Ьȴʊє Ͻ a r a v a n 🚙 🚙 🚙 (new thread!)

Favorite Character Poll Round 10!

Lucien Balthazar Mchale - Vicious hunter of humans and dragons.	27.3%	[ 3 ]
Vasul Calim Shahrad - Crown Prince of Shahrazad and righteous eagle among a flock of vultures.	9.1%	[ 1 ]
Lorelei 'Ellie' Katerini - Knight Errant and Defender of Justice who will kick your butt!	18.2%	[ 2 ]
Inyri Ven - Sharp-minded beauty and budding lady of wares.	18.2%	[ 2 ]
Eriol Epheis - Mysterious man with an eye for the prize.	27.3%	[ 3 ]
Total Votes:			[ 11 ]

This poll closed on November 27, 2014.
No longer accepting new votes.

[Watervoir]

Ѵeȴɩus Kɩɾʈɑ
ɳoble

"Oh," replied Marco when she answered his question. "That is a good idea. You're very well prepared, m'lady," he commended her. "You must travel a lot." Velius could sense the respect for Aria building in Marco. It was a mix of admiration and... adoration. Gross. But Velius could see where it was all coming from. Aria was an independent woman, usually sensible, and actually quite beautiful. However, unlike Velius, Marco would never have the experience of messing around with the seer and her temper.

Aria segwayed into what she was looking for, thus answering Velius's earlier question about which caravan. Go figure... after her mysterious disappearance, the reason Velius would finally find her again was because she had chosen to rejoin the Blue Caravan. After her bold "do not look for me" statement she imparted on Velius before she vanished the last time, he had spent a short while actually trying to search her out, to no avail. Aria had made herself impossible to find. Velius was curious as to what would make her come back.

The boy on the other hand, was free of all of this backstory. He nodded at Aria's instruction, regardless of the fact that she wouldn't see it, although the boy hoped that Eriol would at least see it. "I don't know of any caravan like that milady..." He admitted. "If they're here they mustn't have been here for long yet, an' there's only one spot in Town where any new caravans would park. I'll take ya two right over!"

The boy was turning away when Aria recoiled from him. The boy hardly noticed, but Velius did. The noble knew that her psychic power relied in touch and he wondered what she saw, if anything. Odder still was her next question. Dark hair and red eyes? Could she have been asking... about Velius?

Instantly, a shot of concern flashed across the noble's mind. There was only one logical explanation as to why she would flinch like that and follow up with a question about the noble. What did she see about Velius?

The boy began leading the group way to the newest spot of the caravans, and he mulled aloud at her question. "I've seen a good deal of dark haired folk, milady... but I don't really look at eyes. But my pops says folks of the East look like that... There was an Easterner bunking with a fair lady of the Westerwoods... He gave a huge coin for their room at the place my aunt runs, it's called the Rosewood.

"We're only a block away from the space now," the boy informed them. The boy was all giddy again, from thinking about travelling, and Aria. A rich lady, travelling, imagine that! "Do you meet a lot of dangerous people? Bandits... thieves..." He looked at the pair, and out popped another question, courteous of Velius. "Is he your servant?" Of course he wasn't. But the noble planted the idea in the boy's head to ask to see the results of the conjecture.

[Leelee_Mraz]

Willa Odette Wilafax

"I am not fat!"

" Oh that?.......is just....a...watermelon I stole..."

Willa lay back in the dirt, resigned to her misery.She didn't care that everyone was watching and she had even stopped the effort in trying to stop. It wasn’t working and she assumed that somebody would get mad at her soon anyway. What was the point of stopping when she was already in trouble? She took in deep breaths as the emotions that she had been suppressing during the whole ordeal. She couldn’t even tell what she was the most upset about. Was it the gargoyle? The hunger? The loss of her necklace? The fact that she had nothing? She mostly just felt crazy. She curled up a little on the ground. Then felt a thump next to her.

Willa quieted to sniffles and struggled to sit back up. She pushed up behind her with a grunt. Attempt one. She tried again with a huff. Attempt 2. She pushed up again with more force and a whimper. There. She took a deep breath and then shivered uncomfortably as the baby moved inside her. She paused to give it the same unsure and uncomfortable look that she always gave her belly when it moved. She grunted and wiped at her face. Then she remembered what she had sat up for and turned to see Graves lying next to her. She examined him for a moment, noticing the absence of his leg. She huffed deeply and then the tears came back full force. “Why don’t you have a leg!?!” She sobbed, letting her arms drop to either side of her like limp noodle, as she cried heavily.

"You put that hand on my belly.....you are not getting it back."

[jadeshaw88]

I hear you calling to me
See you but you can't see me...
Ari nodded absently when he said something about her travelling a lot, though her mind was still preoccupied with attempting to comprehend what she had just seen. Velius had been looking right at her and he hadn't bothered to say anything. Well, fine then. She hadn't thought that the noble would take her last remark to him that seriously. If he had ignored her simply because she had told him not to look for her, he was clearly doing it just to annoy her. He had probably even sent the porter to find her just so that she could see that he was in town, knowing that she would try to read someone who was obviously lacking in the sanity department to make sure he wasn't going to kidnap her or worse. Well that plan had backfired. He may have sent to boy in hopes of annoying her but he had actually saved her from having to wait for someone else to carry her bags and the boy was being far more help to her than Eriol. She hoped that he was watching his plan fail so epically and he felt the full weight of having a plan blow up in his face.

As the porter turned to leave, Ari quickly grabbed hold of his arm again so as not to be left behind. At this point, she really didn't care if Eriol was even following anymore. She had better things to do with her day than wait around for the noble. Why was it that she was always getting mixed up with nobility anyway? They were certainly more trouble than they were worth. If she had known that she was going to be in the sun all day, she might have worn a different dress and a mere blindfold instead of a veil so that she could at least get a small amount of color. Then there was Velius and there were so many things that could be said about that man and the headaches he had caused.

She was still mulling over her feelings for nobility in general when she started to get a creeping feeling on the back of her neck and a slight twisting in her gut. Before, this would have signaled that she was about to have a vision...back when her powers were broken but now...She suddenly felt as if she were in danger. No, not her, the boy. Something bad was going to happen to the boy but...what? She tried to see again but nothing came forth beyond the same boring visions as before. She couldn't see his future for some strange reason....

Her probing came to an abrupt halt when he mentioned an Easterner of Velius' description spending the night with a fair lady...Velius? Hmph. Well. Despite their random empty flirtations, she had always thought that he had rather preferred men over women. Actually, she didn't think he preferred anyone unless the coitus happened to benefit him in some way beyond basic pleasure. Was it wrong to hope he caught something? Perhaps that whatever game he was playing also backfired? The poor girl probably deserved better than to have her heart played with by the ever sneaky Velius. Probably.

"Oh yes, I meet many dangerous people. I have been kidnapped and beaten by a slaver twice, I was kidnapped by Rashiek the Bold and his fancy man, Beck, for a time." Ari told him as she squashed all thoughts of the stupid noble and his foolish lover. "Let's see...My people and I were attacked by an insane mage. We have had to escape zombie-like people twice, once in Belorner and once in Lenti...I am plagued by the near constant presence of a lecherous minstrel and..." She had been about to mention Vel but decided against it. It wasn't worth it. She was better than that. "...other shady characters that make promises they can't keep." Almost better.

She raised her eyebrow when he asked if "he" was her servant."If you mean the man following us, no. We met last night and he offered to help me find The Blue Caravan." She told him with a shrug, deciding not to openly advertise how poor of a job the noble was doing. "If you mean the man with dark hair and red eyes..." She paused and then laughed as she pictured Velius dressed in servants garb. "Oh Gods no!" She managed as she continued to laugh. "I can't even imagine Velius doing manual labor!" She snickered. "All of the complaining and...." More laughing. "Trying to weasel his way out of it. I bet he would use that silver tongue of his and convince someone that it was some kind of great honor to do it in his stead."

Very slowly Ari sobered, her laughter dying off into half-hearted chuckles. Despite that, despite everything that irritated the s**t out of her where Velius was concerned, she did miss him. She was never bored when he was around and she almost never had to do all of the talking, unlike with Eriol so far. Vel liked hearing himself talk too much. Beyond that, he was the only one who was actively trying to help her get rid of her blindness and seemed to care (though you could never be sure with Velius). So what if he was only doing it so that he could use her gift for his benefit. At least he was helping.

"He would be a terrible servant but he isn't a terrible travelling companion and I'm afraid that we didn't exactly part well." She sighed and shoved away the feeling of dread that was coming from the boy once more. "He infuriates me. He knows just which buttons to push to make me just...." She shook her head, not really sure how to describe the level of anger he made her feel. "No matter how angry I get at him though or how mean I am, he comes back around to make amends...sort of...once I've calmed down or he'll laugh it off entirely. Not many people do that." She didn't know why she was telling this boy all of this. He was probably bored to tears.

She cleared her throat. "So, have you ever done any travelling?"

...We never said our goodbyes
So dark and lonely your eyes

[Agent Of Dreams]

Inyri giggled madly when he called her his queen. The meaning of her giving him the goblet had been completely lost on her alcohol addled mind, and she simply thought that he was flirting with her. Finally! He was returning her sentiment. It had only taken all day of her flirting with this man for him to do some himself. There was a flash of irritation, annoyance that it had taken him this long to finally play her game with her. But it was easily chased away by the fact that his awkwardness with her flirting was just so cute and endearing. She couldn’t really hold it against him. She reminded herself that this day would have been awful without his company, and his help. So she smiled up at him, simply happy that he was there. “You’re welcome, m-” she hiccuped mid sentence. “...king.” she finished, as though nothing had happened. She could feel her face going red.

Inyri liked the sound of food and water with Luther. A nice meal to share with her handsome travelling companion would make this all the better. ”Only if you ta’e me.” she said, giggling madly. Her laughter was cut short, though, as her face scrunched up in concentration. That wasn’t what she meant to say. ”I-I mean… I’ll go wit’ you...I-I mean…” she couldn’t quite get the words out, the words that she meant to say. She paused for a few moments, carefully thinking over what she wanted to say. Finally, she looked back up at him. ”That sounds good too me.” she said carefully. There, that was what she meant to say. Finally. She could feel a rush of embarrassment, and her cheeks grew warmer. Perhaps walking might help clear her head. She turned slowly away from Luther and took a step forward. Instantly, the world began to spin, and her legs became extra wobbly. She fell softly to her knees in the plush grass. Her face was getting exceptionally warm now, and she tried to get up again, but everytime she tried to stand, the world would spin and her legs would not support her weight.

Frightened, worried, and highly embarrassed, tears started to form in her eyes. “I...Um…Luther!” she cried to him, looking back to see if he was still there. ”My legs won’... I-I mean…They can’... They’re wob’ly…” she said, her lip trembling a little. Her cheeks were, by now, a very deep red, and she felt very embarrassed and ashamed that she could not even walk properly.

___________________________________________________________

Location: Log Toss Field
Company: Luther, Mamello
Health: Absolutely drunk

[anais nighteyed]

x





xxxxxxxxＮａｓｒｉｎ Ａｉｄｚｉａｍ

From what Nasrin gathered, it appeared this caravan guard had been absent the night Tobias was taken. It was unfortunate that she was not well informed, but in a way it was good that this woman had not recognized her. It seemed the negotiations would go smoothly, but Nasrin would not let down her guard until she had left the encampment. When Phedre released her hand she was glad to have it freed, and she crossed her arms across her chest.

She made some mild noise of acknowledgement when the woman spoke the city-dweller, detailing the aspects of his appearance she knew all too well. Nasrin shifted her weight to one foot, paying little mind to the mention of the man she had kept in captivity for days. She fell quiet, briefly becoming lost in thought.

Her gaze lingered on the ground for a long moment, and then it suddenly flicked back to Phedre’s face when she extended an invitation to stay for a cup of tea. “Can’t,” she replied, a little more abruptly than she intended. She paused, and then she looked elsewhere before speaking again. “I’d best be on my way. I trust Tobias can fend for himself, wherever he is.”

That was that, as they say. But she had made a go of it trying to get him back, despite her dislike of stealing people. Messy and unpleasant business, it was. That was more than some thieves would have done, surely. She knew her kind and she knew their reasoning: Tobias had no one to blame but himself for being caught, and he was lying in a bed of his own making. But the thought of leaving him to the caravan didn’t sit right with her. A wise one would have turned away and swept the matter from their hands like dust, this she knew. But she was not wise.

When the guard stated there were many wounded in their ranks, Nasrin blinked. Her eyes wandered curiously, and then they fell upon a fellow on the ground nearby. She stared at him pointedly. He was missing a leg. That certainly wasn’t her doing. “I see,” she remarked, brows raised. A pregnant woman sat sobbing on the ground beside him, and Nasrin’s shoulders tensed at the sight. Suddenly very unsettled, she wrinkled her nose and hastily averted her gaze. “That would be adequate,” she told Phedre, when she made an offer of compensation. “I shared my own provisions with your men. They don’t eat like birds, if you catch my meaning.”

[NlETZSCHE]

Lucien Balthazar Mchale
(Arumel Graves)
Bounty Hunter
XXXXXXxxxXXXxxXXXXXXXXXXXXReckless ರೃ Potty mouthed ರೃ Mal-tempered

XXXX"Everything is full of [bullshit]!! Life is full of bullshit. People are full of bullshit. Hope is bullshit. It's my job to find the bullshit and crush it like a bug, like an ant, like a butterfly. Yeah, that sounds good. Hope is like a butterfly, it hides in the flowers, and flutters around like a pretty colourful beacon. But seriously...what good are they? So fragile! If you rip off their wings, hope is lost and with nowhere to go, it quickly dies."

"There's no [hope], Lucien?"

"No, But there is [survival]."

"Agh...." Lucien said, face first in the dirt. "Christ..."

He turned himself over so he was on his back at least, and propped himself up nice and easy like. His face was smudged with dirt now, and he didn't notice but his nose was bleeding a little bit. He wasn't used to the one leg balancing act so he just fell flat on his face. He tried to catch himself, but, that had only helped to send him to the ground sooner.

He looked at Willa and smiled, only noticing fairly quick that he just upset her. He frowned and let out a sigh, just then noticing the blood trickling down his upper lip. He wiped it away with his sleeve, hopefully before she noticed that too. He cleared his throat and tried another smile.

His smiles were a bit chaotic in nature, a lot like he acted. Something of a smirk that showed he was up to no good, but not an evil smirk, perhaps; a mischievous grin. "Oi there, Sheila..." He said. "You look awfully troubled-"

She remarked about his missing leg here, and Lucien sighed reaching his long hand up and running it through his platinum locks in a 'Oh s**t, here we go' manner. Then she started bawling harder.

He made a face, some kind of 'what the ********?' expression, then he looked down at his leg, "Uhhh....No worries, mate. I'm no worse for wear. Just a scratch." He shrugged, matter-of-factly. "Had worse..." That was a lie. "Barely even hurts..." That wasn't a lie.

He sat up a bit more and propped himself up on just one arm, "'Nuff about me. That's an awful lot-a tears for someone so pretty, what's wrong?" He had to make sure his package was in good condition. "Anythin' I can help with?" He also wasn't such an a** he'd ignore a woman in tears.

[Manuscripts and Pince-Nez]

██ The bones of beasts and the bones of kings become dust in the wake of the hymn

✿

“Oh, I certainly hope not, birds are very voracious creatures!” The image of the overgrown temple birds that the priests fed many times a day and the pigeons that lazed around in her attic sprung to Phedre’s mind. She mentally offered a prayer as she rummaged through the small pouch she had with her.


As she had feared, she failed to exchange money throughout her stay with the caravan. Seeing as she paid for her lodging with guard duty, she didn’t feel the need to yet. Phedre wanted to get this whole ordeal done with as soon as possible, and she had a feeling the other woman though so as well- so she handed her a few silver coins.


“It’s foreign, but silver’s silver. If you can’t use it, you know where to find me.” The coins were adorned with a stylized owl mid-flight on the front, and a magpie looking down on the back.
“I hope your friend finds his way back to you.” Phedre gave her a short bow, stretching her arms out in an imitation of wings before turning around and leading the two men back to the caravan. She had a feeling that they had yet to see the last of this mysterious woman.


“Now, you two...” She put her arms around their shoulders, “I’m sure you both have quite the story to tell, but-“ she patted them both on the back, not really heeding her strength, “- let’s do all that later! Most of us are safe and sound, which is not something I could have said a couple of hours ago, we are in a lovely city in the midst of a festival, how about we enjoy it for a couple of hours?”


The last part she said louder, so that everyone in the caravan could hear


“I have some errands to run, and I guess I’ll be guarding this place since I can’t see any other guards around here…” She didn’t want to think what could have happened to Caden, so she decided to think that he was somewhere reasonably safe and looking for Velius.


“So, uh, if you see anyone who looks like they want to risk their life, send ‘em over here, right? And how about we all meet up in a couple of hours, say, in the evening-ish, for dinner together?” She put her hands on her hips, contemplating
“I mean, we’ve all got plenty to tell each other, might as well do it on a full stomach.

Mighty kingdoms rise, but they all will fall

no more than a breath on the wind██

[Aeroden Eternium]

Eriol Epheis



Eriol noted tangible waves of irritation emanating from Aria. Not that she was eager to hide it. He found such obvious annoyance refreshing, even if that annoyance was aimed at him. He had seen what pushing one too many buttons on Aria resulted in firsthand, and he was not eager to be on the receiving end of a beating. Her tone communicated just how tired she had been of waiting, though years of picking through courtiers' poisonous messages and her body language made it clear she was refraining from heaping verbal abuse on him. He supposed that was only fair.

Arthur certainly seemed to approve of her. They were probably the same kind of grumpy.

Since Aria seemed satisfied with the boy's services, Eriol saw no reason not to use him. He inclined his head to him, in a slight but affirmative nod and got to work attempting to organize Aria's numerous belongings in a satisfactory manner for transportation. If there was ever a time when he was glad not to have been born an impoverished peasant, it was times like these. He didn't envy their porter his job, however much coin might be thrown his way.

He stood frozen to the spot when Aria asked him how she looked. His facial expression probably also matched, though she wouldn't have seen it. True, he didn't know her well, but that was the last question he expected out of her mouth. Why, or rather, who was she dressed to impress? It was obvious to Eriol that she had put effort into her boudoir this morning, but a voice in the back of his head insisted he wasn't quite the person she wanted a compliment from. She didn't pause long enough to allow him to reply, like she had just caught herself letting the words slip.

Just then a flicker of a familiar form caught his eye.

He trudged along several paces behind Aria as she did her shopping, one hand leading Arthur, while his mind was a thousand leagues away. He had wanted to follow the phantom, but duty kept him in place. He had already slighted the lady, and he would not do so again. A part of him remained wary, ready to respond in case of theft or danger, doing his best to look the part of simple-minded hired muscle. Most of him had retreated into a dark corner, arguing with himself over what he saw, what it meant.

Eriol had to agree with the inner voice that told him a slap to the face would do him some good. He was in a better place now than he had been in a long time, but he was still just holding the pieces together, and they shattered and shifted and sloughed off between the cracks still. He did not believe in ghosts or visions (there was an icy chuckle echoing somewhere in his head there), at least not in the sense that they were the undead, though he could understand hallucinations of Visryn. He didn't deny that the times he saw her had increased alongside the deterioration of his relationship with Natascha. They only grew worse the further he got from home, as he retread the paths they had once walked together.

But the shadow he had seen was not hers. He was almost certain. It troubled him more than he'd care to admit.

A curt command from Aria snapped his thoughts back in the present. His previously impassive face gave way to an obliging smile.

“Of course.” He stopped as he considered the boy's eager words. On any other day he would've simply allowed him the satisfaction of leading them, but at the moment he had an obligation to Aria. “They aren't far, as I recall. I believe they were resting in that direction?” Eriol aimed the question at Marco, though he knew their exact location, before heading off, winding past the market and its crowd. He could scarce hide the excitement in his own voice at the prospect of being with them again, and if there weren't two others, and a whole lot of baggage in tow, he would have galloped through the streets of Cantarta.

He was late, so very late.

[Agent Of Dreams]

Orien didn’t quite understand the commotion that was going on when they finally found everyone. From what he could gather, someone had trespassed in one of the merchants wagons, and Phedre was trying to get the person to give up. Something struck him as odd, though. Why weren’t there any other guards assisting her? Was there only one guard? For this whole big caravan? He shook his head. That didn’t really make sense to him. He would have offered his help to her, but it really wasn’t his place to do that. And besides, he still had to somehow get them to let Miss Sinann to join their caravan. He wasn’t entirely sure they would just let her do that. There would probably be some kind of fee for caravan members, to pay for caravan services and such. And he was certain that Miss Sinann had no money to pay for such services. It was quite the conundrum, but his master had taught him that when no obvious solution was available, patience would often reveal new options.

Fortunately, the situation seemed to resolve itself rather quickly, because Miss Phedre soon emerged from the wagon, and after a few moments of observing the frankly bewildering scene (which involved, among other things, a one legged man falling to the ground next to Miss Willa), she seemed to notice Orien and Sinann, and made her way over to them. Orien gave her smile, scratching the back of his other hand. ”Yes, well, I had some breakfast then ran into Miss Sinann here. She mentioned she wanted to get to the Northern Trade Capital, which is where I’m headed, and I figured it might be a good idea to travel in a group. That’s when I remembered the caravan.” he said. When Phedre asked who Sinann was, he stepped slightly to the side. ”This is Miss Sinann. Miss Sinann, this is Miss Phedre, guard of the caravan. he said, smiling encouragingly to Sinann.

Before anything else could be said, however, Miss Phedre left them to go tend to a few new people that suddenly showed up. Again, he wondered why there were no other guards around the help Phedre. He was starting to believe his original thought about there being no other guards. It dawned on him that if that were the case, perhaps he might be able to do guard work for the caravan in exchange for Sinann’s safe passage. It wasn’t an ideal situation. He had his own quest to tend too. But… Well, he had promised to help Sinann, and he didn’t think he would feel very happy with himself if he broke his promise to Sinann. And besides, he thought as he idly watched the situation unfold. It was safer to travel with a group. And who knew, perhaps their path would lead them to Pilantos anyways.

It wasn’t long before this situation resolved itself too, and Orien waited until Phedre had announced plans and made arrangements with the rest of the caravan before he approached her again.

”I don’t mean to be rude Miss Phedre, or nosey, but it seems like you might have a lack of guards for this caravan. If that’s the case, I offer my services as a guard. I know I seem young, but I can handle myself in a fight.” he said, giving her a nervous smile. Even though he knew he was quite capable, having trained with his master his entire life, and even having done a few jobs alongside him. But these people didn’t know him at all. He would understand if she wasn’t quite eager to let him do the job, even if it didn’t seem like she had too many options right now.


________________________________________________________

Location: Caravan
Company: Sinann, Phedre
Health: 100%

[Watervoir]

Ѵeȴɩus Kɩɾʈɑ
ɳoble

As Marco shifted her bags in his grip and chewed on her bread, he soaked in Aria's words like a sponge. The boy was eager to hear about her adventures. It was all these places that he could never hope to travel around in, or at least so he had been told, because he was too dumb, too slow, too weak and too prone to accidents and the mischiefs of others to even survive a day out there, or so he had been told. He didn't have a reason to go, he was reminded, and his sisters and mother would miss him very, very much, they would never fail to say. And he loved them all very much and also never had never had the guts to say otherwise and follow his dreams. Thus, ever since he was a child, he had to relish in the tales that parted from the lips of the visitors to the city. To get close to people to hear their stories, he would do odd jobs like his current tavern helper and porter gig. This particular one was arranged by his good aunt to humour his curiosities. Needless to say, there was a twinkle in his eyes and bright grin as she told him about her journeys in all of these places he had never heard of. "Lenti! My pops has told me it's like Cantarta but 'lot tinier." Velius saw in his mind an expanse of farmland and one single house, and his ghostly form chuckled at how his image could not be further from the truth.

As Aria transitioned to the boy's second question, he nodded, unaware still of Aria's inability to see it, when she asked if had meant Eriol. Neither he nor Velius had anticipated that Velius was still on Aria's mind, or was even at the forefront of it for that matter. So the boy was speechless when she suggested Velius to be the subject of his question. Anyone looking on might have noticed the boy opening and snapping shut his mouth several times. Half of him wanted to interrupt and clarify the matter, while the other was afraid to cut in whilst Aria was so deep in her emotional tirade, lest he was subject to any backlash. Even Velius was too stunned to interject, although his surprise quickly transformed into amusement and he remained taciturn so he could continue to marvel at Aria's hysterics. He thought she was correct in her reasoning though. Caden would always oblige if he asked him to carry Aria's things. And if anyone else was tasked with carrying effects, it was an honour that they would be taking care of it in Caden's steed. To anyone looking on, it would look like Velius was overworking Caden and giving him too many things to manage. But they didn't know about Caden's sixth-sense, which made it infinitely easier for the bodyguard to carry forth with his protection duties.

But as she spoke, his amusement transformed once more into curiosity when it dawned on him that Aria would... miss him? Or at least that was what it sounded like. It was another moment of vulnerability, the type that Velius found so delicious in people like Aria. 'Of course you would miss me,' he would say just to mess with her, as he would say to any other of his adoring fans that he'd successfully convinced to nearly worship him in the past, but that sort of taunting conversation was difficult to hold in this body. In fact, most of the time he wouldn't poke so much fun at his chess pieces (because Aria was just that in his reasoning, another connection whose benefits he could later reap), but there was something about Aria that made him engage with her over and over. His rationale had been that Aria had proved time and time again to be the type to return to him no matter how deep into the dirt he pushed her. Her tenacity was something that was admirable, in itself, and deserving of notice.

Yes. Aria was interesting, and that was his rationale for over thinking her comments about him. Because there couldn't be anything more than that. They weren't that close. She didn't know him, hardly knew him, and she did not know as much about him as he knew about her. Yes.

Marco appeared to pick up a bit from Velius's rumination, or perhaps he was just good with keeping the conversation going, because his next remark was, "Then why are ya lookin' fer 'im? Do ya miss 'im?" Velius could swear that if the boy was not inadvertently under his influence that the second question would have been 'Are ya tryin' to avoid 'im?' rather than some comment to bring them closer.

The farmboy was not the type to hide his wishes to travel, when Aria asked him about them. "Ma an' pops won't lemme. They say it's too dangerous and that I attract trouble." The farm boy sighed. "I'd get myself killed, they say..." As he trailed off, they reached the edge of the main town and into a small field. It was once another of the fields for flowers but for some reason Dragon Lilies never spawned in that space, so the townsfolk had no qualms flattening the area for caravans to park.

Eriol posed for the farmboy a question about the whereabouts, the boy nodded fervently and offered a "Mhm, yes milord." There were some wagons stopped here and there. Most of them were not part of any caravan or they were part of smaller travelling groups. Just around the corner though they could spot some blue. "Wagons spotted blue over there!! Is this what'cha lookin' for?" He looked at Aria and Eriol for confirmation. It was indeed the Blue Caravan, Velius could tell, but the boy would not know it. The area was occupied, and apart from seeing the people around there, Aria at least would be able to hear the people's voices. "Where d'ya want yer effects to be put, milady?"

Velius almost wished he could stop for a moment and bask in the sense of homecoming, although the boy, because he did not share such feelings, kept on trudging along. After losing his way in the woods at Nesa's birthday party because of the bandit raid, he was finally... home?

[Manuscripts and Pince-Nez]

██ The bones of beasts and the bones of kings become dust in the wake of the hymn

✿

“Alright, this is how we’re going to do it! Jafar, you move a bit to the left, so that Hurem can get a better vantage, alright? Now, keep those positions, and I’m going to tell you your duty after I debrief everyone else. If this worked seven years ago on that plateau, when Jacques almost lost his leg, it can work now. Now we’re lucky-we even have weapons!”


Phedre was working with what she had. In moments like these, no guard except for her and the city watch merely wishful thinking; it paid off, being able to talk to horses. Back when her ancestors took that plunge and made the deal that bid them forever with the animals, they were really thinking ahead.


Her loud neighing was being answered by harsh braying in turn as she positioned them as if they were going to war, rather than making an overnight stop.

“Don’t you think this is a bit excessive? Just a tad?” Jafar asked, showing at the other horse as they fought for a better view of the festival in town.

“Well, if I plan on resting and running errands, some form of safety measures have to be taken into account. I don’t think someone will rob us in the middle of a festival, but I wasn’t expecting to fall into a giant hole and being poked around by a gargoyle!” [/b]She left the conversation end there and turned her attention to the sound of approaching footsteps.


Orien, right; she left Sinann and him standing without a word of explanation. She raised an eyebrow at his proposal, not knowing what to make of this turn of events. She turned to the rest of the caravan.

“Good job, everyone! Already caught one! Keep ‘em coming!”
Phedre snickered at her own joke, her face kind, yet serious as she looked at Orien again.
“Look, I’m really tired and what you’re saying sounds absolutely wonderful. “ She sighed, “ But, I can’t, I…”

A brown horse head suddenly plunged itself under Phedre’s arm, looking at Orien deeply and making Phedre sputter.

“My professional horse opinion is that you should take the lad, he seems alright.” Jafar whinnied at Orien, “Got all his teeth, that’s a good sign. Need to fatten him up, and he’ll be like a daisy!”
Phedre pushed Jafar away, who snickered at her and proceeded to attempt to chew on Orien’s clothes.

“That’s Jafar, he likes being friendly. Maybe a bit too friendly-get off him! “ She shooed at the horse, but seeing how Jafar decided to ignore her, she pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Look, I really need a break, it’s been crazy after crazy recently, and I need to get some peace before the next abomination jumps at this caravan. Do me a solid-if you can keep this caravan out of trouble for the night, you’re on. Your friend too, I’ll pay for her if need be.” She signaled for the two to wait for her and rushed to her wagon.
A few moments later Phedre came out with an embroidered leather bag on her shoulder and carrying an adorned glaive, a large shield with a weathered looking red vulture painted on it, and her ax.

“Right, so I positioned the horses and if they notice anything out of the ordinary, they’ll make noise. If something happens, send Jafar after me, he will know how to find me. That over there is my wagon-there’s an unconscious woman inside, but feel free to rest there if you can’t find an empty one. We’re all gonna have dinner together, so I would like for you two to join us, if you can. By then, the city guard should be somewhat awake.”

She spent several more minutes fussing about Orien, before leaving the two, much before Aria would show up.


Her first stop was the smithy. She wasn’t sure of the quality of the work in Cantarta, but that’s why she had all the specifications written down.
Phedre didn’t walk as much as she barged into the forge, setting the weapons aside and grinning widely at the blacksmith who looked at her with a confused look in his eyes.
She briefly explained what she needed and slammed a piece of paper on his desk.

“And I’ll need my armor checked; can you do that, too?”

“Sure thing, just leave it here once you take it off.” The man said, taking the paper and turning it around, then looking at it from different angles

“I can’t read this! This is in another language! “

“Oh. Well, I’ll dictate it to you. Oh, and I’ll take off the armor here, if that’s alright!”
“Wha-“
“Thanks! So I want new pig leather straps on the pole arm, and if you could…”

After making sure everything was written down correctly (“Are you sure you want it sharpened at this angle?” “I know what I’m about son”), Phedre exited the smithy dressed in the brown breeches and soft white blouse she wore under several layers of armor. She left her boots there as well, but put on the slightly more decorative pair of shoes she carried in the bag with her.
Her next stop was the bathhouse. This took some asking around to find, but before long she was in the warm water, feeling the tension of the past days ebbing away.

Phedre had given up on trying to wash her hair properly, and the blonde mess lay tangled down her back as she sat, her head on her knees, letting the steam ease away the headache she didn’t know she had.

Things were slightly getting better. The ordeal with the gargoyle was over, they found the caravan and a doctor will be looking at the wounded shortly, not to mention that Draaz and Whitnee had safely returned. The intruder in Kemun’s wagon was her relative and they got two new people to join-things were looking up…

But, she knew why she was a bit reluctant to leave Orien with the position he asked for-Caden and Velius were missing and Calioppe, well, she didn’t want to think about that. Phedre growled loudly, rubbing at her scalp in annoyance at her own head. She knew she was being unfair to the others by being emotional over something as stupid as guard recruitment; but could imagine that duty was going to be a lot lonelier in the future. She refused to think why, not that it mattered.

With a sigh and fervent determination to bottle up her negative feelings with spicy food on a stick, she grabbed for the soaps and the lotions she brought with her and set about cleaning herself properly. She massaged lavender and myrrh oil into the many scars on her body, hopefully softening the skin. Her mother used to give her salves every time she went away, hoping that-if rubbed on as soon as possible- the scars would show less. The stump of her finger caught Phedre’s eye as she moved to toss her hair back. No oil for that. She licked her lips, tasting a phantom trace of blood. Phedre wasn’t always proud of her actions, but what was done, was done.

Sufficiently cleaned, she applied some lotion the staff left for her to her face and put her hair in a thick braid into which she placed shiny beads. The bird worship of her people often made them behave like birds themselves, at times. They loved shiny things.

She dressed herself in a bluish gown that followed her shape like water, hugged tightly around her waist by a sash adorned with beads and feathers in specific patterns. Embroidered with gold and purple thread along the deep neckline were feathers and vines; the skin there was mostly covered by jewelry that looked somewhat ritualistic and delicate. Her hands were bare, she didn’t want to cover them today, not that anyone was going to look there.

Phedre checked her hair again and exited the bathhouse, looking for the nearest place where she could grab a bite to eat, knowing that the dinner plans were not until later

Mighty kingdoms rise, but they all will fall

no more than a breath on the wind██

[anais nighteyed]

x

xxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxKemun Eldstra

Kemun hovered worriedly outside her wagon. She felt some relief in the knowledge that it was not a thief that occupied her wagon, but she was not as relieved as she should have been. Her mouth felt dry. She sheathed her knife with care, and she did not call out to the one in her wagon who called himself Vaino. Then she ran the hem of one sleeve through her fingers, growing nervous. She cast fleeting glances at the door and waited for him to appear.

Then she looked to Phedre, meaning to speak to her, but she saw the woman had already departed to tend to the needs of others. The merchant bit her tongue, choosing to swallow the words. This issue was now hers alone to contend with. Her gaze passed over Willa and the man lying on ground beside her. There was a faraway look to Kemun’s eyes as she became lost in thought, and she did not register Willa’s tears or the number of limbs the man possessed.

She wandered away, and her passage was marked by the faint shuffle of her sandals. Kemun did not walk far, leaving to see to her horse. The great beast stood nearby. He blinked placidly as the merchant patted his side and absentmindedly began to work tangles from his mane with her pale fingers. Her brow was furrowed, and from time to time she would steal a look at her wagon. As she waited for the fellow to kindly vacate her wagon, she began to contemplate her next course of action.

She did plan to examine the contents of her wagon more thoroughly to search for any damages, but what then? Kemun supposed the first order of business after that was to pay a visit to the market. Her provisions were beginning to run low, and she hoped adding to them would put her at ease. If she was lucky, her tea box would be well-stocked and she would own a new pipe before the day was out. She hadn’t had a good cup of tea since the night the thieves had descended like crows, and her one smoking pipe had snapped right in two in Lenti. Both events seemed distant now.

[anais nighteyed]

x





xxxxxxxxＮａｓｒｉｎ Ａｉｄｚｉａｍ

Nasrin held back the urge to snort at the guard’s statement. She had never known birds to be voracious creatures. Her mouth twitched, but she said nothing in response. Standing silently, her eyes rested on the ground as the guard fished through a small pouch. She blinked when the woman handed her several silver coins that she did not recognize. Nasrin made no remark on their origin, but she eyed their design with vague interest. The situation was almost comical – after ferrying captives through rain and across mountains, she had a few foreign silver pieces to show for it.

Not that she minded, particularly. It was a considerable amount. Not gold, not copper, but comfortably in between. But she hadn’t taken the men with silver in mind. Surprising still was the way this day was unfolding. Here she was, standing in the caravan’s encampment, and she had yet to see any pointy objects brandished in her direction. It would be something close to pleasant if she didn’t have good reason to be tense around these folk. She wondered privately if this guard was aware that she was buying back stolen goods from a thief, but then she swept these thoughts aside. She wouldn’t concern herself with details.

She tossed a coin into the air, and it gleamed in the sun. Nasrin caught it with ease and pocketed it with the others. Then she turned on her heel, a hand raised in farewell. “So long, then,” she called over her shoulder, more to the two men than anyone else. She didn’t linger, and her walk was brisk as she departed from the encampment. At this point, she hardly cared what became of the city dweller. In the end he wasn't needed, so his flight was not much of a hindrance. She assumed he would find his way back to his people soon, sly as he was.

[Leelee_Mraz]

Whitnee smiled contentedly as the situation continued to resolve itself with no violence. He watched the bandit and nodded in agreement with Phedre in concerns to Toby. He straightened up and cast another longing look at his wagon. He then looked back to Narasin. “ Well. I would say that this is quite fair. After all, you did lose Velius. “ He said in a logical tone, before looking at Phedre. He waved at Nasrin, and although he was glad to be out of captivity he was truly grateful that she had kept them safe and, for the most part, well cared for. “ Good luck out there. “ He gave her a genuine smile and wave and then hunched a bit as Phedre draped herself about them. He smiled at her.

“Quite the story indeed.“ he said nodding slowly and glancing at Drazz. “ I am sure Drazz would be happy to tell everyone about it. “ He said know that he surely didn’t want to talk about it, especially that bit in the graveyard. He shook the thought of it out of his head. He nodded at her announcement. " A festival could be nice…” He said wearily. “ I must attend to some things first.” He broke from her and nodded respectfully. “ You know where to find me.” He said nodding and backing toward his wagon, casting a confused glance at Willa. She looked quite pale. He then cast an even more confused glance at Graves. “ My goodness.” He mumbled before turning to his wagon and frowning at the blueness of it before approaching. “ What on earth….?” He frowned as he approached. He stood for a moment with hands on her his hips pondering who would have painted his wagon.

Whitnee was interrupted by a sharp pain in his side. Horse bite. “ Ow! Gilda! “ He said looking at the horse who was no huffing angrily in his face. “ What kind of homecoming is this, you wretched creature!” Gilda merely huffed and walked off to snack. Whitnee shook his head, and looked over as Faratees presented himself for petting. Whitnee sighed and pet the horses head. “ Hello old boy. “ He said patting him wearily before heading to his wagon, pulling his keys from under his shirt. He approached and froze at the sight of his damaged lock. He sprang into action and threw the door open going instantly to the small box by his bed. He panicked briefly before finding it unharmed, and then turned in place finding that everything was in place. What was the meaning of this? Whitnee felt violated. This was his very personal space. A catalog of miles and miles and years of travel. He was sure that there must be a reasonable explanation for why somebody would have tried to get into his wagon. He was having trouble feeling rational about it, so he took a seat on his cot and took a series of deep breaths before getting up to prepare himself some tea. He got the tea things and went outside to see about starting a fire.

[doctorcaptain1]

The children had just started to disperse, having gained a coin, that Mamello couldn't spare but did anyway, for a bag of sweet cakes to share amongst themselves, when the young man from the toss returned. He turned toward him and leaned against the wooden fence that separated the field from the thinning crowd. He hadn't expected the man to seek him out but he was always happy to make new acquaintances. He only hoped that the boy wouldn't cause a scene by accusing him of throwing the competition or something.

He smiled when the man chose to compliment him instead and wondered if the young man knew he had thrown it. He hoped so. Mamello would worry for the boy's ego if he thought he had legitimately won.

He soon deduced that he had, in fact, known. Either that or he was being charitable to the point of insult. Judging by the way he spoke, however, Mamello didn't think that that was the boy's intention. He seemed well off but he didn't strike the big man as a snob. Then again, Mamello liked to see the good in people and tended to overlook the bad.

”I thank you kindly, young man. I surely picked a bad day to skip breakfast and I fear it cost me the game.” Mamello said as he took the prize money, a large smile on his face. He had his pride but he was no fool. He needed the money and would have won it fairly if he hadn't gone soft hearted. He wasn't about to turn it down a second time. ”Though I am quite glad that you won for that sweet lady. She seemed very pleased.” He chuckled and have the boy a knowing wink at that.

He was surprised when the man quickly took his leave after that, though he understood that he would rather be with his pretty lady friend than a worn old man. Old to him anyway. He was still a little disappointed. He had hoped to maybe speak to the man to see if he knew of any work that could be found. Perhaps there would be an opportunity with this caravan the young man had spoken of. Most caravans would hire him as a guard for a leg or two of their journey. That would be nice steady work again.

Mamello secured the purse someplace safe from pickpockets and made his way over to the crowd surrounding the second event. He wanted to see how this played out and perhaps get an escort to this caravan.

The girl was so small, he doubted she would last long but young love was, indeed, powerful and he was not one to underestimate someone just because of their size. He even placed a decent wager on her winning, despite the looks he received even he did.

When the girl defied all odds and actually won, his bellow of laughter could be heard well above the noise of the crowd. The bookie made a few grumbles about him being a lucky son of a b***h and hinted that the game might have been rigged but he was no fool either and quickly handed over Mamello's winnings.

His purse a little heavier, the giant moved through the crowd and clapped the young man on the shoulder, laughing again when he saw the sight of the young lady on the ground. "You look like you could use a hand."

Mamello Jakande



"Face to face, out in the heat
Hanging tough, staying hungry
They stack the odds still we take to the street
For the kill with the skill to survive"