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 Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 10:10 am
A I N S L E Y
T h e . A p p r e n t i c e ││. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .││
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 6:45 am
J O U R N A L....E N T R Y
A d v e n t u r e [▣].The Paths of the Dark and the Light
1198
After coming home from a long and relatively productive day (all things considered), Ainsley managed to escape a beating due to more pressing matters the Mistress was dealing with, and so snuck to his room without dinner and plopped down on his bed. After pulling out a quill and ink, he flipped to the first page of a new, leather-bound book he picked up on his way home...  .There was just something about today that prompted me to purchase this book and catalog the significant happenings in my life from here, onwards. I met an
interesting Dovaa - not the first I've run into, but certainly the most interesting - by the name of Arick. He asked me to find a few things for him, and I did.. but only
for the sake of novelty; I have a feeling he was just being lazy and making excuses. He rewarded me for my trouble though, so at least it wasn't a complete waste
of time and energy.
││. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .││
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 11:00 am
D I R E C T O R Y....E N T R Y
S o l o . R o l e p l a y T h a t..M o m e n t..o f..C l a r i t y.His day started out early, as usual, and was busy with morning chores and the like. The young Orderite was even sent grocery shopping, as the Mistress was much too lazy to go on her own (much to his annoyance, though he did enjoy himself while he was out), and upon his return was given yet another set of tasks to do before the day was done. Ainsley was grateful for the busy work, but in the passing weeks his discontent and restlessness with his current situation was slowly eating away at him, like locusts in a forest. His mood fluctuated randomly, and when he ought to be concentrating he just couldn't keep his focus. Even the other servants took notice, and the youngest of them - a girl named Ava - was the first to actually talk to him about it.
"Ainsley?" she started, sidling up to the young blonde and staring up at him with big, curious eyes of a soft amethyst. They held all the concern in the world, and when Ainsley glanced over at her he almost managed a weak smile. Almost, anyway.
"What?" the boy replied, gruff as usual. Ava was used to it though, as was everyone else, so paid it no mind.
"You know you've been wiping the same spot on the table for the past twenty minutes?" The girl, nearly 6 years old by her own reckoning, giggled slightly while pointing. Ainsley's fiery red eyes followed her finger, which started from the spot where he'd been wiping and slowly moved to the rest of the still dirty table. He blinked a bit, then pushed past her to get started on the rest of his work.
"I know," he replied with a snort, brows furrowed. It'd been bugging him, and he knew everyone else could tell that he wasn't entirely there, but he didn't know what to do about it exactly, so he just put up with it. He didn't have any other choices, after all. Ava frowned at the reply and quietly followed him as he wiped down the table and hurried back to clean off the cloth he was using.
"Are you okay?" the girl asked, more directly this time, while tugging at his sleeve as he was about to exit and head for the garden to clear his head. Ainsley knew he still had a few more things to do and that the Mistress was due home soon - sundown was only an hour or so away - but he could afford it. If anything, someone else would pick up his slack. It was an all-for-one situation and, while he hated not pulling his own weight, he knew that the others would understand. They were the closest thing he had to a family, after all, and they all looked out for each other.
"I'm fine," he muttered with a sigh, scratching the side of his head with a damp finger. "I just need some time to myself, that's all. Tell the others that I'll be okay, alright?" Ainsley said it as convincingly as he could manage, which was enough for the younger Orderite, and she nodded.
"You know, if you ever need help with something, that we're all here..." was all she said, and in a bit of a whisper too, before skipping off to tell the others. Ainsley watched her go, and when she turned the corner he slowly made his way to the garden. The atmosphere in that area of the house was so refreshing to him, and it was his favorite place to just sit down and think. It was an expansive place, especially for just a garden, and it reminded him of his old home. Trees that grew as high as the peak of the Citadel, the feeling of fresh dirt beneath his bare feet, damp grass from the morning dew, the fresh scent of budding flowers...
Beneath the single tree that sat to the right of the garden was a little spot of flattened grass, which was where Ainsley always sat when he went there to spend his free time. Today wasn't any different, and the young Orderite carefully took his place underneath the canopy of the tree, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath once he was seated. It took all of a second for his mind to settle, and there was just one thing that permeated his thoughts at that moment: he couldn't stay.
748 ││. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .││
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Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 8:20 pm
J O U R N A L....E N T R Y
A d v e n t u r e [▣].Hunting a Thief
3642
A long day behind him, with an additional beating because he came home late, tracked in dirt, and forced the Mistress to use some of her stored herbs to deal with his injuries, Ainsley sprawled onto his bed and pulled out his journal, quill and ink at the ready... .Ava lost her bracelet today, and since she couldn't get it back herself I offered to go for her. She took me to this old house, and I had to push past a giant spider to
get to it. I got some bites along the way, but found some treasure for my trouble. I tried finding more, but a Notbjaovin got in my way. I know there's no way to be
sure if there was anything to find in its den at this point, but I got even more injuries after I tried to get it out of the way.
I'll get back at it one day - that's a promise.
││. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .││
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Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 6:30 am
J O U R N A L....E N T R Y
P . R . P [▣].Appearances
0000
Brief introduction... .││. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .││
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 5:45 am
J O U R N A L....E N T R Y
D r a g o n . H u n t [▣].Seeing Green
809
After waking up in bed at home, Ainsley whipped out his journal in a daze, squinting at the paper beneath his quill in an attempt to recall the day's events... .I ran into a dragon today. That's right, a dragon. Big green one, I think they're called Ysali? Not really sure. I must have angered it somehow - probably when I
inspected that rock-with-a-hole - and it came after me, so I ran. I.. can't remember what happened after I fell while running, but since I'm still alive either someone
saved me or killed the dragon.
Honestly, I'm hoping it was the former. I'd like to get back at that thing myself...
││. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .││
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 7:00 am
D I R E C T O R Y....E N T R Y
S o l o . R o l e p l a y T o..E o w y n.The day after that incident with the dragon was more eventful than the young Orderite would have liked, at least in terms of how many questions he was being asked. It was like running into a dragon was incredibly rare, though considering he was just a plain civilian at present he kind of had to agree with that notion, but that didn't make it any less annoying; even the Mistress was demanding details, some of which he simply couldn't give. That alone was frustrating enough, the fact that he couldn't remember everything that happened, but as he was going deep into thought during one of his longer breaks, Ava came and poked him in the side. Raising a brow at the interruption, he looked at her from the corners of his eyes.
"What?" he asked, making no effort whatsoever to hide his annoyance and relatively irate mood.
"A man at the door says he's looking for you," came her reply. That statement brought Ainsley to his feet, the child curious and suspicious at the same time as to who it was. With any luck it'd be the one responsible for saving him yesterday; if not, it was likely another salesman looking for the Mistress and being directed to him just for fun or some kind of distraction. The other servants had their own way of helping him out, and he couldn't not appreciate the effort.
The trip to the front door was a short one, having memorized the layout of the Mistress's property like the back of his hand, and as soon as he was there he was met with the site of an older Orderite - perhaps 30 or 40 years his senior - grass green eyes smiling at him upon catching site of the young blonde.
"Who are you?" Ainsley asked with a raised brow as he warily got closer. A few of the other workers, he knew, were watching from a few select hiding spots that had a clear view of the front door, but only Ava stood behind Ainsley. The man didn't so much as budge, but he simply watched Ainsley watch him through his slitted eyes, as though waiting for something or some kind of a reaction. The younger Orderite was simply appraising the man, soon enough coming to the conclusion that he was some kind of traveler involved in the war.
"Oh? I'm afraid there's been some kind of misunderstanding," the man finally spoke, his voice deep, strong, and with a beguiling youthfulness in its tone. "I've come to speak with Narsha."
Those who knew the Mistress's name were few and far between, so as soon as the man said it Ainsley averted his gaze, nodded quietly and dismissed himself to inform the Mistress about her visitor. She came swiftly, with Ainsley right on her tail and carrying something small and akin to a treasure chest, her smile wide and welcoming as she greeted her visitor.
"So you finally came!" she said in her practiced tone of voice, sweet and melodious, drawing the man into a warm hug, which he returned in kind.
"As we agreed, though I do apologize for the delay," he replied with a simple nod. The woman ushered him in and they sat in the living room. She discreetly dismissed Ainsley and the rest of them with a small, furtive nod in the general direction of the servants' quarters in the process too. She was always on her best behavior when she had guests over. Ainsley nudged Ava ahead of himself and slowly walked back to the room after her, catching a few words from their conversation as he went. As soon as they closed the door though, he forced himself to forget about the strange visitor and sprawled himself on his bed, somewhat grateful for the respite from work. He knew she'd tack on extra assignments later because of this break, but he was still grateful for the time off to rest a bit. After a soft sigh and turning to his side to stare at the wall, Ainsley nodded off into a dreamless sleep.
It'd be hours before he woke up, and once he did, the first thing he noticed was the stars in the night sky...
"Night sky!?" the boy said with a start, bolting upright into a sitting position and nearly giving himself whiplash in the process. The man beside him only glanced sidewards for all of a second before chuckling and going back to huffing into his pipe. A few other passengers aboard the ship Ainsley realized he was on were looking at him with mixed expressions, mostly of annoyance and amusement though, and when he managed to calm himself down he asked the man the first thing that came to mind.
"Where are we going?"
His reply was simple enough, and with a clap on Ainsley's shoulder he said, "To Eowyn, my boy. To Eowyn."
829 ││. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .││
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 7:55 am
D I R E C T O R Y....E N T R Y
S o l o . R o l e p l a y Q u a n ,..t h e..W a n d e r e r.Meet Quan; how Ainsley was taken from the Mistress's house
0000 ││. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .││
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 6:05 pm
J O U R N A L....E N T R Y
P . R . P [▣].Student's First Purchase
0000
Almost immediately after lunch, Ainsley whipped out his journal to jot down his thoughts on his second encounter with Arick... .The big, burly Dovaa is still big and.. well, burly. He didn't seem to remember me, but it seems like he and Quan are at least familiar with each other. He mentoned
something about meeting a master alchemist named.. Api-something though, which makes me a curious. I'm planning on asking Quan about it later. He'll probably
know who Arick was talking about.
││. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .││
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 7:20 pm
J O U R N A L....E N T R Y
A d v e n t u r e [▣].Herb Hunting
720
The day had only started, but Ainsley, having just returned from a brief but still satisfying adventure on his own, whipped out his journal and readied his quill and ink... .Quan sent me out to find a rare plant today. After I brought it to him he said it was called a Gold Petalia, and that it was good for making stronger potions and
things when I get better at alchemy. I haven't even started the proper training yet, but I'm excited to start. I feel like we're inching closer, but are still quite a way's
away. It's hard, my training and everything, but I think it'll be worth it.
││. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .││
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 7:30 pm
J O U R N A L....E N T R Y
D r a g o n . H u n t [▣].You Again
654
After making it safely back to base camp, Ainsley was happy to find that Quan had yet to return from finding what to cook for lunch. After calming himself down, he pulled out his journal, quill, and ink once more... .Second entry for the day, but I just want to say that I'm beginning to get annoyed with these dragons. I was looking for firewood, of all things, and another Ysali
dragon attacks me! It was the same one from last time, I think. I really need to learn how to fight these things so I don't have to keep running like a coward and
resorting to distractions to get away.
I still need to find some firewood for lunch too, since I dropped the ones I found before I ran into the thing.
││. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .││
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Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 3:05 pm
J O U R N A L....E N T R Y
D r a g o n . H u n t [▣].Quit Following Me
558
Upon waking, Ainsley found that he was sore, tired, and particularly hungry. The event with the pesky Ysali dragon continued to haunt him, even into his dreams, so before getting dinner the boy quickly pulled out his journal... .I'll kill it. I swear on whatever honorable family member's graves exist, I'll kill that Ysali dragon. I can't believe it actually followed me to camp; how persistent. What happened with the stick the first time I ran into it wasn't even on purpose, but it's still holding a grudge! Ugh. Well, since it won't leave me alone, the next time I
see it I'll make sure to get even!
Now, time for dinner.
││. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .││
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Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 3:20 pm
D I R E C T O R Y....E N T R Y
S o l o . R o l e p l a y D e c i s i o n s ,..D e c i s i o n s.Recovering from the unfortunate events with the Ysali dragon had taken longer than Ainsley had hoped. It was lucky that Quan had found him at all, considering, and after waking and having some dinner the young Orderite was told as such. He felt like a child being scolded for messing around with the wrong bully and paying the heft, albeit needed, price for it. Truth be told, after tumbling down the side of the ledge, Ainsley didn't remember much of anything. Snippets of that damned dragon kept coming to him though, and after three days of recovering the blonde was getting antsy. Quan was also less pleasant and much more serious; like something had been weighing on his mind ever since the incident.
Today was no different. It was already well past midday and Ainsley had been tasked with simple tasks in and around the camp area so as to avoid aggravating what few injuries he had remaining, the most notable of which was his sprained ankle and dislocated elbow. Simply put, the poor boy was bored. It'd been well past a month since Quan had liberated him from the "ownership" of the Mistress, and he'd gotten so used to being able to train and spend his days being intensely physically active, that he actually kind of forgot what it felt like to just sit around and do nothing - which he was able to do before, at least for longer than an hour or two at a time. The past few days had been about academic studies. Alchemy, the history of Serenia, more details about the war, that kind of thing, and he just.. wasn't used to it anymore.
Quan felt Ainsley had been restless by halfway through the second day, so today, after delegating a few simple, non-strenuous tasks to Ainsley, he disappeared into the city - or wherever he went when he left the campsite alone. Ainsley had expected him back by lunch, but as he never showed the boy ate by himself, then read some more and slept some more, then read some more and slept some more. Thankfully, Quan arrived before he was about to settle in for his fifth nap that day, the sight of the older Orderite getting Ainsley to bolt straight up and, in the process, put more pressure on his ankle than he'd intended.
"Ah!" the boy winced and instantly sat back down, gripping his ankle. Quan didn't run up to him with concern, and instead chuckled and dropped the load he'd been carrying off to the side before approaching him.
"Wise to sit," he said, dropping another smaller pouch beside Ainsley's ankle. "Herbs and other medicinal stuffs, to help heal you up quicker. I'll take care of all the mixing though, since you'll probably end up blowing up our campsite if I let you handle any of it."
The second statement was said and meant in a joking manner, though Ainsley didn't take it so lightly. It was true though, so he tried his best to hold his tongue--
"Wisecrack..."
Well, he tried anyway. The retort made his mentor laugh, however, and clap a heavy hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "Come now, take a joke. You know, I knew a man once, several years ago, who refused to take anything lightly -- much like you, in fact. A few dragon hunts with me and he was cracking jokes with the best of them. You'll need a sense of humor," Quan said, a softer, almost gentle, look crossing his features for a second. "If you're to live this kind of life. Too much serious will kill you."
Ainsley resisted the urge to snort derisively with relative success; what came out sounded like stifled sneeze of sorts, which Quan seemed to take as his cue to move on to the next item on his agenda.
"What you'll also need, though," he started saying as he got up from where he'd crouched beside the younger Orderite, "Is a weapon."
Ainsley's ears perked at that. A weapon.. he'd never even thought to get one. Glancing over at Quan, however, he noted a myriad of holsters and such things that could possibly be concealing a weapon or two. The man had never been seen carrying anything overt, however, so Ainsley had never thought about getting a weapon of his own. The interested that was so obvious on the boy's face brought a grin to Quan's, and he carefully unloaded the pack he'd been carrying not too long ago.
What he set before young Ainsley was a selection of weapons, four to be exact, each simple and representing a type of some kind. At present, from where he sat, none of them really stood out all that much, but he was taken in by the idea of being given a weapon. "Take your pick, boy," Quan said, then sat beside him and let the blonde make his decision. Ah -- better yet, he could actually choose.
The radiating pain in his ankle seemed to disappear as he carefully made his way over to where the weapons were laid out. The closer he got the more he felt something strange about these weapons. It was neither friendly nor hostile, it was just.. there. It kind of felt like a tugging of some kind, as though each weapon was trying to get his attention. Maybe it was even vice versa, with something inside of him fighting over which one to pick. Whatever the case, it was rather confusing -- all of it -- and Quan didn't seem to have any plans to give him information about any of the weapons. He simply had to pick...
As he sat there, mulling over his choices, memories of his most recent experiences came to the forefront of his mind. The Bognotti that bit him, that pesky Not-whatever shoving him down the stairs multiple times, the Ysali dragon that was seemingly holding a grudge..
And slowly all of his bitter memories began to surface as well, beginning from his earliest memories -- and those weren't even very clear to him anymore; they were just feelings and emotions -- to being forced to work in the Mistress's house. Her treatment and cruel words, all the beatings and disciplinary actions he had to undergo as a child and getting picked on about his status in life, to growing up into the Orderite he was at that very moment, carrying all the scars and all the heaviness and bitterness each and every encounter and experience had brought him...
It was like he didn't even have to think; his hand immediately went to the blunted weapon, and he picked it up and felt a sort of resonance with it. The discomfort from earlier was slowly dissipating the longer he held onto the weapon, and when he was absolutely sure of his choice he carried it back to Quan, who was smirking.
"That man is going to turn in his grave," he said with a laugh, then clapped Ainsley on the shoulder once more. "It's a good choice, boy, a very good choice."
1197 ││. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .││
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Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 5:15 am
J O U R N A L....E N T R Y
D r a g o n . H u n t [▣].Satisfaction
667
After his first successful battle with an Ysali, Ainsley thought to write about the event in his journal... .I finally got back at that Ysali; it didn't even stand a chance. I really feel like all that hard work I put in was worth, and I'm pretty satisfied with the result. I want to
get stronger.. I almost feel like I need to, at this point.
││. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .││
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Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 5:50 am
J O U R N A L....E N T R Y
D r a g o n . H u n t [▣].A Lesson on Arrogance
439
After waking up, sore and once again in an immense amount of pain, Ainsley struggled to get out his journal and quill... .I think all these Ysali are out to get me. I didn't even do anything this time.. was just looking for wood for dinner. Ugh...
││. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .⋮. XXXXX .││
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