Welcome to Gaia! ::

Blah. Looks like I got attention. Some man had commented that Halo was excited. Yeah, excited that they were FINALLY leaving! He had to get away from here as soon as possible. Halo managed a small grin. Cain of Azurea? Why does that sound familiar? Uh, maybe it's one of those names my brother rattled off.. Umm, yeah, ok. For some reason, he sounds important. Er, better play it safe

Halo greeted the Baron back. "Ah, I am Halo, Holy Knight." Oh, crap. I really hope this guy doesn't know Halo...especially since he says he's got an elf name. He did the proper greeting and understood why Cain didn't extend his hand. The elf nodded and decided he would call the Baron by the elvish name. Halo was an elf after all, and the elvish tongue was more comfortable to speak in than the human tongue. "Well, met, Aransadorien. May we be successful in our unified quest."

Cain tipped on his lower lip with the index finger of his armored Hand. ”Halo...Halo...Lord Halo... he muttered and ignored the latter part of Halos introduction and greeting. ”Help me along Lord Halo, where have I heard your name before?” the baron looked at the young Knight, he knew an elf's age could never be guessed, but for some reason he looked too young for what he had in mind, or at least too...feminine. But perhaps that was just an exaggerated elf trait, Cain had met many elves and few of them did look very feminine although they were males.
”Ah, I know! In the Forests of Ordona.” Cain suddenly laughed. He had seen Lord Halo before, people had spoken highly of him but Cain didn't actually meet him.
”So we do finally get to meet.”
Cains griffin was irritated by the uproar of his masters laughter for a moment and slanted to the right, almost bumping into Halos Horse but managed to not collide somehow. Cain still felt some of the alcohols effects and decided he should shift down some gears, He didn't need to get injured before any adventuring happened.

”So tell me Halo, why are you so excited?” the Baron inquired. ”I heard you're quite the adventurer, are the dragons scaring ya lad?” Cain laughed quite loudly, he didn't mean to offend the elf but was just messing with him. After all, if things had gone differently they may have been companions on some errand in the past.
But despite how it looked Cain didn't really know anything of Lord Halo besides his name and a few rumours about his adventures he supposedly lived through. Cain didn't even know if any of those were true and he didn't really care.

Just as he was pondering his predicament, a familiar voice rang out from besides him. The second elf from earlier had approached him on a horse. "Hey, elf girl!" He was about to reply to her offer when the elven mage from earlier approached and interrupted.

The gryphon landing was a delightful sight, and given that it was a free mount, it would probably be the best choice. And it had suddenly seemed that the iar had tensed considerably. Were these two elvish girls fighting over him, a mere bard? He much rathered riding with one of them, but he didn't want to lose the chance to go on an errand just because two girls wanted kill him. Yet. No action on the actual errand yet, but plenty of stories to whip up already.

The bard laughed to break the mood. "Thank you for both your offers. Your steeds are both elegant and marvelous" He grinned. "Zaria does have a point though. I shall be honored to ride on your glorious gryphon then, Zaria," River said lightly.

But he hadn't really ridden gryphons that often, at least while he was with the caravan. Who knew what it was like before he lost his memory? Hopefully, he wouldn't fall off.

”I understand.” Cain nodded with a smile, he knew that feeling, it was the way he'd felt when he was travelling with his elven comrades, back when he was a teenager.
”But we cannot afford to lose Lord Halo, and even you should know that good preparation is already half a victory.” Cain nodded a bit as he spoke about, it was one of the things he already knew before he joined the academy, for being unprepared had caused the lives of almost all his friends. The barons face grew stern at the though, even cold. That was the true difference between a soldier, a knight and a trained officer. The officer looked at the big picture, he was sure Elenda knew this too.
”That's something you should remember... the barons aid as he pulled out of his thoughts. ”That knowledge could have saved thousands of lives in the history of not only Mandor.” Cain winked at the knight, he'd been right, he was either young or inexperienced, but he knew the latter wouldn't apply to Lord Halo.

Sariel nodded her head.

"It would be better for you to have a ride of your own." She replied. "It is very nice of her to offer." She smiled at them both letting the small slight fall off her as though it was nothing more then a drop of water. She had done this to herself although she did feel that the mage was a bit high strung.

Sariel pulled her hood back up and said a farewell as she pushed her horse to move a bit faster leaving the two behind to discuss their terms of the mount. She looked around, peered into the deepest dark she could find. And all she could really see was stars. The idea of those sparkleing lights in the deepest dark was enough to live her life by

Cain looked like he was reminiscing about something when he mentioned dragons. Did he have experience with dragons? I definitely don't. So, Halo merely nodded and then barely managed to stop himself from freezing at Cain's next words.

Oh, no. Politics? I'm doomed. I don't know what this guy does! He's a baron, so he must have some land and rule over something... Dang! I should have listened in history lessons more and paid more attention to Brother.

Halo nodded and smiled faintly. "Of course, but perhaps, we should leave that discussion for another time. We seem to be moving on."

Inside Halo's head, he screamed, MOVVEEEEE! Elenda, MOVE FASTER!!!! Other wise I'm going to have to BS something! He was already trying to think of what to say. If elves supported Cain, then Halo had a 50% chance of getting his brother's stance right. It was a yes or no question. If other elves supported Cain, then Halo probably did unless there was something wrong with Cain's character... and the alcohol smell lingering on the guy.

Dame Elenda of Mandor
....on the road descending from the Castle of Mandor.

The wide, packed dirt road circled the steep-sided, solitary mountain in a great, expanding spiral. The road took two days to climb, but only four hours to descend. Elenda planned to cut that time in half, arriving at the Castle Town by midnight. In addition to setting a tone of haste for this journey--the sooner to ascertain the effects of the dragons' rising--as well as a great many other things, this would also suit the land stryders well, since they loved little more than a breakneck run.

Traveling by night would ensure that no one would be on the road to hinder their progress. There would be people along the way, but they would be off the road, resting at one of the park-like gardens or sheltered caves set into the mountainside. Secure in that knowledge, Dame Elenda set the pace to a trot. Impossibly unsafe on almost any other downward path, the width and much-traveled smoothness of the road here made this a safe practice, as long as riders maintained a little extra distance between one another.

The downhill pace served another purpose. It required attention, concentration and teamwork. It had been a slow day preparing; everyone was restless and ready for something like this to test their mettle. The challenge would be satisfying and tiring, which would help them to sleep when they reached the base of the mountain--after the folk there had their fill of singing their praises.

The trail began to streak by as the road pulled them downward. The spiraling passage was a glorious, never-ending vista, displaying the surrounding mountains, cliffs, valleys and cliff-face forests. The sky was rapidly turning a purplish hue, making all but the road ahead less visible. Yet all could still see, feel and remember the stunning landscape that surrounded them, reminding them how small they really were.

More than once in her life, Elenda had made this run at a full gallop. She still remembered the thrill. She wasn't fool enough to dare any such thing with a group this size, but that didn't mean she would not have liked to. Nevertheless, Elenda was well satisfied by the already considerable challenge a night-time, downhill trot presented, and she relished the feel of the wind in her face, the gentle burn of her arm as she clutched her halberd, and the sporadic pull of her cloak against the moving air.