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Post by Berl on Nov 21, 2008 20:35:55 GMT -6
After a long day of traveling, Berl had been looking forward to a stay in even the most rundown, pestilent inn Teirm had to offer. He was sorely disappoint, as one can probably imagine, to see the gates closing as he walked up the road.
But Berl hadn't let very much get him down in life, and he wasn't about to start now. He had flint and steel, if he could find dry wood and tinder, he could be warm and maybe, if he was lucky on the hunt (he usually wasn't, since he couldn't shoot a bow to save his life), just maybe he could have a hot meal tonight. Otherwise, it would be traveler's rations. Again.
To his great surprise, considering the last night's rain, he managed to procure some dry wood, enough to make a fire that would last long enough to dry more wood. Tinder, on the other hand, was trickier. He struck sparks on the soggy mass again and again, to no avail. He snorted to himself, since he could almost always laugh, even when the joke was on him.
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Post by Nilaya on Nov 21, 2008 21:00:06 GMT -6
Nilaya was just a wanderer now. She had her reasons for leaving home, ones she didn't tend to share with others who came upon her. She preferred to stay just a traveling spellcaster, possibly with her name and face known but nothing more. Anonymity was something she enjoyed.
She was, however, a little annoyed at the sight she saw. She was approaching the town of Teirm only to find that the gates were closed to travelers. She always preferred sleeping in a city. Men were not always known for their honesty and some wouldn't think twice about taking certain liberties with a pretty, young woman who was alone. Nilaya was both, though pretty would be harder to see due to the clothes she traveled in and the dirt of the road covering her.
Well, now what? She was obviously spending the night out here. She was also fast approaching the spot where a young male, probably around her own age, was attempting to start a fire. If I knew the word of power for fire I could use that as a bargaining token for spending the night in his company. Admittedly he might take liberties with me, but if someone has come tomorrow I'll know it was him seeing as other men would leave me alone if I was in his presence.
As it was she could try to gain companionship for the night on politeness and similarity of circumstance alone. She might as well. "You look like you could use some help, and I might have some dry tinder." She probably did in fact. She carried a small pouch with her on the off chance of nothing being dry to use. "I'd let you use some in return for the safety of companionship out here."
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Post by Berl on Nov 21, 2008 21:20:49 GMT -6
Berl glanced up. The girl looked to be at or almost his age, and she looked like she was hiding beauty under a layer of travel grime. He couldn't see a weapon... was she traveling alone? Was she that confident that she wouldn't be attacked?
Was she a spellcaster?
"Of course," he said, cheerful as ever. "You're more than welcome to stick around, and maybe if we're lucky I can catch us something to eat once we've got a fire going." She must have been a spellcaster. No woman he knew would want to share a campsite with a strange man, unless she had words of power or fifty daggers up her sleeves. "My name is Berl."
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Post by Nilaya on Nov 21, 2008 21:31:33 GMT -6
"Thank you," said Nilaya. She set her pack down and dug out of it the small pouch of dried leaves and grass that she kept for this sort of occasion. She glanced around, seeing if she could spot a weapon on him as she handed the pouch to him saying, "I am Nilaya."
He probably had guesses as to her nature. She didn't carry a weapon, unlike him who she thought she could a sword on. She didn't appear to be an unintelligent woman, though one would have hardly made it this far traveling alone. The only reason she felt as safe as she did was that she could banish something dangerous with a word, literally, if she needed.
"So Berl, I take it you fell on the same misfortune of arriving here after the gates were closed, possibly even as they were closing since you've gotten this much of a campsite set up."
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Post by Berl on Nov 21, 2008 21:38:57 GMT -6
Berl made a sort of half-grin. "Well, apparently the good people of Teirm thought I could use a bit of fresh air," he said with a laugh. The sparks caught on Nilaya's tinder, and before long, he had a suitable fire. He set plenty of wet wood near the fire to dry and sighed in relief.
"So now that I've gone and built a fire the normal way, please tell me you couldn't just make one with a snap of your fingers," he said, still smiling. "And if you could, could you also summon a deer or something?" He stood and stretched. "If not, I'll be back soon, with some dinner. If I'm lucky."
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Post by Nilaya on Nov 21, 2008 21:50:04 GMT -6
Nilaya found herself making a wry smile at his words, both the ones about getting stuck outside the city and the ones about snapping her fingers and making fire. With a good natured humor, something that usually was sarcastic but surprisingly wasn't this time, she said "I don't know if there's a word for summoning food, and despite there being a word for making fire I don't know it yet."
Fire was one of the words she really wanted to know as a spellcaster though. She had an obsession with the elemental words of power, though she knew none of them yet. "You've figured out I'm a spellcaster though, means you've got a decent head on your shoulders at least." Maybe a decent head meant he had morality too.
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Post by Berl on Nov 21, 2008 22:00:05 GMT -6
"Why thanks," he said. "I'll be back in a few." He traipsed off into the forest, trying as hard as he could not to make noise, but he knew he wasn't doing a very good job. Sneaking around worked for him, a little, when there weren't twigs and dry leaves underfoot. And on top of that, he had to sneak up close enough to hit something with a sword.
And somehow, he was still smiling. In fact, if he wasn't trying to be quiet, he was sure he'd be laughing. He lived for challenges like this. He might have turned down Nilaya's offer to conjure up food, if it had been forthcoming.
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Post by Nilaya on Nov 21, 2008 22:21:51 GMT -6
Nilaya watched Berl make his way into the woods to hunt for something for food. She turned her eyes to the fire before her, watching the flames flicker and dance. Currently Berl was proving to be someone she could trust, but that could change. People could act.
As she thought of the evil that men could be, some men anyways, her mind drifted back to her childhood in Dras-Leona. How sad those days were now. Her longing for attention had only lead to her estrangement from her family. She was a nobody now. Just a wandering spellcaster. Her magic and the belongings she carried were the only things to her name, a name which was only a first name. Someday they'll regret throwing me out. Some day they'll want me back, and I won't go back. They made their choice, and when they come to regret it I'll just tell them it was to late to change my mind as soon as I'd left town.
In the flickering light of the fire a few tears would be visible in her caramel colored eyes. Just because she'd resolved to let them live with the mistake didn't mean she didn't love them, but they didn't love her.
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Post by Berl on Nov 21, 2008 22:30:28 GMT -6
"We're in luck," Berl announced, striding back into into the campsite some thirty minutes later. "I managed to nail a- Hey, are you okay?" He'd spotted the tears on her cheeks. They definitely hadn't been there when he'd left.
He lay the fawn's body next to the fire. Normally, he wouldn't have killed a fawn, but it had clearly been abandoned, its leg broken. If he hadn't dispatched it, a wandering wolf pack would have. But that was shoved to the back of his mind.
"Nilaya?"
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Post by Nilaya on Nov 21, 2008 22:45:52 GMT -6
Her head jerked up at the sound of Berl's voice as it shook her out of her thoughts. She wiped away the tears and shook her head, tossing the short mane of dark hair. "Yeah.... yeah I'm fine. Just had something in my eye."
She wasn't letting him into her mind yet, and fortunately he couldn't pry his way in. He had managed to kill a fawn, with a broken leg from the looks of it. It wouldn't have lasted much longer on it's own. He'd done it a favor, freeing it from the cruelty of life.
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Post by Berl on Nov 21, 2008 22:52:54 GMT -6
Berl cocked an eye brow. "Something in your eye. Okay. I'll take that for now." He took out a knife and began to skin the fawn. He found two sticks and speared several pieces of meat on each one and stuck them into the fire. Then he took out his sword and started sharpening it.
"I hope you like venison," he told her. "So, where are you from? You look like you're from sandy places out east."
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Post by Nilaya on Nov 21, 2008 23:27:05 GMT -6
He'd better take the excuse. She wasn't telling him the truth right now. Fortunately he went to work on the deer and when he did turn back to conversation the topic had changed. Now he was asking where Nilaya was from. That was at least better than the previous one.
"Venison is a good travel meal, easy to prepare. If someone doesn't like it then they'll have a hard time traveling. As far as where I'm from, I think my family originated from the east but I was born and raised in Dras-Leona. It wasn't the greatest childhood, but it got me where I am today so I can't complain. How about you?"
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Post by Berl on Nov 22, 2008 12:01:35 GMT -6
"Well, I'm from Narda," he said. "I lived there with my father after my mother was killed. Though, it was because of her that I had so many friends." He grinned. "She was a dragon rider, so all the mommies and daddies didn't want their darlings playing with her nasty whelp. That made me even more enticing." He laughed. He decided not to mention that these same mommies and daddies had been the ones that killed her when she refused to fight back or flee, not wanting to hurt the villagers or leave him and his father behind.
He pulled the sticks out of the fire and checked the meat. Finding it cooked to his liking, he handed a stick to Nilaya, and chewed thoughtfully on a piece of meat.
"And now I'm a traveler," he continued. "I mostly stick to the Spine, but sometimes I find myself elsewhere."
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Post by Nilaya on Nov 22, 2008 19:53:56 GMT -6
A dragon rider for a mother, that was an interesting history. Much nicer than her own even if his mother had lost her life. Hopefully it was honorably lost in a battle of some sort. He didn't really say what had happened to his father, so maybe the man still lived in Narda and hoped for the return of his son as a hero.
As she accepted the stick she said, "I wish my life had been like that. I never got much attention. Kids had to be careful outside in our city. Besides that I was the youngest of seven. I started learning magic to try and get my parents' attention.... and it's what lead to me traveling like I do." Indirectly at least. She wasn't going to reveal yet that she was a nobody. He probably had secrets too. For now it probably should just stay that way.
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Post by Berl on Nov 23, 2008 9:47:26 GMT -6
She wasn't very good at hiding secrets, or she wasn't trying to. But that was OK. Berl was fine with that. He hadn't told her everything, and that was understandable. After all, they were just sharing the campsite for one night, right? After tonight, they would probably go into Teirm. She would do her thing in Teirm, he would stick around for a few days, and then he would probably be off to... He wasn't sure where. Maybe somewhere new.
But still... He wanted to ask more about her. Being an only child, Berl couldn't understand the plight of someone who had six siblings, all fighting for attention. After all, he'd always been the center of attention, both with his parents and with the villagers. What did he know of being unnoticed?
He glanced up as a twig snapped.
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