A New Start [Open]

[Shamadconde]

 

This takes place in The Roost/the Adventurer's Guild in Gridania. Since we are so close to release no breaking up the place. All other rules apply.

 

 

The doors to the Roost burst open. Two sodden figures, one twice the height of the other, walked to the counter. The inn keeper looked at the two strangers with disgust. "We need a room." She looked down at herself and her companion. "And towels for both of us." He nodded. "1000 gil. Each." She handed over the gil and he handed her three towels. She took two and handed the third to the Lalafell next to her. It was large enough to be a blanket for him. They took seats at a table. The Lalafell leaned towards his companion. "Now will you tell me who you are and who I am? I appreciate the help escaping but the punt into the river was a bit much."

[Vareal]

Nedral dried her self off as best she could then took a seat, rubbing the towel furiously over her black hair, then smoothing it out with her hand. She winced and placed her hand on her left shoulder; it was bleeding and had a nasty wound.

 

"You really lost your memory then?" She sighed and began examining the towel. "Well, I hope it's not permanent then."

 

She tore a few strips off the towel length wise and began to bandage the wound up, wanting a needle and thread but this would do just the same.

 

"My name is Nedral and yours is Shamad; we've been traveling together for some time now. We just defeated an old enemy of mine, Luther is dead..." she paused for a brief moment. "And we were chased by a very large, and very angry tree. The rest you know up until now."

[Shamadconde]

Shamad looked at Nedral. "So I'm Shamad and you're Nedral." He grimaced. "Will you explain this to me? It hurts like Rhalgr's own wrath." He lifted up his right hand. His ring finger was red and black. Ring and skin were melted together.

[Vareal]

Nedral raised an eye brow and leaned in closer to get a better look. She studied it for a moment then looked at her own ring, on her right middle finger, then back to Shamad. "I have no idea. Must have happened while I was down at the river; I've not seen it like that before."

[Shamadconde]

Shamad lowered his hand carefully. He considered what to ask. "What happened to me? Why can't I remember anything?" He looked worried.

[Tagyr]

"What happened to me? Why can't I remember anything?"

 

Thagyr glanced up from his mug to take in the two wanderers. Noting nothing overtly strange about them, but his eyes did focus on the towel wrapped around the Miqote's shoulder that was slowly turning red. Gulping down the last of his drink and slamming the mug down on the table he stood and walked over to the two.

 

"Not that I like buttin' in to someone else's business but you have a nasty cut there and personally I'd rather not see someone keel over in front of me while I'm eatin"

 

Not being too gentle he clapped a giant hand over the girl's shoulder and a warming blue light shined through his fingers as he invoked a cure spell start sealing the wound. As he did so, he took a closer look at the ring finger of the lalafel.

 

"That, I ain't touchin', looks infected. You'd better just cut the thing off or maybe head to the conjurers guild like you should've done in the first bleedin' place with somethin' like that. Might help with that memory problem too".

 

He finished closing the wound on the Miqote's shoulder then pulled up a chair and sat down with a thump.

 

"Did you hit your head on a rock somewhere?".

[Vareal]

"Not that I like buttin' in to someone else's business but you have a nasty cut there and personally I'd rather not see someone keel over in front of me while I'm eatin"

 

A look of surprise crossed Nedral's face as the stranger waltzed up and healed her shoulder, eyeing Shamad as he did.

 

"That, I ain't touchin', looks infected. You'd better just cut the thing off or maybe head to the conjurers guild like you should've done in the first bleedin' place with somethin' like that. Might help with that memory problem too." He sat down.

 

"Uh, thanks." Nedral said, rotating her shoulder; she flinched and put her arm back down. Still a little stiff. She brushed her hair from the left side of her cheek revealing a horizontal cut that had stopped bleeding enough to not need sutures. She raised a hand. "Not this one, I'm going to let it scar." She reached into her bag, most of her powdered ointment were ruined, and pulled out a jar with a green paste. She proceeded to clean the wound with a piece of the towel and apply the paste. "By the way, my name is Nedral and that one there is Shamad."

[Tagyr]

"Not this one, I'm going to let it scar."

 

Thagyr raised an eyebrow and eyed the green paste suspiciously as she started to apply it to the cut. He began to wonder what exactly happened to the two. 2 cuts, an infected finger and memory loss. On top of that their clothes were soggy. He traced their path to the table from the door with a trail of water, which the innkeeper was busily cleaning up.

 

"By the way, my name is Nedral and that one there is Shamad."

 

"Name's Thagyr", he raised a hand and flicked it off towards to doorway. A gust of warm wind blew out with a woosh and dried the floor, giving the flustered innkeeper a fuzzy hairdo in the process.

 

"How'd you manage to lose so much off your shoulder anyway?"

[Shamadconde]

Shamad stared at his finger. He got up. "I'll leave you two to your conversation. I'm going to the Conjurer's Guild. I'll be back." He walked to the counter and conversed with the innkeeper. He scurried out of the Roost.

[Vareal]

Nedral's brow furrowed as she watched Shamad get up and scurry out of the tavern.

 

"I hope he get's there ok." She sighed then turned back to Thagyr. "As for this," she gestured to her shoulder. "We were attacked by an old 'friend' of mine who I thought was long dead. There was an incident during the battle where my sword took a blow from a fireball and exploded, a fairly large shard stuck into my shoulder and another grazed my cheek." She applied some more of the paste to her cheek. "As for what happened to Shamad, I cannot say. After our other companion was killed, I lost it and nearly beat our attacker to death with my bare hands, Shamad stopped me and I left. When I came back I found him like that, memory loss and all."

[Shamadconde]

The doors opened. A Lalafell in official livery scanned the tables. His gaze locked on Nedral. He approached the table. "Nedral Crenl? I need to speak to you. Privately."

[Vareal]

"Nedral Crenl? I need to speak to you. Privately."

 

Nedral looked up to the Lalafell and sighed. "Not now," she motioned to an empty seat. "Sit for now."

 

"Uh, miss I need to speak with you now, it's-" He was interrupted as Nedral slammed her fist down on the table.

 

"I said not now!" She stared at the short man, fire burning in her lightly colored eyes. "Take a seat." Her voice was low and dangerous. She watched as the man hesitated then took a seat opposite Nedral. She sighed again and crossed her arms on the table, lowering her head.

[Merri]

Thick, plated greaves, reinforced gauntlets, and a thick woolen cloak were all that adorned the Midlander. A vest of gleaming chainmail, however, was visible through the open neck of the cloak. An ornate longsword sat perched upon his hip, the highly polished hilt encrusted with several gemstones that radiated a strange and beautiful brilliance in the light of the guild's hall. Even it's sheath was covered in some form of decorative golden leaf. Almost no physical features were easily discernible, given the Hyur's choice to have the hood of his cloak pulled tightly over his head. Just another shady and mysterious adventurer. Yet, there was no mistaking that he bore the image of a knight, and of a swordsman. Except of course for the large, stringed instrument that sat upon his lap. What appeared to be a harp-guitar.

 

His fingers, though garbed in his restrictive plate gauntlets, danced gently and fluently upon the strings as if there was no hindrance at all. All five fingers picked delicately away, filling the air with a pleasant and almost soothing serenade of low basses from the harp strings, and a mesmerizing flow from the higher notes of the guitar strings. It was if he were in his own world. Even the throngs of female adventurers that sat swooning over him mere feet away seemed to go entirely unnoticed by the Midlander. As soon as his song came to an end, he carefully removed his hood. He bore smooth, handsome features. Neatly trimmed facial hair, and light brown locks that framed his face almost perfectly. The only easily noticeable mark in his complexion was a long scar running down over his left eye, though even it didn't seem to be a flaw.

 

As he set his instrument down in his lap, the Hyur held up a free hand and snapped his fingers once. As the eyes of his onlookers had been drawn towards his hand, a rose seemingly materialized out of nowhere in his mouth. He flashed a roguishly handsome smile before elegantly removing the rose from between his pearly white teeth. The gesture provoked a few excited squeals, and he gently extended the rose to one of the more shy and withdrawn ladies, who took the rose with heavily reddened cheeks, leaving the rest to stare her down with pouty gazes of envy. Though as soon as the gesture was over, he once again drew his hood back up and picked up exactly where he had left off with his music, leaving the crowd to slowly disperse.

[Vareal]

Nedral's ears perked up at the sound of the soothing music. She raised her head and looked around the tavern, her eyes finally resting on the heavily clad and hooded figure playing the instrument. She was somewhat intrigued, ignoring the other women about who seemed to be dumbly infatuated with this stranger. When he stopped, he took down his hood, snapped his finger and a rose appeared. He handed it to a overly infatuated woman, smiled, than replaced his hood.

 

Nedral's eyes narrowed with a slightly annoyed look then turned back to her table. She caught eyes with the Lalafell across the table, he had a blank look on his face. "Got something to say?" She asked.

 

He shook his head. "No."

 

"Of course you don't." And she lowered her head slightly then reached around and grabbed her tail, smoothing the fur out.

[Tagyr]

Thagyr was suddenly sorry he asked.

 

"Sounds like you had it rough".

 

He started thinking of something else to say when Nedral was addressed by a fancy dressed lalafell who appeared in the doorway. Thagyr considered excusing himself but before he knew it the short man was now sitting at their table quietly, thoroughly browbeaten by a sudden fierce streak in the Miqote. Mentally shrugging he decided to allow his curiosity to get the better of him and stay where he was.

 

He founded himself noting it was actually a nice change from the overly happy or sly Miqote types that he's encountered so many times before. He motioned to the innkeeper to get his attention and mouthed an order of drinks since the sound of music now permeated the room. Sparing a quick glance to the musician and seeing his flamboyant display with a rose, promptly had an urge to roll his eyes which he quickly restrained. Least he played well...

 

He also suddenly considered the complications of living in Gridania if everything sprouted flowers out of some hole..

 

"Complications?", Thagyr grunted to Nedral while nodding at the lalafell at their table.

[Vareal]

Nedral shrugged. "I don't know, I've never seen him before." She eyed the Lalafell once again. "Who sent you anyway?"

 

The little guy looked uncomfortable as he fidgeted in his seat, looking between Nedral and Thagyr. "Uh, Chalinda, but I think we really should speak privately soon." He replied.

 

"Chalinda?" Nedral's ears twitched. "Well, in that case we're going to wait for Shamad to get back. Knowing her it probably is a complication." She smiled slightly as the Lalafell sank in his seat. She turned to Thagyr, resting her head in her hand. "So what's your story? What brings you to the forest?"

[Tagyr]

"So what's your story? What brings you to the forest?"

 

"Where I'm born it's nothing but fire and rock, figured I might come and see the opposite of that to see what all the fuss is about. Though already I'm preferin' that the only plants I see moving are cactuar compared to the stories I've heard here. Some fangled greenwrath causin' the trees themselves to uproot an' chase you down, scary thought"

 

The innkeeper brought a tray of drinks to the table and placed it down in the middle. The choice consisted of a fruity wine made from the various plants in the area, as well as a simple jug of water. Thagyr payed the man and immediately took the bottle of wine and a glass and plonked them down in front of Nedral, before pouring a glass of water for himself.

 

"Figured I might learn somethin' from the guild here too". He motioned to the wine bottle and glass. "Help yourselves".

[Vareal]

"...Some fangled greenwrath causin' the trees themselves to uproot an' chase you down, scary thought."

 

"You could say that again." Nedral sighed.

 

She watched as Thagyr set the bottle and glass down in front of her and she poured her self a glass. "Thanks." She grabbed another glass and poured more of the wine into it then slid it across the table to the Lalafell. "Drink." She said. "Hopefully Shamad will get here soon and you can leave."

 

She turned back to Thagyr and took a drink. "So, you were born in Ul'dah then? I've passed through there once or twice, ran into some slavers out there. A bit too hot for my liking though."

[Tagyr]

"So, you were born in Ul'dah then? I've passed through there once or twice, ran into some slavers out there. A bit too hot for my liking though."

 

"Hot? hah! Ul'dah isn't hot. I'm Hellsguard lass, I was born in a village situated in the volcanic regions surrounding Ul'dah. The soil there is as red as the sun with boiling hot steam shootin' out of the landscape in some places. The air itself was always warm that you could sleep at night without needin' a...", Thagyr realised he was rambling and stopped. A wistful look flashing across his face.

 

"Ul'dah itself is a hole in the ground full'o roguish types an' poverty. I couldn't throw a stone without hittin' some begger in the face. Some people there'll cut your throat just for lookin' at them sideways", he growled.

[UnbeknownstGhost]

Bob walked in and sauntered over to the bar, his hobnailed boots clomping heavily on the floor. Adorning his left hip was a heavy cutlass, in his left hand he was twirling a black cane tipped with a ruby. He wore dark grey pants along with a grey sleeveless, high necked shirt under a golden-brown, high-necked vest. As he sat down at the bar he heard the tale end of the conversation.

 

Looking over revealed his face, which, although it was handsome, with the multiple scars, the dark green eypatch covering one eye, and the snowy-white hair, he appeared somewhat intimidating.

 

 

"I was there once. I think I was stabbed there. Twice. Or was that that Grid place? One of the two." Bob thought for a moment, "Ah, wait I remember now. It was both."

[Vareal]

"Volcanic regions, eh?" She took a drink. "I've never been there, surprisingly, but if Ul'dah is too hot for me then I can't imagine living near lava." She polished off her glass and poured herself more. Her Lalafell friend hadn't even touched his. She was distracted a moment by heavy footfall and a voice speaking out.

 

"I was there once. I think I was stabbed there. Twice. Or was that that Grid place? One of the two." Bob thought for a moment, "Ah, wait I remember now. It was both."

 

"I'm sorry to hear that," She said, taking another drink. "Gridania is usually a nice place to be; but not lately, for some reason..." She realised what she was doing with the wine; she was drinking too much. A sudden urge of pain seized her and her eyes welled up with tears and she lowered her head, pushing the glass away hard, sending it crashing to the floor.

[UnbeknownstGhost]

Bob looked at the drink now on the floor, "Well, I suppose it is somewhat better then puke. However I believe I must ask what exactly the glass had ever done to deserve such treatment?"

[Tagyr]

Thagyr noticed the motions, saw the tears and regretfully watched the glass shatter against the floor.

 

"Well, I suppose it is somewhat better then puke. However I believe I must ask what exactly the glass had ever done to deserve such treatment?"

 

"Is this man wrong in the head. Girl is obviously anguished and he's worried about a glass.", he thought to himself. A reason for why the man got stabbed twice crossed Thagyr's mind. Suddenly making a connection to the scars on his face on top of it...but he dismissed it just as quickly as it formed.

 

Maybe he was just that unlucky.

 

"Tis alright lass, best let it all out", Thagyr said in the most soothing tone he could think of, which came off in his usual growl since he was not used to being the consoling one. He reached over and pulled the wine bottle away from her to prevent anymore messes forming.

[Vareal]

"Well, I suppose it is somewhat better then puke. However I believe I must ask what exactly the glass had ever done to deserve such treatment?"

 

Nedral raised her head and looked to the man. She wiped the tears away and took a deep breath, settling herself, controlling an outburst that she was sure wouldn't have ended nicely. "I understand the need for curiousity, but perhaps you should employ a tad more descretion in your words; lest you want a few more scars added to your collection."

 

"Tis alright lass, best let it all out,"

 

Nedral nodded and gave a forced smile. "Thank you, and sorry about that. I'll take care of the cost for the glass and wine." She reached into her messenger bag, still wet, and pulled out a pouch of gil and plopped it onto the table. "Whatever that cost maybe, take it from here."

[Shamadconde]

Shamad staggered into the Roost. He wobbled over to table and sat down. He grabbed the bottle of wine and took a long drink. He started swearing under his breath.