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| Care to share the gifts of Teir? |
| Cool! Lewt! |
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68% |
[ 15 ] |
| Dammit Auren! Stop making these fracking polls! |
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31% |
[ 7 ] |
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| Total Votes : 22 |
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 Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 7:11 pm
Alhana had glanced up at a book she was reading, and heard the girl's stomach growl. Alhana chuckled softly to herself. "I've made dinner for you, go easy on it though, you've been out for quite a while now." Alhana gestured at the table, which was modestly set, but the food on it was almost enough to feed a small army. There was no doubt that some of it was made by magic, but it still smelled just as good to Kernyel.
"If you wondering who I am, my name is Alhanaeleroth Shiro. I am a Light Dragon, and I guess a Darkness Dragon as well. I do not know what has been done to me. Enough of my problems, may I ask your name?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 11:14 am
Kernyel nodded thanks and sat herself down at the table to begin eating. It took a lot of control not to gobble up every morsel she saw in front of her. Though she maintained her manners in every other respect, she spoke between mouthfuls with only a minimal amount of shame. It was good food and she had to make herself stop eating before she got sick. It was hard....
"Uh..Hi. Thank you so much for...everything." she said with a self-concsious shrug and a gesture around the room and at the food. "Alhanaeleroth..." That name reverbrated within her as familiar...but she couldn't place where she'd heard it... She had been absent from most of the destruction of the past and only knew about any of it from third or fourth hand accounts she'd picked up along her travels. "Well, um, my name is Kernyel, Kernyel Tempestas. Nice to meet you." She said with a warm smile. Her spirits were definately improving. "So...dragon, huh?" She looked over her beautiful face again. "I'm...I'm..." tears welled up in her eyes as she realized she didn't know what to call herself now..."I'm blue...." She said quietly and with the faintest hint of loathing. "I'm glad you took care of me." she said louder, in an attempt to cover her blunder.
She looked up at the woman gratefully and continued. "So...I'm sorry about--earlier... I've been a bit, well, out of sorts, you could say." She hugged her arms tightly across her chest. "Normally, I'm not so..rude.." she said, for lack of a better word at the time. "What brings you to Tier?" she asked brightly, trying admirably to put a better face on the thoughts that continued to roll around in her head; the questions she had no answers for. "i was on my way out, myself...but i think i have to go back again, now." she said with only the sligthest glance at her hand; it moved gently southward again, beckoning her to retrieve her lost treasure.
She looked down when she'd finished talking, inspecting the rings on her fingers. The had the same look of trapped water that the teardrop her mother had given her shined with. Only the rings were different colors. black, yellow, blush-red, green, blue, and finally, white; the one that was missing...
She looked up again at Alhana, questioningly. She wondered where this woman was heading and what she had needed from herself originally...
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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:13 pm
Jaster stood. He fixed his gaze straight ahead, not at any one item, but at the space before him. He walked almost as if he didn't exist, and anyone who happened to see him would assume he didn't. He walked like a ghost, and eventually found himself at the inn. He went in, and went to his room. He retrieved a piece of parchment, and a quill. He dipped it in the ink, and scribbled, "I believe this belongs to you. I apologize for any grief I have caused you. You need not worry about it any longer." He started to sign his name, but then thought better of it. He scratched the "Ja" out and finished the note. He rolled it up and put it through the ring. He put it in his pouch, and then realized it was then he didn't know which room was Kernyel's. He walked to the inkeeper, and asked which room was hers. The innkeeper eyed him suspicsously, and asked why Jaster wanted to know. Jaster produced the ring from his pouch and said that she had dropped this and he wanted to return it to her. The innkeeper was satisfied with this answer, and told him which room was hers. As Jaster walked away, however, the innkeeper said she had not come in last night, and he had seen no sign of her for a while.
Jaster reached her room, and dropped the ring on the floor before it. He was set to tap the ring under her door when he got an odd feeling. It told him not to do that. She would probably not return to this room, it told him. He stood a better chance of returning the ring to her out in the land. He bent over, picked up the ring, and put it in his pouch. He smiled a little and decided that it was probably time to move on.
It always was.
After just two sunsets, he needed to leave this place. He had severely damaged any prospects of potential allies, and had to move on. He checked his weaponry, went to his room once more to make sure his belongings were gathered, and then walked to the inkeeper. He smiled, and said that he would be leaving. He tossed a few gold coins onto the counter to cover his stay, and walked through the doors. It was twilight again, and as he reached the gates of Tier he saw the beams of light once more. He looked at himself, and realized that the white light was emenating from the ring in his pouch. This was no ordinary ring, he thought to himself. He knew he'd have to return it to her. With a sad face, he took a few steps from Tier. He turned, looked back, and sighed. There was no such thing as a new life for him. There was no starting over. He was perpetually a drifter. He had almost forgotten his trainer. That knight who rode to him one day, and took Jaster under his wing; the memories were faded. It was all a blur. He set himself a pace, and turned back to the path leading away from Tier. He started walking out to the wilderness. It was getting dark, but this was not a problem. He would either find a place to camp, or continue walking. Either way, it mattered not to him.
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:47 am
"To answer your question... I used to rule it with my husband. He's... dead. I didn't kill him thankfully, but he died protected the Priestess fifteen years ago. I also noticed that you had remembered something about my name. I'll tell you straight up right now. I destroyed Old Teir. Of my own volition, and not of my own volition.
For you see, Laos had possessed me to a certain extent, and had released an evil in me that I didn't know I had. It was then I went to destroy Teir to pave the way for him to lay waste to it as well. I had also destroyed one of the few things that may have been able to stop him. The elite mercenary unit known as Shiro's Wyverns. I know I had committed the most grevious of sins that day, and I am still looking for a way to redeem myself." Alhana took a breath before continuning.
"The reason I had bothered you was to ask about the newer Teir, as in who is who, things like that. I only wish to keep abreast of things like that, so if I ever make my presence known outside of a few towns, I would know who to go to first. Oh, and I have a question for you. Maybe I didn't understand you, but what did you mean by 'blue?'"
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 2:33 pm
Kernyel looked at the woman guiltily. "Well, i'm a traveler, and know little of Tier and it's ways. I could tell you a decent inn with a reputable 'Keep. He might provide you with more answers. The in is the Golden Pike." she paused and looked off with glazed eyes. "the town is sad, and poor and hungry. The people are nice enough, i suppose, though my exposure to them is limited." she looked sideways at the woman. "I'm sorry about your husband..." softly. "Redemption is often a lonely path...I wish you luck." Priestess...that title she kept filed away in her head, among the jumble of other things that were now askew inside. Temples had priestesses...
Then she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Um..you heard me correctly. I'm...well, i'm blue. Can't you tell? Look at my face!" she paused. "Maybe it's not that visible in firelight..." she mused quietly to herself, speculating about the new phenomena that had happened to appearance. "It's a long story", she said, looking at the woman. She smiled then, bright and sincere. "I suppose that we both have some long stories, huh?" she said with a secretive grin. "I'd tell you, if i could, why i'm blue...but i don't know." she got a confused look on her face and a bit of desperation entered her eyes. "I just, don't know. I wasn't always like this...I was, normal, once. Not always a freak, you know?"
She sighed and looked at the woman anew, amazed at her beauty and compassion. "Thank you so much." she said impulsively. She liked this woman and she liked not feeling like a freak around her. Somehow her unceasing questions and anxieties faded to a small murmer when she was talking to this woman. "You're really, very kind to me."
She felt a little akward, and like she'd said too much. Besides, she was too rested to sleep and felt a bit stir crazy. "I'm gonna go for a walk, do you mind?" She looked questioningly at the woman for a moment before placing her cloak around herself and heading out in the night to walk in the woods and enjoy the sounds of the forest around her and the glimpses of stars above her. She took a deep breath and sighed with something nearing contentment. Blue tints...that day in the water...the rain... She thought on these things, but with detachment and peace. She was still scared and ingnorant of what she really was, but she was having a better time sorting all her memories out now that she was rested and had been fed. And she took comfort in the woman who had helped her. She had alterior appearances and was still happy, sane, normal. Maybe she would be able to walk among towns again without shame or fear of humans. For that's what she'd began to think of the people she'd once thought of as her own. She was different from them. She aged differently from them. She thought differently sometimes. And what she could do wasn't just average 'magic' or 'powers'. She knew that now, could feel the difference since that day when she'd heard a voice in the ocean and been seared with light and energy. She really, was different. The thought was still new, but somehow it seemed right. Like a piece of a puzzle had clicked into place inside of her. And that is a beginning, she thought. One piece at a time, she would figure out just who and what she really was and why she had been brought to this time and place; her purpose.
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Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:30 am
On second thought, now that Alhana thought about it, she really was blue. Sure she had seen some seriously crazy stuff in her time, but the only thing that she had blue was a mermaid, and she wasn't exactly happy, so she was more like a deep purple color. Whatever the case, Alhana would have to wait for her to come back.
Actually, that might be a lot sooner, because Teir was not a place to take a walk at night, regardless of who you were, due to some of the animals being corrupted by Laos. Sighing and wishing she hadn't forgotten that bit of wisdom to impart upon Kernyel, she walked out of the cabin feeling like a fool. She assumed her 'natural' form, and took wing to find the girl before something happened to her.
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Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 5:53 pm
Kernyel was happy and at home in the woods. She'd been traveling the world on her own now for over twelve years, and for at least fifty before that, she'd been allowed to go into the woods near her home and explore unattended by her parents. She'd encountered many strange beasts and travelers.
Things had begun to change around the world just as she had set off on her own... Strange things had happened to the world years ago, but she had no real understanding of them. Her life had been a private fairytale; isolated and joyful. But even she couldn't have failed to notice the changes that trickled down even to her remote location after a while. She was not book learned, so she was unaware of what awful things might now lurk in the world, created and corrupted by evil. She knew only of the 'common' evils that roamed the land.
She felt her hand tugging at her again, insistantly. She tried to ignore the sensation and headed towards the sound of bubbling water. It sounded so cheerful and...familiar. She was still a bit apprehensive about water, but nothing would keep her from her first love for too long. With a sigh of contentment, she found her destination and the breeze began to pick up just a little. Taking on a life from her feelings and smelling of jasmine, it wound around her and carressed her face, making a living thing of her loosed hair. She smiled and laughed; a full, throaty sound. She felt at home, taken care of, embraced, normal... The trees began their part in this play in the night, dancing and giving voice to the motions of the wind. This was no storm she was creating...just an unconscious connection. She called to her element and it returned her summons gently. Her breath caught as she saw a reflection of herself laughing in the small pool of water.
Everything ceased. An eerie silence. The abrupt cessation of all sound or motion or breath. There, in her reflection loomed a dark presence with piercing red eyes that chilled her blood. She swung her face around to see the creature for herself, only to see nothingness. The forest was normal, with all it's normal sounds and sights again. It was like she'd just had a dream or something.... She looked at herself again and saw nothing unusual.
Her heart was racing within her and her breath was comming short. She was unnerved. She didn't know whether to laugh at herself or run crying to Alhana. She decided she'd had enough time in this place alone and rose to head back to the cabin. Now the wind was restless and played through the grass, whistling between the reeds and blades. The drop at her chest began to grow warm, reassuring, calming. She grasped it tightly, wishing her mother was with her again, that her world was the small, cheerful place it had been when she had been with her. In opposition to this effect, her hands grew heavy and cold. Like something was pressing on them, confining their attempts to encourage her.
It occurred to her that she now thought of these pieces of jewelry as beings. Or at least as some how representative of things or people she had yet to meet. Sentient even... Perhaps she was mistaken, but she knew her mother was somehow connected to the drop she'd made and given to Kernyel on that last day. Maybe, there were others like her mother, like herself... connected to her now, hoping in her...
Her pace quickened and she tried desperately to make her way back to the cabin, to Alhana. But she had become turned around somehow. Not a normal event to take place with her; she had an excellent memory and sense of direction. It freaked her out more than anything else that now the forest that she had been treading in so calmly, so confidently had somehow become menacing and unrelenting in its attempts at trapping her. You're overreacting, she thought to herself. Just calm down, think, you know the way you should go, just focus and find it; the damn forest is not out to get you...how absurd! She took a deep breath and began to calmly assess the situation. This lasted for fifteen minutes before the fear once again began to creep into her consciousness. What the hell is going on with things! she despaired. Her life had been nothing but normal (normal for her anyways) until a few days ago. And now it seemed like every step she took determined her way between two paths she didn't even know she was treading. And everywhere she went, someone or something seemed to try and direct those steps one way or another....
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 4:28 am
Dammit! The forest is shifting again! Even if the girl could make her way back to the cabin, things just got a whole lot worse. Alhana thought as she floated over the forest. She could see trees simply uprooting themselves to go plant themselves elsewhere. They were not trents, or any forest spirit like that, but there went the trees, just uprooting themselves and walking to somewhere else. By night's end, the forest would not be what it was during the day.
She closed her eyes, felt te winds dance across her scales, she concentrated on looking for the poor, distraught girl. Having found her, she was lost and confused by the sense of things, she banked in her direction to hover above the girl, and the path. Now this was the tricky part... She assumed her elven form to land in the clearing with a heavy thud, and the jingle of armor.
"Kernyel, I'm sorry, but I totally forgot to tell you that walks are bad around here at night, and I'm sure you figured out why."
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 4:29 am
Jaster heard frantic footsteps on the forest floor. He quickly put out his fire, stood, and drew his sword. He fell into a battle trance, and prepared for what he assumed were highwaymen or theives. After no assault, he paused, then called out to the trees, "Who goes there? 'Allo?" Hearing no response, he gathered his bag and walked towards the sound. Finally, he thought he found it. He set himself, then leapt from behind a tree, sword drawn and ready.
Facing him, not three yards away, were two women. The one looked very, very upset over something. It took Jaster a moment, but he recognized her as the woman from the tavern. The other was a young lady who had just appeared out of thin air. That can't be, he thought to himself, but his senses told him otherwise. Breathing a sigh of relief that niether were a robber, he sheathed his sword and smiled. Then he reached into his pouch and produced the ring.
Not realizing in the slightest how much he'd probably scared them, he said, "I believe this belongs to you, milady." He was so relieved that they weren't going to give him a fight that he failed to think that they would be scared out of their wits about a man with a sword jumping in front of them in the middle of a deserted forest. When this did cross his mind, it was far to late to do anything about, and so he let it go.
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 5:36 am
Alhana looked at the knight who had jumped out and asked something of Kernyel. His sword was rather weak. Oh wait, her husband ran around with a sword some two and a half times larger then that. Trying not to sound suspicious, or ready to kill him, she sighed.
"Kernyel, is he a friend of yours?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 10:53 am
Kernyel looked at Alhana with overwhelming relief. "ah..yes, I see that now." She said, feeling a bit foolish. She was more than ready to head towards wherever this woman was taking her; anywhere was better than right here, right now. "Alhana, I--I saw...something..." She began trying to relate her experience to the woman; she obviously knew more of this place than herself.
Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice out of the dark forest around her. Almost immediately after that, Jaster appeared before her sword waving for a moment, then he began speaking and offering her the missing ring. She stood there with astonishment on her face and numbly reached out her hand to take the ring.
She dully heard Alhana asking her about Jaster. "Uh, yeah, i know him..." She shook her head to clear it.
Turning to Jaster, she looked hard at him. "What are you doing out here? And how did you find us?" She slipped the ring onto her finger and the sensation finally stopped. She hadn't realized how constant it had been until the lack of it showed her.
She took a deep breath, waiting for Jaster and anxious to get moving. She was once again painfully aware of her skin and she kept tugging at her cloak in an vain attempt to prevent him from seeing her face. It was foolishness, but she hadn't become that a peace with the idea of being so very different than she was. At least around Alhana, she felt a sense of mutual understanding. The woman had her own peculiarities. Jaster was normal...
As Jaster answered, she moved in closer to Alhana, urging her to move on, move somewhere; anywhere...just move.
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 12:28 pm
"You sir, are a lucky man. Had I not hesitated, you wouldn't be in one piece. Whatever the case is, we should get moving. It is night in Teir, and if you thought Teir was bad during the day, you haven't seen the worse of it yet." Alhana said. Why was Kernyel clinging to her? It kind of reminded her of Arkayid's clinging when he was a youngling.
"Come, you are welcome to my cabin. I'm sure it would be a lot safer in there then it is out here."
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 3:11 pm
Jaster looked round, and finally answered Kernyel. "I had intended to leave your ring under the door at your room. The inn in Tier, you know. I had a feeling you would not return to that place, so I assumed I would safekeep it until I found you again. After that, I set out once more into the wilderness." His face fell, and his voice cracked for just an instant. "It always seems to be that way. I can never stay in one place for too long. I cause trouble everywhere I go it seems."
He looked at the other girl and smirked. He didn't know what powers she had, he didn't know what hidden weapons she had on her, and he didn't know her skills, but it would not have been easy to remove his limbs from him. He said, "Milady, I know not who you are, nor what you are capable of, but it is wise not to underestimate me. My name, milady," he said with a slight bow, "is Jaster Alan Tikaris." He stood and added, "And your invitation is most pleasing. I thank you very much. If you two would so kindly decide on a direction to go, I would gladly accompany you. That is, of course, if you don't mind."
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 3:34 pm
Feeling immeasureably better, Kernyel followed the woman with Jaster to her cabin. Once safe, her mood changed again... No longer frightened, she lightened up a bit and was even chatty.
Musing idly to herself, she continued to make radom observations about all she saw and heard. Finally, she realized her omission of courtesy. "Jaster, thank you for looking after my ring. I appreciate you going through so much just to bring it back to me." She cocked her head at him; watching him from that odd angle. "Jaster, i've never stayed in one place very long since i was grown. Why does it sadden you so? And where do you think you'll be heading now?" She finished and looked down at her gloved hands with a sense of satisfaction.
It was a few hours shy of morning and Kernyel was anxious to get moving...north now, instead of east... Peculiar, she thought to herself. It hadn't been twelve hours since that she absolutely knew she was supposed to head east... She shrugged to herself and began packing up her belongings in a more orderly fashion, checking staff, blades, and knives to see that they were all in order.
"Alhana.." she started, somewhat shyly, "um..would you, i mean, do you think you'll be staying here?" She asked, hoping the answer was no. There was so much she wanted to ask this woman. She seemed to know secrets that she herself was not privy to. Maybe she would bear answers to some of her questions. Like if she'd ever seen anyone else like herself, and what that thing was that seemed to hover over her in the reflection at the brook.
She shuddered involuntarily at the thought of that thing. It had been watching her, waiting for something... She was reminded of the feeling she experienced in the water that day, of that indeterminable darkness that threatened her people....Now that was an odd expression, she thought. What made you think of them as your people?... Another piece of the puzzle clicked into place within her. For once in her life, Kernyel was forced to maintain the diligence of mind to meditate on herself and her experiences instead of just flitting about from one mood and place to the other. Her sanity, and most likely her safety too, depended on figuring this mystery out.
She waited patiently for all of her questions--her voiced ones anyway--to be answered before heading to bed to await the arrival of dawn and the begining of her new journey northward.((Geez, that was lame! I have writer's block today; forgive! Also, if you want, befriend me and you'll know when i'm on and when i'm not; only friends see that mess. ))
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Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 6:45 am
"To answer the question you are really asking me, yes, I can go with you. Not like I have much to care for in this area. The inhabitants are angry and want to have 'Dragon Soup' for lunch, and I happen to be the main ingredient. The forest moves every night since then, and my son is off making a fool of himself somewhere."
Alhana shrugged and yawned. "Well, there is one thing I want to bring with me." Alhana sat up from the table and approached a wall that had quite the sword on it, now that attention was drawn to it. Alhana didn't try to pick it up. It would've been impossible for her to do so, since she was not of Auren's blood-line.
Arkayid, on the other hand, would be able to hold the sword quite easily, and use it as a weapon. Alhana made a few gesture in the air, created a burning rune of energy. It flashed once and disappeared. Alhana then made a gesture towards the sword and it floated off of the wall, and placed itself on her back, sheath and all.
"The sword that is now on my back is known as Mishizuri. You may or may not of heard of it, but it was my Husband's sword and one of two things I have left of him."
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