Your blade slices cleanly through the orc's armor, and through its exposed abdomen. Blood gushes from the wound, as the creature becomes limp in Freya's grasp.
[Freya]
Freya lets the orc's body drop, then stands up and dusts herself off. She picks up her quarterstaff. Then, kneeling down over the orc she'd been wrestling with, she tears the ring off it's finger, immediately dropping the golden charm to the soil.
[/Freya]
The fellin nods, and makes her way over to the first orc slain by Taylen. Carefully pulling the ring from its finger, she tosses the circlet gently towards the chest of her elven companion. "Something is not rright," she says in Elven. "You tell the otherrs. I will go see wherre they werre going." With that, she begins to head off among the trees, sifting her way through the underbrush in the direction the orcs were headed.
[/Freya]
Finding suitable cover to change clothes does not prove a challenge. Trees and other foliage provide more than sufficient at obstructing your view of the others. As you slip into your newly acquired outfit, you find it unexpectedly comfortable. In the past, you had avoided wearing such garments, and somehow you expected them to be difficult to wear. There is nothing fancy about the garments at all; they are designed only for comfort and relative ease of movement.
Arttemis & Ruvyen
Silvan heads downstream, and disappears into the underbrush for a couple moments. When he returns, he is wearing more practical traveler's garb, with his tattered robe draped neatly over his shoulder.
IT would seem my familiar has found something that may be of interest to us...
"Familiar?"
Right before your eyes, the half-elven woman goes through the mundane motions of transforming herself from what she was before into a fine elven woman. She is a mite taller than the average elf, but on the whole, the disguise proves quite convincing. If you hadn't seen the change with your own eyes, you might actually believe yourself to be staring at an entirely new person.
Reyolen
When you return from your redressing, something unusual catches your eye. The half-elven woman who you spent the last day or so with now appears to be quite completely elven. While not particularly stunning as an elf, and a bit on the tall side, her new appearance is quite convincing. It takes you a few seconds to realize that the woman before you is the same one who nearly dropped your spellbook into the flames only a day ago.
Taylen
After following Freya for a moment, you see her come to a halt, and quickly press her form against the side of a tree. She has stopped near the edge of a clearing, and appears to be looking at something from around the tree, which now hides her from that clearing. You could likely get a closer look as well, if you move in close to where your companion stopped. From where you are, you can barely make out that there is a break in the trees.
Falaanla
Ithar continues to stare at the two little glinting rings on the ground, with his feet planted just outside the puddle of dark liquid that surrounds the rings. You cannot make out any more detail of your friend than that from your current perch and range. Your wings and clothing have begun to dry, though it will still be a little while before your belongings are light enough for flight again.
Everyone
The sun reaches towards the late evening, drawing low amid the trees. It is still day, with enough light to see by, but it will not be that way for too much longer.
A familiar is a companion, though one that is a bit magical in nature. We can communicate with each other simply by thinking. Quite interesting.
"Yes, interesting. Magic is a rare gift in the natural world. Where is this familiar, then?"
Silvan walks closer to Ara, within normal speaking distance, and says, "Well, you look much better now." Silvan grins stupidly, then catches himself. "Well, erm, how do my new clothes look?" [ 05-05-2002: Message edited by: Reyolen ]
"Oh, you MUST teach me how to do that."
Ara's comment to you in your own Halfling language is quite clear, and its implied meaning is quite standard among those of your profession. Her comments to the elf, however, prove quite incomprehensible to you.
Reyolen
Ara's speech resembles in its tone something you might hear from a nobleman attempting to earn your services at an unreasonable price. She seems quite fluent in your tongue, making only a few of the typical half-elven mistakes, though those few mistakes she makes would be enough to give away her disguise to the discerning ears of one such as yourself. Her hand motions are typical of nobility, though they are more common among Humans than Elvenkind. She could certainly fool someone not of Elven blood with her act, and with a little coaching, might be able to pass as one of your kind.
Taylen
As you approach, you can get a closer look into the clearing. There appears to be a crude camp, with a couple hastily set-up tents, and an odd-looking structure in the camp's center. Two orcs remain in the camp. One, possibly the one who ran from you during the initial battle, stands beside the odd structure. The other, clad in heavier-looking armor than any of the others you saw by the bridge, paces warily, holding a long double-ended axe in its hands.
Freya holds a hand under her muzzle, a signal you've learned is her way to indicate a need for silence. The gesture is much like holding a finger across the lips, as used in most Human and Elven cultures.
Silvan is now quite sure Ara is having her fun with him, but he wants to call her bluff and prove his superiority over time. After all, how could a half-breed trick a true elf? Impossible to think about. He makes gestures with his statements to improve their honest look, and puts on as good of an act as he can, though he does feel a slight ping of loss at finding out Ara wasn't really a true Elf. [ 05-05-2002: Message edited by: Reyolen ]
"I do so apologize for the brevity of our meeting, good elf. May the hair that grows on your toes never fall out."
Jean turns and looks up towards Ara, and begins speaking in the halfling tongue.
"I'll bet he does have hair that grows on his toes, too. Silly elvish noble-type."
Jean pauses for a second, his eyes wide in surprise. He slowly lifts his hand up to his chin.
"Oh, I apologize, lady Ara, I seem overeager to speak in my own tongue around those who comprehend but a mite. I said, 'Lead on, fair one.' Mayhaps I can teach you of the subtleties of the grand language of my not-so-grand people!"
Jean shoots a nigh-imperceptible wink at Ara.
Freya nods once slowly, removing her hand from beneath her muzzle. She taps her chest at the base of her neck, then gestures towards the orc by the odd construct. She then points to you, and to the orc with the double-ended axe. Carefully crouching down into the underbrush, she edges her way towards the clearing. Just then, you see the orc with the axe pause, staring in your direction, and grasp its weapon tightly in both hands.
ooc:Taylen
Ruvyen, Willias, I need to hear something from the two of you soon.
You draw your bow, but as you release the arrow, it slips from your fingers, and flies wildly for a few feet before dropping to the ground. The bow vibrates in your hand, and you have to struggle for a few seconds just to keep your grip on it. Freya breaks out of the trees, striking out at the orc beside the strange construct. Her quarterstaff catches the construct firmly on one side, and slips free from her grip, falling to the ground several feet away. She stumbles, but manages to recover her balance.
The orc with the double-ended axe runs towards Freya, with one blade raised overhead, bringing it down quickly upon your companion, but not quite quickly enough. Freya's misplaced strike pushes her out of the axe swing's way, and the blade plants in the ground. The orc quickly hefts it again, before turning to face in your direction.
The orc by the construct then regains its bearings. It strikes at Freya with its club in both hands, landing a firm blow to her left shoulder, not far from the base of her neck. Once again she stumbles, nearly dropping to the ground, but manages to regain her balance. She braces low to the ground, and hisses at the foe who managed to land a blow upon her.
Ruvyen
Perhaps you were not paying attention, or perhaps your memory is fading, but you could have sworn just a short while ago that there wasn't a female Elf in the group with you. A Half-Elf, certainly, but not a full Elf. Yet there she is, plain and clear. First you heard her speaking in not just one, but two strange languages. Now she walks right by you, with the halfling fellow by her side. She has the ears of an Elf, the light-footed step typical of the Elves you've met in Vista, and the slender figure of an elf, but if she is an elf, then she wasn't there a few minutes ago.
Falaanla
"Shinies getting boring," Ithar chimes in suddenly, "I thirsty." The little bird flits away from the spot where it had been standing on the ground, and stops on a small rock on the stream's edge. "Bath time!"
(OOC I will post more when I figure out how much more action I have in this round)
"What proposition is this that you have for myself? I seem to be in no hurry, and would like to learn... handy... things such as that little bit of foolery that went into your disguise, there."
ooc: If there are no interruptions, this will be taking my character out of it for 20 or so game minutes.
ooc:Willias
Taylen, you can take one attack (or other standard action) this round (second of combat). I won't put your movement on the map until you decide on the rest of your action for the round.Reyolen, I'll adjust your character sheet as needed. If you wouldn't mind, please check back to chapter 1, as I have Willias some useful tips on the steps of spell memorization.
If Ruvyen does not post by Sunday evening, Khazmon will be treated as an NPC. He has received more than enough stimuli, both from myself and from one or two other characters.
Your body is sore, and the unpadded earth is not the easiest place to get comfortable. Nonetheless, after a day of walking, and with your injuries still sore, you find yourself feeling drained. Slowly and uneasily, you begin to drift into slumber.
Reyolen
The spellbook itself appears none the worse for wear, despite recent events. As you open the book, a few sparkles glitter on the inside of the cover, last remnants of your long-expired spell from the previous night. You find Change Self several pages into the book. Only a few pages beyond it are scribed, with more than enough empty pages beyond that for expanding your repertoire in the times to come.
"For two weeks straight after that, I practically lived in our cellar. There was no shortage of food or drink, and I found an old bedroll to sleep in and sit on. Finally, at the end of seventeen days, the figure appeared again. I snuck up behind him in my bare feet, and what happened after that, well, I'm sure you can imagine. In the end, he lay with his chest to the floor, and I sat on his back, with a foot in my hand. Tell me who are, I said, or I'll tickle it out of you."
She glances briefly in the halfling's direction, giving him a slight nod, "And that was how I met Bill Brandybottle. I kept his secret entrance secret, as little girls may do, and in return he taught me much about the world that I never would have learned otherwise. He taught me his language, which is yours as well, and he spent almost a year teaching me about slight of hand, fleet of foot, and all those other talents that make our work worth working. And we both did well for ourselves, at least for a while."
"Sadly, times did not work out well for poor Billy. I lost his companionship not long before my sixteenth birthday. But that is passed, and the years add dust to the memories. Let us talk of now," she pauses, and pivots her form to face the halfling at her side. Her knees point outward, with her toes all facing the water's flow to her side.
ooc:Taylen
Wow, Taylen is very... calm.
Your blade strikes heavily, sinking into the orc's armor at its shoulder, and wounding it deeply. It stumbles back, yet for all the force you felt behind the blow, it proves not quite enough to strike the orc down. The creature swings back at you with its double-ended axe, first with one blade, then the other. Its first swing falls just wide, as you manage to dodge back in the nick of time. As it draws back for its second swing, the orc appears slightly off balance, and its backswing falls easily wide.
Freya, now empty-handed after her previous misswing, lashes out at the leather-clad orc with claws spread. Lunging towards the creature, her strike drives home, ripping deeply into the creature's face, and sending it sprawling on the ground.
He seems to be more accustomed by now to the wetness of his robes, but he still cringes almost imperceptibly each time water runs over his hands and it is obvious that he's moving from the streamside towards the edge of the clearing in his ambling exercise.
