she could hard. It wasn’t just a warning nip, but a proper bite.
Cali let out a little mock gasp, reaching up to gently press between her fox companion’s ears.
”Let go, Dev, he didn’t know you were real. Sorry, she’s a little feisty.” Cali said, Dev the fox letting go of Ransom’s fingers and withdrawing back to Cali’s shoulders again. She wasn’t sorry at all. She would’ve let the fox keep going if she didn’t think it would be more fun to keep dragging this play out. ”One thing we have in common.”
Smiling prettily, as if her faux scarf fox hadn’t just tried to bite his fingers off, she switched back to what he was proposing as if she really was following his lead.
”And what kind of opportunity would that be? Don’t tell me you’re pretending a threesome is the opportunity of a lifetime? It ain’t, I can tell you that much.” She laughed, eyebrows raising. Her eyes openly roamed across him, as if checking him out when really she was pinpointing all the weak points in his armour she could get a knife through. Just in case. ”It’s gotta be something more exciting, right? You don’t seem like the boring type.”
Her smile widened, and she tilted her head up and closer as if she was going to whisper in his ear too. Except the words came out just a bit quieter than before. Deceptively sultry, almost, and loud enough for Kel to hear.
”I prefer Cali.” One hand subtly dropped to her thigh, close to the hunting knife strapped to it. The other crept up his arm, sharp nails tapping in tune to her next words. ”And where exactly do you know me from, Ransom?”
She wanted to watch him squirm. She wanted to watch him try bullshit his way out of this.
Atrophy Meddlesome Kid
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0-24 hrs ago
The Waystone Inn
Interactions: Kel @NoriWasHere Cali @Fernstone
Outfit: About to feature a pair of foxskin glovesRansom knew he was winning the second Calamity didn’t pull away. Now this was how things were always supposed to go. With his arm still around Calamity he stole a glance at Lila. There was no need for him to raise his voice or trade in his freewill to some unspeakable horror to gain access to telepathy to broadcast his message to the swamp bitch. The insufferably smug look on his face was loud enough, shouting down the rest of the bar as it said: See what a great guy I am? You really screwed it up, didn’t you? It was in that briefest of distractions where Ransom was waiting for Lila to come crawling back to him, or at the very least turn her head in his direction and notice that he had already moved on and that her rejection meant nothing to him and he certainly wasn’t going to lose sleep about it, that his guard slipped.
Chomp!
It was only because his mouth was in a rare moment of being closed that Ransom managed to stifle his surprised scream as a fiery pain erupted from his fingers and shot up his arm. He untangled himself from Calamity with a violent twist as the fuzzy little bastard on her neck dropped its bite at her command. He could feel his glove become damp with blood as he clamped his hand over his wounded fingers. It was a good thing that Dev was so well-trained and had let go when it did, as Ransom was only left to fantasize gripping his hand around its jaw and slamming its head down against the counter until all that remained was a piece of tanned leather.
He wasn’t just mad. He was boiling over. Hell, he was betrayed! He’d been lured in by that little saucy devil only to be humiliated again. Purring words and pretty smiles weren’t going to be enough to save Calamity. Ransom didn’t only need satisfaction; he needed to right how the world viewed him before the whole bar started pushing him around. He could hear the pesky little voice of his old governess, Mrs. Marmsdale, saying that a gentleman should never strike a lady. Well, thankfully this bitch here was no lady. Ransom tugged off his glove with the same menacing energy one would harness when drawing a dagger.
Then Calamity said something that made him pause, the murderous shine in his eyes becoming a different kind of twinkle as Ransom lost.
”Blah blah opportunity blah blah threesome blah blah something more exciting.”
To buy himself a moment, Ransom popped his fingers into his mouth to lick his wounds. There was a faint glow behind his lips as his celestial healing sealed the bite. Meanwhile, the rake racked his brain for something that could possibly be more exciting than a threesome.
A–holy shit–a foursome?
Her idea. Not his. Hers. Not his. She wanted it. She had implied it with her own mouth. She was into it. Momma must’ve been a succubus. Maybe she was a descendant of infernal royalty. He wouldn’t mind wintering in Avernus, because this devil lady right here? This was some wife material. Ransom thought a love like this only existed in the songs of bards. Forget the fox. Foxes will be foxes and dogs will be dogs.
His healed hand fell out of his mouth as Calamity–sorry, sorry, she preferred Cali–beautifully closed the distance he had put between them and began running her finger up his arm. He flexed and gave her a little bloodstained smile. Yeah, he worked out. Damn armor, barely showed off his muscles. Should’ve left it in the room.
”And where exactly do you know me from, Ransom?”
Aw, shit.
“Hm?”” Son of a bitch, he had said her name. “Oh. Goddamnit she wasn’t an idiot. Guess the marriage was off. “Well.” Think, Ransom, think. If she was that smart, she wouldn’t be a wanted criminal. “You see.” His guard was back up. He saw where her hand was going while the other one played distraction. “Now that’s uncalled for.” He motioned with his eyes for Cali to look down to see that his hand had slipped beneath his cloak, likely already wrapped around a dagger. “Don’t ruin what is becoming a serendipitous evening. I’ll come clean.”
As clean as the boy’s latrine after copper beer and bangers night.
“I’m your guardian angel. Earlier I had misspoke. This isn’t the opportunity of a lifetime, it’s an opportunity to save your life,” said Ransom with a cheap smile. It sounded like bullshit because not only was it bullshit, he meant for it to sound like bullshit. Holy bullshit. “And I would really love to save you, Cali."
"You too," added Ransom, clearly including Kel as an afterthought. Surely there was some kind of magic that could maybe get rid of those scales? Beauty marks were a misnomer. It was easier to pretend like he cared about someone when they were conventionally attractive.
"I’m afraid I didn’t give you my full title when I first introduced myself. A bit of deception on my part, I admit. I’ve found that it builds walls just as often as it opens doorways. I am Father Ransom Labelle, a priest in the service of the Morninglord, Lathander. I run a small convent out at Good Shepherd’s Farm, about a half day’s travel down the road. I’m sure you’ve passed by it a dozen times without knowing it’s even open. We’re remodeling. Have you seen the price of wood? It's ludicrous.”
As proof, Ransom quickly pulled something shiny out of his cloak. It wasn’t his dagger, but a holy symbol that radiated a bright light. He tucked it away quickly before it drew too much attention or, really, before either of the tieflings’ vision could adjust to the light and see that his “holy symbol” was just an empty coin purse that he’d illuminated with some Aasimar trickery.
“The truth is that I did not come here to this depraved town because I wanted to. I came here because I had to. Lathander lit the way. He told me to find you. I don’t just know you, Cali. I was you. Lost. Wicked. Throwing myself at the first pretty face I saw, eager to take advantage of whomever I could. Now, there’s nothing in Lathander’s teachings that says we shouldn’t seek some excitement now and again. We’re progressives." No need to fully shut out the opportunity for a little action. "I have no issue with you wanting me. It’s completely understandable, who with eyes wouldn’t?”
“But this woman?” Ransom gestured to Kel before glancing at Dev with a look of disgust. “She’s obviously drunk. That's a clear trespass. And I am afraid to ask who would be your fourth. But I do not judge you. That is not my duty.”
Ransom pointed a finger to the sky. Or maybe god was creeping around on the ceiling, trying to look down some lowcut blouses.
“I am offering you something beyond pleasure. I am offering you redemption, absolution, salvation…” Ransom was running out of holy buzzwords; it wasn’t his fault that he’d fallen asleep during service. “Forgiveness. Wouldn’t that be nice? Wouldn’t that be better than hiding up here? The church offers protections to converts. Think about it. A chance to start anew. An opportunity to wake up tomorrow and see a new dawn. A way to make every day a blessing, knowing that you have been saved by me–through me–by the light of Lathander.”
“Shall we pray?” asked Ransom, smiling like a wolf. He pointed with his thumb towards the door. "In private? Rosa doesn't like it when I hold confessional in here, and it would give us the chance to speak more freely."
Lairëcúma the Bard
The Waystone Inn
Interactions: Edwina @NoriWasHere Latrom @Cosmic
Outfit: Little Indigo Riding HoodTwo wagon wheels carved twinned ribbons of darkness in fresh fallen snow, tracing a winding trail off until the paired tracks became lost in one another amidst the distant darkness. The night's air and falling snow were punctuated by the gentle but emphatic Clop! Clop! Clop! and jingle of halter and harness.
The reins of the majestic white-maned stallion hung loosely from the gloved hands of his driver, a figure covered head to toe in a hooded cape of blue fleece. Sat astride the driver's seat of a two-wheeled wagon - its sides adorned with bright coloured sun and flower motifs - it rolled effortlessly past the entrance of the inn.
The driver's face was obscured but the slow craning of the blue hood - silhouetted from the inn's entrance against the distant tower - was clearly fixed upon the scene by the Inn's entrance. Unseen eyes tracked the collapsed form the goliath being kicked by the woman looming over him.
The hooded figure gave an ever-so-slight tug of their wrist on the reins, their voice - her voice - ringing softly through falling snowflakes like whispering bells. "Addring. Ava."
The stallion drew abruptly to a halt, shaking his head while giving Edwina and Latrom aggressive horse side-eye. His driver unfolded from her seat, standing in deliberative stillness before descending to the snow. Her face remained obscured by her hood and the waning light, but was clearly observing the pair as she walked with a patiently measured gait alongside her horse, running her hand along his flank before leaning in and whispering something in the animal's ear that seems to settle the creature further into stillness.
"Marital troubles?" Though her face was still shrouded in shadow, one could almost hear the raised eyebrow on her face in the timber of her voice.
FernStone One Again Addicted to Pepsi Max
Member
Seen
0-24 hrs ago
The Waystone InnAs soon as Ransom started to play the holier-than-thou act, Cali began to pull back. The hand on his arm dropped, a step towards the bar putting space between them. After all, she wasn’t going to keep up an act that disgusted her if he was already on edge. The seduce and stab plan clearly wasn’t going to work. It required her victims to be completely unaware, believing she couldn’t possibly be dangerous. But he’d seen her go for her knife.
It wasn’t a problem. She’d do it the longer way. Mark him, stalk him, shoot him when he was distracted. Though that didn’t mean she couldn’t humiliate him first.
There was perhaps a moment where Cali considered going outside with him. There was a chance she could still swing it, slip the knife into his gut while pushing herself onto him. But it was far more likely he’d overpower her, and that she’d be left at his mercy. There was no way she’d put herself in that position.
Unfortunately for him, while Ransom was playing the wolf, Cali was no sheep. And she certainly didn’t trust religious men anymore than she did normal men. If his religious bullshit was to be believed.
There were enough inconsistencies that she was fairly confident it was bullshit. Priest her ass. What kind of priest sleazily hit on her, offered her a future of silk and satin, then turned around and tried to make her repent.
And what the fuck was he talking about with a fourth? Why was Kel’s obvious drunkenness pointed out there?
”Oh, I ain’t sure I'm ready to go out and convert just yet. You’ve gotta convince me a lil more first, Father. If I wanted to start anew in Lathandar’s church, I could’ve done it long ago… But I’ve never had someone who’d love to save me before.” Cali smiled charmingly at him, leaning her back against the bar and looking at Ransom as if she believed him. A part of her wanted to just laugh at him and all the ridiculous shit that spilled out of his mouth. But it would be so much sweeter if he believed she was buying it, then she’d spit in his face. She let go of her knife, one hand going for her drink and the other held into the air. Dev slunk down her arm, tail swishing from side to side as she too watched Ransom.
”So the Morninglord showed you my face and told you my name? I guess I should feel honoured. Did he tell me about all of my sins? Unless you’re just making assumptions about me? Thinking that a tiefling wouldn’t pursue someone without ulterior motives?” Obviously she had ulterior motives. She’d never flirt with a man without them. Women, on the other hand… She glanced over at Kel and smiled. Her eyes moved back to Ransom, smile remaining, her eyes narrowing like a sinister cat. ”Or did he only light the way after you saw a certain piece of paper?”
She paused for a moment, long enough to make him sweat. So he thought she was onto him, before she dropped right back into the act again.
”Obviously Lathander would want a priest of his to set criminals on the right path. It must be so much more rewarding to save rather than sell. Flirting with them and getting their hopes up-” that they’d be able to kill you easily- “is all just in the name of saving us, isn’t it? I get it. Is the silk and satin something I get if I convert? That does make it tempting.” She looked thoughtful, stroking Dev’s head as if she was truly musing over something. The fox was contentedly licking her lips, some of Ransom’s blood still on her teeth. ”There’s just a couple’ve problems, Father Ransom. Maybe you can help me with ‘em?”
”First of all, why would Lathander send you to convert a follower of the Lady of the Forest? I always thought they were on good terms.” A hand slipped into one of the pouches on her belt, pulling out a small circle of wood and playing with it between her fingers. She held it up to show him the unicorn head carved into it. It was a little crude, as she’d made it in her youth when she wasn’t as skilled a wood carver, but it was clear what it was. ”As far as I’m aware, I ain’t lost Mielikki’s favour yet.”
While she wasn’t fervently religious or part of the disparate church of Mielikki, her magic did come from the Lady of the Forest. Worshipping her was as simple as holding the forest itself in reverence, protecting it and hunting within it like Cali had always done. Her long stints in the city and assassination of horrible men didn’t contradict any principles of her Goddess.
”Oh, are you surprised that a lost, wicked Tiefling like me already has a God? Now that’s just straight up discrimination.” Her smile widened into something truly wicked. Like a cat playing with a mouse. ”Secondly, you’ve got quite a stingy convent if you find the price of wood ludicrous. In fact, it’s gone down in the past year. You see, I’ve been helping woodcutters in the area figure out which trees are best to cut, and how to replace ‘em to preserve the forest. With Mielikki’s blessing, there’s been more supply than ever. Poor guys ain’t ever had a ranger ‘round these parts kind enough to teach ‘em.”
She shook her head, expression falling as if disappointed. ”So did you lie about the wood, or did you lie about the silk and satin?”
It was all a lie, obviously. She could smell his bullshit from a mile away. It helped that she’d never believed anything someone like him said. Though she still couldn’t be certain of his exact motivations, it was probably the money on her head. If it had just been a sleazebag trying to fuck a tiefling, then he wouldn’t have changed tune like this. Clearly he still wanted that too- scum- talking about being progressive. And a fourth, what did that–
Cali’s expression broke, and the act along with it, as she started laughing. Her tail, which had been relatively still until now, started to curl upwards. ”You think I want a foursome? With you, and her, and– Oh, Gods. What a sick fucking fantasy! Clearly you’re the one that wants worshipped. That's hilarious, and depraved.”
GM
NoriWasHere
Member
Seen
0-24 hrs ago
Present day
Interactions: Latrom
Outfit: NormalEdwina watched as the man stirred from his slumber shortly after her kick. His reaction time was not suggestive of a drunken episode; however, the nature of the drinks served here could lead her to a false sense of security. Ed narrowed her eyes further. The truth would reveal itself in time. Maybe an errant hiccough, or a slurred word, these drunks always had a tell. Edwina just needed to wait until he spoke to make that determination. Yet, despite the man looking at her, he refused to speak. He refused to answer her question. He just laid there, looking at her, as if he were waiting for her to break the silence. In the notebook in her mind, a check mark was placed on the signs that he might be drunk. She looked back at her construct to see if it had anything to add, and she noticed that it was looking at something down the road. She turned her head back around and searched for what it might be.
She watched as a cloaked rider came down the road towards the Inn. From a distance, she did not know who it might be, but at this hour, it was usually not a good sign. Her eyes narrowed again as she took a backwards step towards the door, her hand gripping her tome tightly just in case. A moment later, the rider spoke. "Addring. Ava." Edwina’s shoulders relaxed as the horse slammed to a stop. The voice was familiar. One could say it was almost angelic. Edwina suspected that she was looking at the Bard. Only, Edwina had forgotten to write down her name. Edwina looked to her right, pondering whether there was any recollection she could summon that would bring the name forth, but alas, her memory was not cooperating with her tonight. "Marital troubles?"
Edwina’s eyes shot back to face the hooded figure. She was confident she knew who this was, but she was still trying to search for the name. Her head tilted to the side. This was beginning to bother her. She usually prided herself on always being in the know, and for once, she wished she spent more time inside the Inn than outside waiting for shit to go down. At least she could have made out the name over the thunderous applause the bard always got. Still, Edwina shifted her eye towards Latrom. “Yes,” her voice was as flat as the flat of a blade, without emotion or inflection, “his drinking has spiraled out of control. I am devastated. Isn't that right, dear,” she paused as her eyes shifted back towards the bard, returning to Latrom, and then back to the bard, “that was a joke. He just fell, and I wanted to see if he was alive, that's all. You, uh,” she paused as she used her thumb to point towards the door, “performing tonight? Sounds like the crowd is already a little crazy. I am Edwina, by the way, never caught your name before now.”
Current day
Interactions: Grask
Outfit: NormalRosa had seen this exact shape of night more times than she could count. Too many bodies in too small a room, too much confidence stacked on too little sense, and egos bottled with as much fire as her strongest spirits. The Waystone did not show any signs of fatigue itself, but Rosa always wondered how this place was still upright despite the best efforts of her patrons. Her eyes scanned the room, watching as even more fights began to brew. Her eyes drifted back towards her weapon mounted above the bar. She sighed. An easy retirement was all she asked for, and these assholes just loved dragging her back into her fighting past. Her eyes flicked to the door just in time to catch the latest anusysm waiting to happen walking in. A tiefling girl, a walking Calamity, sauntered in with a confidence Rosa could only call dangerous and delicious in the same breath. Rosa had a fond opinion of this one. Rosa would still call her ‘fresh meat’ because that is the name Rosa could remember a year ago when she arrived, and because she was the best damned hunter that sold her meat. “Fresh Meat, she sighed, wiping her hands on a rag that had seen better centuries, and muttered under her breath, “Of course. Here comes trouble with a side of headache.”
”Here’s today’s hunt, Rosa… If Cedric’s got complaints about the size’ve the game again, you tell him he can come out with me next time and try freezing his lazy ass out in the snow. Maybe then I’ll be able to drag a fucking boar in! Also, a big fucker’s passed out on the door. You might wanna get him moved a lil more outta the way.”
The half-orc leaned back against the counter, one large forearm braced as she watched Calamity glide past her towards the drunk girl, and the cocky fuck. Rosa’s lips twitched into the faintest frown. “Hi Rosa. How are you today, Rosa? I love what you did with your hair, Rosa,” her voice rose in pitch as she muttered under her breath, her head tilting from side to side as she spoke. Her gaze slid over the bar, taking in Kel hunched over her stein, Ransom being a cunt, and the murmur of the other patrons who hadn’t yet realized the disaster waiting to unfold. Rosa felt the familiar tug of resigned anticipation. She’d seen enough spilled drinks, bruised egos, and ruined shoes to know exactly how this would end, but she didn’t move. Not yet. Rosa’s eyes narrowed slightly at the spectacle unfolding with Calamity and Ransom. That girl, she thought, had teeth sharper than her fists, and Rosa liked her for it. Just not in her bar, if she could help it. The cunt looked rich, and if she had learned anything in her years as a bartender, is the rich cunts always made things worse if they lost in a bar fight.
Instead, she grabbed three empty steins and set them in front of her, muttering, “We’ll never make any money with you handing out drinks like this, Rosa.” her eyes shifted to her right, and she matched her husband's. He was at the other end of the bar, and he did not like it when Rosa tried to play the peacekeeper. Still, a free drink for Calmity and Ransom would likely mean more bought drinks in a minute, which, to Rosa, was all is well that ends well. She poured two Something Elses from the keg, and even poured one of water for Kel. She walked down and planted them in front of the reluctant trio, and she had to contain her rage when she heard of the foursome proposition. One thing was for sure: she was not letting a girl as drunk as Kel leave her bar with a guy like Ransom tonight.
Suddenly, a large dragon of a man sat down next to the show and he flashed some gold her way. ”Ale if you have it, beer if you don’t. And a bowl of goat stew, please. And keep the rest, thank you."
Rosa smirked.
“Mighty generous, mister. I know our goat stew still be good but might I,” Rosa paused as she walked over to the various animals that Cali had brought in. She picked them up with one hand and held it to the side, while her other hand pointed at the mass of meat. “Suggest something fresher.” Normally, she would be all too happy to serve the old food first. But Rosa was a kind person at heart. You show her kindness with a tip, and she’d show you kindness with the finer cuts of meat still available.
Current day
Interactions: Ransom x Cali
Outfit: NormalKel had stopped being an active participant somewhere between the fox’s teeth finding flesh, and the word Father being said with entirely the wrong kind of confidence. She lingered at the bar like a forgotten stein of Something Else, her elbows planted, her chin resting in her hand, and her head hovering just above the polished wood with a slight sway to and fro. The room felt louder now. Or maybe someone had cast a spell to amplify the sound in her head
The Something Else in her stomach shifted. Saliva formed in her mouth, it was swallowed, and she immediately regretted it as it still contained traces of the worst aspects of Something Else.
Ransom and Cali’s voices blended in front of her, and the two sounds began to weave together like fabric at a seamstress. It was impossible for her to follow the conversation in full, but Kel followed it as best she could with eyes half lidded, yet tracking the distance betweenthe smug line of Ransom’s mouth to the cute fox curling back into place below an adorable face. A faint ringing assailed her ears, and Kel grimaced in response. It was not enough to drown out the conversation, but it was enough to make her feel like she was a step behind in listening in. Despite this, she was able to hear how Ransom was apparently a divine intervention wrapped in a pretty, pretty form.
Kel snorted before she could stop herself. Her voice was small and coarse. She felt a rumbling in her stomach that followed. It was the wrong kind of sensation that one wanted to feel while potentially flirting with two very pretty people. Kel tilted her head. Were they still flirting? Or did the conversation end, and a new one start in its place? Did Kel even pay attention enough to formulate a guess? Still, she knew she had to, no, needed to remain a part of this conversation so she turned her head towards Ransom. His fatherly words rang hollow, and that hollow feeling finally caught up to her. “That’s not *hic* your not how priests talk,” she muttered, not quite loud enough to be helpful, not quite quiet enough to be private. The bar swayed. Or maybe she did. She blinked.
She focused on Cali instead, on the way her smile sharpened, on the way the words came out sweet while carrying teeth. Kel blinked slowly, piecing it together in fragments. The Tieflings words came out as garbled nonsense, but she liked looking at her still. The butterflies in her stomach fluttered and then the contents of her stomach lurched in response. Kel froze in an instant. Something surged upward, and Kel could feel it was hot and insistent. A bitter burning sensation began to form. Her mouth began to salivate uncontrollably.
No. No no no.
She breathed through her nose; her breath was shallow and fast. She knew what was coming, and she knew she was past the point of no return. She closed her eyes as she could not watch what was to come. One hand fumbled blindly until it found the edge of the bar, claws scraping faintly against the wood as she anchored herself to it. The room tilted harder this time, a sickening roll that made her tail twitch and coil around the stool leg.
Ransom was still talking. Gods, he was still talking. Anger began to brew within her stomach as she thought about how he wanted to be their salvation, and this further fueled the traveling contents of it. These born-again priest think they know everything. She wondered if he could offer her salvation for all the lives she has taken, all the pain she’s inflicted, and all the death that stains her ledger red. Kel cracked one eye open, vision swimming as she looked in his direction. “You’re, she paused as she closed her eyes again, taking a deep breath as she did, you’re really bad at this,” she offered weakly, “the saving thing. Very, very condescending.”
Kel slapped a hand over her lips, eyes going wide as panic finally cut through the fog. She swallowed hard, once, twice, and each time it only made it worse. The heat climbed, her vision tunneling as the Something Else made its final, decisive move.
She barely had time to lean forward.
Kel lurched off the stool with a strangled noise and promptly lost the fight entirely, vomiting spectacularly downward in a cascade of filth that splashed directly onto Ransom’s boots. The smell hit immediately. Alcohol. Spice. Regret. That terrible concoction that befell these hallowed halls every night, and tonight Kel was the first one to create it. She gagged once more for good measure, then froze, hunched and staring at the mess on Ransom’s boots. Those looked expensive. They were rusted, but they looked like they were expensive once.
Slowly, Kel lifted her head.
“…I think,” she said hoarsely, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, eyes glassy and unfocused, "I got some on you. Sorry.”
DrDistasteful
Member
Seen
13 days ago
Present day
Interactions: Gulda, Lila, Ransom (Briefly), Cali (Briefly), Kel (Briefly)
Outfit: Leather coatLucky cackled as the black-furred tabaxi slumped to the floor unconscious. He'd noticed the trick, seen it done plenty of times back in the Old Frontier. He was waiting to see if Gulda noticed it too, and obviously she did. In his eyes, she'd let him off damn easy. Cheating somebody in cards was the ultimate form of disrespect where he came from, and it would typically cost a man his life to try it. He took a look around the Inn. All the hustle & bustle, the drinking, and now a bar fight over cards? It was reminding him too much of the saloons of his past, and he hated thinking fondly on the past. He selfishly threw that life away years ago, he doesn't get to reminisce on the good times anymore.
"Dammit, I hate when I get so drunk that I start to remember." Lucky thought to himself. He needed a smoke. Pronto. He reached towards the table for his lighter, only to grasp thin air. "Oh yeah, the table" he muttered to himself. The lighter had flown across the room when she flipped it, the thing could be anywhere in this Gods-forsaken place. It was one of only mementos of his past that he decided to keep, and he refused to lose it over a bar fight he wasn't even in.
"He totally deserved that whoopin', but did'ya have to flip the whole table damn like that? Fuck, where's my lighter?" He grumbles to Gulda, drunkenly struggling out of his seat to search for it.
Lucky sways back and fourth as stands up. "Shit, I really had too much to drink." he mutters as he stumbles around the bar, shoving past anyone in his way. The longer he looked, the more desperate he got. The cravings for a smoke were getting stronger and stronger with every second. He needed to stop remembering. The longer he stayed in this room, the more he thought of the past. Memories of the family that he betrayed, the friends that he lost, his lover... They came like a tidal wave, and he couldn't take it anymore.
After several minutes of tracing every nook and cranny in the general direction of where the table flipped (and a few verbal altercations) he found it. Pushing past a pair of tieflings and a heavily armored blonde guy he noticed the signature bronze plating with "HELP FOLKS" crudely engraved by hand. It was his lighter, inconveniently placed underneath the seat of a tall half-elf with muddy clothes. "Move, that's my lighter." Lucky says, reaching under the seat to grab his prized possession.
He gave it a flick, just to take a brief glimpse of the flame. Doing that always calmed him down when he was stressed.
He flicked it again, again and again.
Nothing. He'd forgotten to refill it.
"Goddamnit!" Lucky yelled out, before pulling a coin out of his coat and handing it to the half-elf.
"Hey bog-trotter, spare some oil?"
2x Like
Latrom Lyve
Present day
Location: Waystone-inn entrance
Interactions:Edwina Eldritch and Laircuma the bard
Outfit: normalThe staring contest continued until a high-elf stopped by and said "Marital troubles?", although relieved to have the silence broken the conversation topic made Latrom frown with displeasure and discomfort.
Edwina replied to the bard with a blank expression and stale tone “his drinking has spiraled out of control. I am devastated. Isn't that right, dear,” He frowned at her having a hard time interpreting her intention on the account of her blank facial expression and the stale tone.
Ending the unpleasant topic Edwina alternated her attention between him and the elf then settled on the bard before continuing. “that was a joke. He just fell, and I wanted to see if he was alive, that's all. You, uh,”pausing before pointing at the inn entrance and continuing, “performing tonight? Sounds like the crowd is already a little crazy. I am Edwina, by the way, never caught your name before now.”
Hearing her ask for the elf's name Latrom realized he hasn't introduced himself or thanked her for the kindness, standing up he bowed to Edwina waiting for her attention before saying "On the topic of name giving my name is Latrom Lyve and I am grateful for the helping hand you gave me".
Standing straight he addressed the elf with a frown. Although amusing to the onlookers it is very uncomfortable for the people insinuated in the joke, please have consideration for what it implies.
3x Like
Atrophy Meddlesome Kid
Member
Seen
0-24 hrs ago
The Waystone Inn
Interactions: Kel @NoriWasHere Cali @Fernstone
Outfit: In need of a rinseRansom’s smile held strong as Cali poked holes through his threadbare story. He was far too full of himself to realize that his ruse wasn’t as clever as it had seemed in his head. His pride actively dodged and parried the evidence of Cali seeing through his deception. No, the reason that Cali hadn’t jumped at the opportunity to be “saved” was as obvious to him as the horns on the hellion’s head. At least it was until she pulled out a symbol of Mielikki. His smile thinned. Discrimination indeed. So if it were not his radiant and splendid divinity that gave her pause, then what in the Nine Hells was it?
”You think I want a foursome? With you, and her, and–” So on. Only, Ransom heard, ”You think I want a foursome? With you and her...”
Ah. Of course. Now it made sense. Good, now he wouldn’t have to riff about the wood market with some jackass treehugger who worshipped at its altar. Ransom chuckled alongside her wicked cackle. Hilarious and depraved maybe, but not expliciting disinteresting. They just needed to find a more palatable third and fourth. He gave an unapologetic half-shrug and gestured towards Kel.
“Good lord, she’s drunk, not deaf,” said Ransom, trying to pretend that he wasn’t relieved as he stifled his laughter. He turned towards Kel. “Don’t listen to her, honey. Some people are just more superficial than others. I’m sure you have a great personality, and maybe in the right light you…”
What was up with her face?
”You look awFUCK!”
Ransom had already started to spin with a sudden swiftness as he recognized the look for what it was. He twisted away with grace and brandished his cloak like a protective shield to deflect the blow. Unfortunately, his guard was high while Kel’s assault went low. His senses were overwhelmed in a flash: deafened by a loud retch that could’ve silenced the bar, poisoned by a foul stench of sulfur and spirits, and paralyzed by the sensation of something warm splattering on his pant leg and slipping down the inside of his boots. For a brief moment the man appeared petrified, frozen by his inability to comprehend what had just occurred.
“…I think…” He didn’t. Ransom, with a look of murderous intent on his face, flashed forward like a sword being drawn from its sheath, gliding through the pool of sick as he grabbed at Kel's collar with a dizzying speed. "I got some on you. Sorry.”
Sorry? Sorry? She was sorry? He ground his teeth together. She fucking would be. He’d see to that. She’d be sorry for the rest of her miserable dumb life, what precious moments she had left in it.
“YOU THINK THAT–”
Ransom cut himself off, the heat in his words dying as he glanced towards Cali. What would a priest of Lathander do? Roll over like some little bitch. The fire in his eyes dimmed. He held up a finger to ease the tensions and gave a reassuring pat to Kel’s shoulder, smoothing out any fabric hi roughness might've wrinkled. He tried to stomach the stench and forced a smile back on his face. He shifted to stand by her side in support, or rather in case there was a second volley. He was supposed to be the guy who walked with the downtrodden and the damned. A bit of bile probably paled in comparison to the stinky filthpile of shit that a true shepherd of Lathander regularly trudged though.
“You think that an accident would upset me, child? It’s the bar staff that should be your concern. I imagine they’re gearing up to throw you out in the cold, assuming they don’t decide to use you as the mop first,” said Ransom, calmly but certainly not kindly.
“Somebody should walk you home. For your own safety,” cooed Ransom as he motioned towards the door. He watched Cali from the corner of his eye, making sure that she witnessed his piety. “Yes, that’s right, for safety. Wouldn’t want you to be found dead in the street come tomorrow morn, drowned in your own toxic brew would we? Pink is better suited for you than purple. Come come, let’s take care of you.”
Lairëcúma the Bard
The Waystone Inn
Interactions: Edwina @NoriWasHere Latrom @Cosmic
Outfit: Little Indigo Riding HoodThe elven woman reached with two kidskin gloved hands and slowly eased back her hood to reveal a face whose dimpled lines told a tale of silent and receding laughter. She tilted her head at Latrom's comment, golden curls falling to one side like dancing springs as she stood, her brow arched in momentary concentration upon the young goliath before relaxing as though she had finally come to some determination of whatever thought crossed her mind.
"My, my, aren't you a precious soul? But you're right, maybe I shouldn't take my fun at others in their awkward moments." She paused quite deliberately on this point. "I just think, we all have awkward moments and when life sets us on our asses, we might as well have some fun with it while we can, yes?"
Not waiting for a reply, and hardly taking a breath herself the elf continued.
"Very pleased to meet you both by the by. You can call me Lairëcúma. Everyone else does. 'Bard by trade, disturber of public morals by choice!'" The elven woman chimed quite happily, performing a deep curtsy that seemed at once both a parody of the courtly act while seeming perfectly serviceable as one at the same time. "Let's get better acquainted inside though, shall we? I'm sure we'll become fast friends. I might even be convinced to perform tonight, but just now I could use some company while I recover the feeling in my poor bum."
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