Wrath of the Dragonkin

[Lady Jenn]

She cast a spell to start the fire and then sat down with a sigh. "It's part of this world's history most modern people ignore," she said. "There was a time when Elves were found throughout these lands, during that time an Orc warlord came to power who gathered a larger horde than any before or since. At first it was simple raiding parties, the kind of thing humans and my kind could brush off with relative ease, but then he ransacked a human city north of the forest. The humans went to my grandfather begging him for aid, and he was smart enough to know the threat this posed to all races. So, as a mark of the new alliance they were to form he had the greatest Elven smiths of the age forge a sword he would take into battle," she said, pointing to her sword. "The runes on it were created with Elven magic, imbued with dragon magic...It is almost impossible to shatter and it is claimed in the right hands the magic it holds can be used by its wielder." She seemed distant for a moment. "As for why any would follow you, it goes back to the final battle of that war: my grandfather was the one who faced the warlord, and while he slew the orc his wounds..." she paused. "His courage in the face of certain defeat led the leaders of all races to make a promise on the blade. If another threat arose that might bring an end to the world, and one arose wielding this sword, all would swear their loyalty to them. It's possible even a dragon lord would be your ally at one sight of that blade."

She got up, shifting uneasily. "You should take the hammock, I can sleep on the ground and I'm sure your boyfriend wouldn't appreciate us sharing a hammock."

[Orenji]

Cefrey props her chin up on her hand, looking up with a grin on her face and says, "How sly of you Ariadne, testing to see if I'm seeing anyone and indirectly inviting me into your bed all in one fell swoop...."

[Lady Jenn]

"That's not what I..." she said, turning bright red. "I am not used to...I believe humans call it flirting, the last person I was in a relationship was...some time ago." She brushed a tear from her eye. "It was a genuine offer, I don't even know why I still have that hammock, when I do sleep here I mostly sleep on the forest floor anyway."

[Orenji]

Cefrey chuckles to herself a bit, "I was just teasing you, go ahead and take the hammock, I don't need to sleep anyways."

After changing her psychic focus to the discipline of the Adaptive Body to rid herself of the need to sleep, she pulls out a massive bag, stuffed to the brim with clothes, potions, tools, and a wide variety of adventuring supplies from the extradimensional space of her Hold Object spell. Pulling out her herbology and alchemist's tools and materials, she gets started on brewing her potions.

"Go ahead and get some sleep, I've got plenty of work to do. I'll wake you up in the morning."

[Lady Jenn]

"Pity," she said as she clambered into the hammock, pulling a blanket over her. "I could have done with someone to cuddle up with right about now." Although she tried to make it sound flirtatious she sounded more sad, falling asleep with a necklace gripped in one hand, opened on a picture of her and a young woman.

[Orenji]

After a few minutes of crushing amrans leaves with her mortar and pestle and working them into a vial of water boiling above a small burner, Cefrey hears the rhythmic sound Ariadne's breathing as she falls asleep and then lets out a huge sigh of relief.

Damn, talk about coming on strong. Well, she's not bad looking, but there's no way all the nine hells that I'm jumping into that fiery mess, especially knowing she's still not over her last lover. Guess I'll just have to figure out how to deal with her in the morning after she wakes up....

Working into the night, she brews a number of potions, creates another extradimensional space to hold the Dawnhammer Blade, hoping to stay a bit more inconspicuous, and expends the last of her psionic energy on the Healing Elixir spell, conjuring two additional potions for the next day, before replenishing her psionic energy for the day. Upon sunrise, as difficult as it is to tell beneath the impenetrable canopy of the forest, Cefrey gently wakes Ariadne up.

[Lady Jenn]

"Wha-" she started saying taking a moment to wake up and remember the events of the night before. "I'm not sure I've slept so well in a very long time." As she sat up she noticed the necklace, feeling her heart sink. "You weren't supposed to see that," she said, hanging it back around her neck and jumping to the floor. "You wouldn't begin to understand," she said, walking over to find fresh clothes. "We need to plan where we're going today." As she slipped her cloak on she slammed a fist against the nearby tree trunk. "No non-Elf could understand what I went through, I was a fool for thinking you'd understand." She set about checking her quiver, in which one had noticeably darker feathers than the rest of the arrows, which she took out and checked carefully before replacing.

[Orenji]

"Hey," a serious look in her eyes, Cefrey reprimands her in an icy cold tone, "I can't pretend I didn't hear that. I've lived my whole life pretending to belong to other races, and I can tell you from first hand experience that anything you think you know about another race is all bullshit. Anytime you or anyone I've ever met has made an assumption like that, it's been because they were selfishly pushing their feelings and problems onto a group of people they know nothing about, and it's disgusting. Don't ever let me hear you talk like that again."

An eerie silence befalls the camp as Cefrey stares daggers at her.

[Lady Jenn]

"Myraz killed her," Ariadne snapped at her. "I let her go back to your city because I thought she was safer away from me, all I did was..." she closed her eyes, trying to calm herself. "I wear that necklace because she gave it to me the last time I saw her alive, as a reminder that I will kill him if I ever get the chance." Tears were coming freely now. "Are you proud?" she said, standing up and facing her. "I offered you affection and you judge me when you have no idea what happened, I need to..." she started to turn to leave the clearing when she stumbled, barely catching herself on a nearby tree, seeing blood coming from her side. "Crap, last night."

[Orenji]

"Tch..." Cefrey clicks her tongue and then swiftly rushes over to Ariadne's side, switching her psychic focus to her Mastery of Force to neutralize some of Ariadne's weight as she picks her up and carries her over to a clear, flat section of earth. "If you're injured, you shouldn't have push yourself so hard..."

Opening the extradimensional space, Cefrey drops her bag to the floor and uses her Warping of Force to pull a towel sticking out of the bag into the air and dropping it flat on the earth before carefully laying Ariadne on top of it, after ripping open her clothes covering the wound, Cefrey quickly applies one of the two healing potions she conjured last night before examining the wound more closely.

[Lady Jenn]

"I was too busy saving your life," she said, wincing slightly as the potions got to work, before laughing. "I don't even remember how I got that injury, that's the problem with travelling for hours without stopping." She gingerly sat up, glad to feel that the pain of the wound at least had subsided. "Thank you," she said. "I owe you one for that." She found herself so close to her that, for reasons even she wasn't sure of, she pulled Cefrey into a kiss, before almost immediately letting go again. "I...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that."

She got to her feet, and went over to pick up her weapons, careful to avoid the bandages. "We can't walk across the forest, time is of the essence and that will take us far too long." She thought for a moment, then a smile crossed her face. "There is an old friend of mine, a bit north of here, who has horses we can use. If we reach the walled town north of the forest by nightfall we've covered considerable ground in one day, plus there is someone in that town who knows the events beyond the forest better than we do." She walked over and offered Cefrey her hand to help her up. "Listen, I..." she paused, trying to choose the right words. "My...reluctance with you is not because of my past love, I fear if you get close to me you will get hurt. I would like to be...closer to you, but only if it was what you want. You don't need to answer now, I suspect we have more than enough excitement ahead to distract us."

[Orenji]

"You don't have to worry about me getting hurt, I'm a big girl that can take care of herself," she says with a grin. Turning serious, she walks up to Ariadne, putting a finger on her chest (her sternum you pervs) and looking her straight in the eyes, though it's hard to tell as she has no pupils, she continues, "You should worry more about yourself and what you want. You said that you offered me affection and I judged you when I have no idea what happened, but if I were in your shoes, I would've been more offended if I had taken you up on that offer when I hardly even know you and I clearly don't hold any special feelings for you whatsoever. Besides, before you even think about entering a new relationship with someone, for both your sake and the sake of your partner's, you need closure. Trust me, I know this from first hand experience too. I know what you're probably thinking, but slaying Myraz isn't going to get you closure, just vengeance. I don't know what you're going through, so you need to take a good, long look at yourself and figure out how to get that closure yourself.... Look, I haven't spent much time with you, but as far as I can tell, you're a beautiful, capable woman Ariadne. You'll get through this and find happiness again, and when that day comes, I'm sure you'll find someone wonderful to share it with. Whether or not that person is me, well, we'll just have to wait and see."

[Lady Jenn]

She turned away from her, feeling a mixture of anger and sadness but unwilling to let her see it. She shouldered her bow and put the quiver over the other, trying to keep herself distracted. "We need to go, Laeran may not be far from here but even mounted I wouldn't suggest being in this forest at night, those wolves aren't even the worst predators that call this place home." She stepped towards the edge of the clearing. "Gather everything you need, we won't be coming back here for a long time," she said, pulling her hood back over her head.

[Orenji]

(BTW, in case you thought she said it out loud, but the words "Damn, talk about coming on strong. Well, she's not bad looking, but there's no way all the nine hells that I'm jumping into that fiery mess, especially knowing she's still not over her last lover. Guess I'll just have to figure out how to deal with her in the morning after she wakes up...." were in italics because they were Cefrey's internal thoughts. Not sure, but it seems like you thought Ariadne heard her say it and she wasn't really sleeping, and now she's pissed off, all she would've heard was a sigh.)

Sighing and shaking her head to herself, Cefrey tosses her bag back into its extradimensional space, polymorphs back into the form of a scrawny looking, jet black haired man fitting the merchant's outfit she now wears, and follows after Ariadne.

[Lady Jenn]

(Let's just say it's more a case of she feels a bit paranoid about...a lot of things...and right now she feels like Cefrey just confirmed her paranoia. Although I'm 100% certain Cefrey did that completely by accident lol. Also, I'm about to cue up a way for our buddy to jump in almost directly lol)

They thankfully didn't need to travel too far until they reached a large clearing, at the centre of which was a low building, a pasture containing three horses set to one side of the building. Ariadne walked up to the door, knocking on the door and getting no immediate response. "Laeran, I know you're in there, you never leave this clearing and you're nowhere outside." There was a clumping noise from the other side of the door, and it opened to a man as tall as Ariadne, a few faint dark brown strands hinting at the former colour of his now grey hair, with an apron hung over a red tunic and brown trousers. His most remarkable feature however was that his eyes were milky white, a sign of his blindness.

"Is that you Princess?" he asked, reaching out and pulling her into a hug so strong she visibly winced. "This is the longest it's been since you visited me in a long time."

"Laeran, we spoke about this before," Ariadne said, sighing. "Don't call me that, especially in front of others. My friend...doesn't know about that."

"What about your other friend?" Laeran asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What other friend?" Araidne asked, her hand lingering on the sword at her belt.

"The one who triggered the bells that surround this pasture," Laeran replied. "You've known me long enough to not trigger those, so I know it wasn't yours."

"The hell..." Ariadne said under her breath, taking her bow from her shoulder and knocking an arrow to it, unsure where to point it. "I don't know who you are," she called out, "but I advise you show yourself now. The old man may not wish to harm others, you cannot say the same about me however."

[Pdriggy]

Running at a quick walk a scruffy looking broad man with weeds sticking out in all places of his clothing tumbles from the woods through to the pasture.

"Will you keep that nonsense down and put that bow away, what am I going to do? Throw stink blossoms at you!" he says in an annoyed voice while pulling said weeds from everywhere it was stuck.

"There are wolves sniffing round in there and I for one don't want to be lunch, I have to mask my scent with these wretched things. Now be a darling and get in that door before the catch your scent too." He trundles up to 50 yards of the place assessing the low building and the fair ones in the doorway.

"Look I'm Barty, you are you guys, we're all friends here. Now lets get inside and celebrate with a glass of your finest away from that creepy forest, I thought I'd never find my way to a clearing." He gestures with a rugged handsome face, eyes pointing to the side for a second, as if to say, 'there is no need for the bow, point it somewhere else and give me a break; this guys had a hell of a night.'

[Orenji]

Putting her hand on Ariadne's wrist and pushing it down, Cefrey turns to Barty and says apologetically, "Sorry about that, my friend here is a bit jumpy because we just managed to escape from some pretty nasty bandits. Hopefully, they're too preoccupied with my cargo to chase this far after us, but you can never be too careful..." she finishes, flawlessly acting the part with a clearly bitter but resigned attitude.

[Lady Jenn]

"It's good to know you're making some friends for once your hi-" Laeran started saying, before a growl from Ariadne made him stop. "I'm sorry Ariadne, you know I would do nothing to put you in danger. There must be a reason for you being here, right?"

"We need horses," Ariadne replied. "We're heading north but we need to travel rapidly. Are the horses ready?"

"My horses are always ready," Laeran said, chuckling. "She has been wondering when you'd return." As Ariadne walked towards the paddock he turned towards the other two. "Take whichever you wish, but you would be advised to leave the dark horse to Ariadne, that horse will allow no other to ride it."

Two of the horses in the pasture looked almost identical, but the third was considerably different: a massive black horse, it seemed momentarily wary until Ariadne approached, reacting as if seeing an old friend.

"It's good to see you again Silver," Ariadne said, touching the horse's nose. "Are you ready for another adventure? We're off to see the dragons."

[Pdriggy]

As Barty approaches the door, he eyes up the grey-haired man by the door, "Greeting friend, any chance you have a stiff drink for a weary traveler? I apologize for the smell, it'll pass soon." Then close up he quietly asks, "Pray tell, what is going on with the other two, they seem stressed, have I interrupted something? A lovers quarrel?"

He sits against the wall by the door, wisely not pushing the matter of an invite into the dwelling unless asked. He breathed a sign of relief to know that he could rest a bit and then see if could wrangle passage and importantly company with these fine horses. He dared not travel alone again and from dulled memories of his past, a earlier Barty assessed the younger looking two to note they seemed spry, hardy and fine sport in a fight.

He pulled out a pipe made of hazel, prepping it absentmindedly for later. Internally he was thinking how he might get a figure of their plans and if there was adventure to be had; new stories to be told. The Barty of his past was stirred and being sober for the first time in weeks he could think more clearly. Realising he must look a state, he added casually to the older man "Is there anywhere I could tidy himself up a bit?"

[Orenji]

Irked by the smoke coming from Barty's pipe, Cefrey fans the smoke away from her face before making her way towards the horses as well. Cautiously approaching one of the two brown horses with an open hand out, she takes a minute to calm it down from it's initial start at the sight of an unfamiliar person before placing her hand on its head and then stroking its mane. Turning back towards Laeran and Ariadne, she calls out, asking, "What's this one's name?"

[Orenji]

(Sorry for missing that Barty never lit the pipe, I still can't edit yet, but here's the correction)

*Seeing the pipe Barty pulled out, Cefrey distances herself a bit from him in anticipation of the smoke, and then makes her way towards the horses as well.

[Lady Jenn]

"If you want any of that I'd advise following them," Laeran said, nodding in the direction of the horses. "They are heading in the direction of an inn I'm sure has everything you need and much more. From the sounds of it though they're heading for the dragons, its up to you whether you want to go that far."

"That's a good question," Ariadne said, trying to think. "If I remember right that horse is called Petra, she was left here by an adventurer who never came back for her." She jumped onto Silver's back effortlessly, feeling more at ease than she had since Cefrey had first crossed paths with her, as Laeran walked over to Cefrey.

"Would you like a hand getting on the horse?" he asked her. "Not all of us can be as agile as an Elven ranger," he said, laughing as he held the horse still, stepping close enough that Ariadne wouldn't hear. "Go easy on her," he said quietly to Cefrey. "She likes to seem strong but she has many things she has found no-one she is comfortable with telling about." He looked over the horse at her for a moment before turning back. "She hasn't told you who she really is, has she? It is no mere Elven ranger you're in the presence of."

[Pdriggy]

Seeing the party already preparing to move, Barty pushed himself back up the wall, pocketed his Pipe carefully, taking a second longer than he needed and made his way over to Laeran.

"Nice to meet you old man, how can I replay you for the use of the horse? It is very kind of you."

He held his hand out to the third horse and gave it a lump if sugar, "Such a friendly house, whats it's name?"

[Orenji]

Pass

[Lady Jenn]

"That horse is Mara," Laeran replied. "She can be a little...jumpy, but treat her kindly and she will get you anywhere you wish, within reason anyway."

"Unless you two can think of other questions we should go soon," Ariadne said, looking at the sky with concern. "I don't want to linger in this forest longer than we need to." She smiled as Laeran walked over to her, the two touching hands tenderly. "I promise I will come back and spend time with you properly."

"Be careful Ariande," Laeran said. "All of you, the lands north of here are growing...restless, more dangerous." He stroked Silver's flank before turning to face the elf again again. "I cannot make you tell them the truth, but at some point your friends need to know who you are. There are all-"

"I will not take that route," Ariadne said, tension in her voice. "Not unless I have no other option."