Fourstone: Tale of Ten

A young elf sat on the ground of her modest tent, staring into a mirror as she carefully finished off her braids. With her hair pulled
forward, it nearly hid her ears, and she wondered if this would benefit her. At many a first glance on her journey to Summerport along the coast, she had mistaken to be a Cerulean merchant at times - or a child Redlander, pale albiet. Silya normally accepted the claims, if only to cause less trouble for herself. This place was strange, she thought, her kind could spot an outsider from the furthest horizons.

This city, though, was so melted together. She'd never seen so people, crowding the streets and the town centers. (On a related note, she'd never known so many merchants and whores to exist at once.) How would she make a name for herself when she was still another face in the crowd, the girl wondered.

She turned her body around, gaze resting on her quiver and bow. The sounds of the training grounds grew louder by the passing moments and Silya thought it about high time she went and joined them. She pulled herself up onto her feet and grabbed her cloak off the bed. Although it was far too hot for too much cover, she wore the hood for comfort than anything. Grabbing her weapons, she pushed outside and glanced around; taking in the scene, but avoiding any gazes.

The tall elf girl opened her mouth to speak again but quickly stopped, honestly not really knowing what to say. Instead, the girl took a deep breath and rubbed the temples on her head as she tried to calm herself down. She knew that she had a temper, but she never really bothered to try to get it under control. After all, she wouldn't have to lose her temper if people just didn't act so stupid. "Okay..." She started as she listened to the innkeeper and the silly servant girl talk about the other taverns and such. The problem was that she was already staying in one and simply could not stay there any longer. Of course, the guy's first offer... maybe it could still be arranged. She reached down into a satchel that she had constantly carried with her and pulled out a rather full leather bag that she plopped onto the counter. "Here. Look to see how much I have. There should be enough in that bag to maybe get a room? If nothing else just for a few nights. I just can't stay in those stupid, disgusting other places. I need comfort and a beautiful atmosphere. Like this!" She told him, turning on a little bit of charm to try to persuade him. "You can understand that, can't you?"

Occ: No way am I letting this die!

Ic: Eamane frowned as the sound of the argument died down from inside of the inn. Ah, there went her fun. With a huff, she got to her feet and pulled her cloak tighter as she turned and pushed her way into the inn, taking in the scene. Her eyes quickly moved to the sea elf that was trying to buy her way to getting a room. Sliding into a stall, she watched with a faint amusement. She was still half hoping that the sea elf would still be turned away, but the less ruckus that happened here was better for the necromancer.

If the sea elf was turned away and got upset and caused a lot of noise, there could be a fight and the guards would come...And if they did a check on everybody in the inn...A grim look appeared on the snow elf as she thought about that. She didn't feel like skipping town so soon. So she sadly hoped that the sea elf would get a room. She would of liked to see this get more...excited, but she just couldn't worry about having to find a new town to take her in.

LET ME PREFACE THIS POST BY SAYING: I am super, super sorry for the wait. It shouldn't be that long again. As some of you know, I lost the post a few weeks ago and I really meant to post but I got super busy with a toooon homework (finals, final projects, lol...) Should be settling down now.

Arent & Evita
The other elf chuckled at him. "Escape? That's a strange word to our kinsmen," he said, taking another swig from his bottle. "Most of them are willing to just sit back and let the magocracy that is the Council rule over them," he muttered bitterly. He looked at the female snow elf that approached them with more interest than he did the male. "Two of you? Well, well, it is my lucky day." He said, briefly locking eyes with a Redlander guard that watched them from across the street. He gave Evita a once over, and turned his nose up at her. "This one stinks of magic," he said to Arent. He didn't really know that for sure, but the way Evita dressed was telling of her abilities. "Surprising that a mage would leave Silvershrine. It is paradise for them. Not so much for the rest of us." He drank again.

Aeta
"What else would you take it as?" the big man winked once more at her, grinning beneath his whiskers. His sister nudged him with her elbow as they walked through the crowd, still following the red-headed Frostian girl.

"Are you competing in the tournament?" Asked the blond Frostian woman. "You can use that weapon, right?" She asked, eyeing Aeta's axe tentatively. She blushed a bit, and said, "It's almost as big as you are!"

"Svana!" Her brother chuckled heartily. "Now who's being rude?" He asked, crossing his big arms against his iron-plated torso. Svana's blush reddened considerably.

Aswad

She had stopped dead in her tracks when the men clamored for her to stay, but she hadn't turned around to face them fully; her smile broadened in spite of herself when she listened in on their conversation. It was almost too easy. . . it filled her with a special kind of pride when she deceived especially well without the use of her magic. .  she conveniently ignored the fact that she had tried, and failed, to sway the strong-willed captain of the ship with her mind game. And when she heard the words. . . The Emperor. . . her smile became evident. They worked for the Emperor of the Redlands. . . marvelous. She knew just how luxurious this pleasure house had to be, now.

"Have you changed your minds?" She asked coyly, raising an eyebrow at the crew. Her gaze lingered on Aswad. He was too smart. . . she'd have to keep an eye on him. "Then follow me."

Silya
Silya could see the training grounds from her tent. It was a large expanse, covered in uncharacteristic grass patches, wooden sparring dummies and archery targets. There were many different people practicing -- most of them were Redlanders, Mistriali, and Frostians, and most of them were men. Near enough that Silya could overhear them was a group of Mistriali men in steel plate facing a Redlander woman in hide armor, a shortsword strapped to her waist.

"I am not saying you'll lose because you're a woman," said the knight in the front. He was shorter than the other men and had blond hair. He sneered at the woman he faced. "You're going to lose because you're a woman with a rusty sword and peasant armor." His comrades seemed rather amused at this, but not nearly as pleased as he seemed with himself.

She looked stricken. "It took me a year to save up enough to have the village blacksmith craft this for me," she said, emotion thick in her voice despite her best efforts to control it.

"I'd drop out of the tournament now, if I were you," he seethed. "You'll only embarrass yourself."

The knights turned to leave, but the Redlander woman protested. "Why don't you see what I can do before condemning me to defeat, ser?"

The knight turned halfway and spat at her. "The best you can do is to get a job at a tavern, wench." He began to walk away once more. The Redlander was lightning-quick, though, striking the unprotected crook of his knee, causing him to stumble. She unsheathed his own sword from its scabbard in a quick movement, danced in front of him, and held the longsword so it nearly touched his throat. His friends had no idea what to do.

"I don't need great armor if I'm not going to get hit," she told the knight calmly. After a moment, she dropped his longsword on the ground and began to walk away.

The knight's comrades helped him up, and as they did so, he shouted after her, "Assaulting a knight is a crime!"

She looked back at him. "Surely you won't tell anyone a woman caught you off guard, ser." she walked away like a bamf hooray.


Pelinel & Eamane

"Well," the innkeep said, eyeing the large coinpurse. "You do know we're going to have to kick someone else out of the inn?" He said, turning his gaze to Eamane. He whispered to Pelinel, "You might be able to outbid the creepy one over there. . . but you'll have to break the news to her. . ." He reached for the coinpurse greedily.

Pelinel shrugged as if it were no big deal kicking someone out of a room after they had already paid for it and everything. She barely even had a look of concern on her face as she shot a quick glance in the direction of the necromancer. Oh joy. This was going to be fun, but hey. The sea elf had some tricks up her sleeve and if it came down to it, she'd fight her for it... somewhere; somehow. "It's not my fault if she can't keep the room, she replied before she slapped her hand back down on the purse to keep him from grabbing it just yet. "Although, it would look a little more professional if someone of the staff did it. Maybe she might have done something wrong to get kicked out. Terrible customer, destroyed the room; you know, the usual stuff." She gave him a quick look to see how he would respond. "If you could do that one little thing for me, I'll stay out of your hair for the rest of the time I am staying, and you get to have everything in this bag. We have a deal?"

Aswad only muttered something under his breath in reply, but followed anyways. Khafra was keeping pace as well with a small hop in his step. When we are bled dry and have no more coin for arrows, I'll use your bones for the shafts. This was a mistake, he knew, yet he found himself still walking compliantly along after this elf. Elves were foul creatures that he had no love for, sea elves especially. They were deceitful by nature, and men would be wise not to trust in them. Aswad's hand fell to the pommel of his sword. She tries anything, and her head will end up on a pike on the gates of the Red Palace. I will not be cheated by a woman.

The red head continued on, chuckling in response to Svana's comments. She turned to that she could look back at them, a humorous smile on her face. "Yes I am competing. And yes, I've used this weapon since I was young, it's necessary for my family trade back at home." Aeta turned forward, only to turn back to ask her own question. "So what are you two doing here?"Aeta faced forward, and quickly dodged a person who stood in the middle of the road. Twisting to the side so she didn't run head first into the villager. A small scowl appeared on her face. She was used to the crowds considering that she grew up in a large city. But what never stopped bothering her, was when people stopped right in the middle of the road.