|
|
Post by Scraverx on Nov 5, 2007 16:25:37 GMT 9.5
Daveth scratched the patch of fuzz on his chin with slightly grubby fingers as he squinted into the distance. From the direction of Ketrem he could make out a boat approaching, a rare sight as the people that lived on that Island hardly ever came to the mainland. He never claimed to know everything but that was one thing he did know. Everyone from the villages, farms and hamlets knew that to be a truth. Most even believed the island to be one of those places no one lived, or if anyone lived there they kept to themselves.
The youth whistled a bird call and a Hawk flew down to take a perch on partial leather gauntlet that protected his outstretched arm. Resting his long staff in the crook of his opposite elbow, he reached up and gently petted the birds head after feeding it a small piece of meat. "What did you see Merlin?" He murmured quietly as he spent a few moments with his eyes focused on the clearly trained bird before giving a slight toss of his hand to send it on it's way once more softly saying, "Go. Hunt," as the Hawk launched into the air.
Daveth thought for a moment, speaking out loud to himself as he often did when he was alone. "A boat from Ketrem... They didn't look like natives... but who really knows what they look like if they even exist." The youth looked around his gaze stopping on the Village of Elcheane a short distance up the road. "Doesn't look like anyone from the village has noticed yet." He scratched the small patch of fuzz on his chin again then he walked down to the beach. "Someone should meet them who ever they are." Daveth told himself as crossed the sand.
He stood watching the boat as it drew gradually closer to the shore idly wiggling his toes into the sand for a few moments. Then, apparently on impulse he walked to where the tide had washed up some seaweed. He picked some up, felt it, sniffed it and even licked it before nodding to himself and putting some in his satchel.
|
|
|
|
Post by wildfiremagni on Nov 6, 2007 13:46:51 GMT 9.5
Wildfire was busy studying the dagger that Eric had snatched from the shadowy creatures. It looked like it could fetch a decent price on the open market, but he also realised that he needed some kind of weapon to defend himself in case he ran out of arrows...it was rather strange that the villiagers allowed him to keep the arrows as well as repairing his cloak for him, but he was certainly not going to complain about that.
"Looks like we're close to land now," Wildfire said to Eric, who he realised would probably stick out like one of those giant things back on the island in the clothing he was wearing, but he could take care of that when the two of them got to some kind of town, but it looked like they would be getting some kind of welcoming party of one. That naturally put him on edge. After all, he didn't expect this, so who was it? Was he friendly, or a foe?
"Get ready kid, we might have trouble," Wildfire said as he brought the boat to a stop at the edge of a sandbar and dropped the anchor. He didn't know if he should try and send the boat back, but he had a feeling that this newcomer was more of a threat than returning a boat!
|
|
|
|
Post by Eric on Nov 10, 2007 13:18:02 GMT 9.5
Eric shrugged, leaned back in the boat and relaxing. His spear was right beside him, but it was a new one. The villagers had re-made it with a smoother shaft and iron point, instead of the stone one he'd improvised before. He had since tied feathers and bits of fur to the binding between shaft and spearhead.
Even though Wildfire, and Scott's presence had increased his vocal abilities back to fairly average speech, didn't mean he used it. He remained somewhat introverted and almost anti-social. So when Wildfire spoke, he simply acknowledged him with a glare. The villagers had even been kind enough to repaint his face paint.
He was the first to notice the figure on the shore, as he was sitting the opposite direction to Wildfire. When they pulled up the boat he immediatly jumped out with his spear in hand and pointed it at the figure.
|
|
|
|
Post by Scraverx on Nov 10, 2007 15:43:28 GMT 9.5
Daveth was careful to keep his posture neutral, avoiding any movement that could be perceived as defensive or offensive. One end of his long Rowan wood staff remained in contact with the ground and it's weight rested against his left shoulder. His hands rested by his sides, relaxed and open even when faced with the point of Eric's spear levelled at him in an offensive manner.
"I mean you no harm," he spoke clearly but his tone was calm and relaxed, not unlike the pleasant and relaxing sound of a stream on a clam sunny day. "I was a short distance up the shore when I spotted your boat. As there is no one else around I thought I might welcome you to Temanea." He slowly moved one hand and placed it on his chest. "My name is Daveth."
The youth then looked from Eric to Wildfire, perhaps awaiting a response from one or both of them.
|
|
|
|
Post by wildfiremagni on Nov 11, 2007 9:27:27 GMT 9.5
Wildfire took one look at Daveth and came to a sudden realisation. Daveth was a magic user. He knew it. Today was just going too well to not run into one of those.
"Well, I'm Wildfire and this is Eric. We'll be going now, if you mean us no harm," he said in a sharp tone as he turned to leave. He knew that Eric would probably want to examine this person further, but he didn't want to stay any longer than he had to. Besides, he still needed to find somewhere that he could stay the night-an inn, a grove, anything away from this nutter!
"You coming?" he asked Eric as he started to take a few steps away from Daveth, even though the ground itself seemed to be trying to keep him in place.
|
|
|
|
Post by Eric on Nov 11, 2007 19:55:13 GMT 9.5
Eric hesitated for a moment, then lowered his spear. "Very well. But until I trust yoy, I'm keeping my weapon ready." He didn't retreat though and stayed where he was. "What is Temaea?" he asked, having difficulty with the new word.
|
|
|
|
Post by Scraverx on Nov 11, 2007 22:22:15 GMT 9.5
Daveth arched an eyebrow slightly at Wildfire's sharp tone, slightly surprised perhaps but he soon quickly smiled and shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Welcome then Wildfire, and you as well Eric." The smile he showed Eric was slightly more friendly then the one he showed Wildfire. "And thank you, Eric. Weapons make me uneasy when they're pointed at me."
For a moment he looked towards the nearby town then he spoke to Wildfire. "I was heading to Elcheane myself, the town just up the road there. I'm sure you could find lodging there if you'd rather travel alone. The markets are good too."
The youth then turned his warmer smile back to Eric. "Tema-nea." He repeated a little more clearly for the younger boy. "It's the piece of land we're on now. From Yuben Pass in the west," he turned and pointed in that direction, "to Yivalesce up to the north east of Elcheane, is Temanea." The whole time he spoke his voice remained pleasant and calm.
|
|
|
|
Post by wildfiremagni on Nov 12, 2007 8:31:55 GMT 9.5
"Well, I would, but it seems my boots have gotten stuck in the changing tide," Wildfire said as he pointed down to where the water and sand had swished and swashed around his feet until they formed a thick soup that he couldn't get out of, no matter how hard he struggled! Still, even if he untied his boots, he knew that he wouldn't be able to leave them behind without a thought, especially since he needed those boots to avoid sharp things sticking into his feet. He really didn't like stepping on sharp things.
|
|
|
|
Post by Eric on Nov 13, 2007 9:58:02 GMT 9.5
Eric turned to Wildfire with a confused look. "How could you possibly get stuck?" he asked him. Nontheless he moved around his companion, looking for a way to get both him and boots out. "Well, I'd say step out of the boots and then work on pulling them out afterwards."
He looked up and down the beach for something that could be used for digging. "Where's Elchanne?" Eric asked, directing the question to Daveth.
|
|
|
|
Post by Scraverx on Nov 13, 2007 11:51:22 GMT 9.5
Daveth laughed a bit, a rather pleasant sounding laugh, amused but not actually laughing at the slight predicament Wildfire was in. "Sorry, I kept you talking at a bad time. Just a minute, I think I have a small hand spade with the rest of my things. Failing that hands work just as well.
That said, the slightly odd youth planted his staff in the sand then ran a short distance down the beach and onto the grassy foreshore. He crouched there and seemed to rummage through a backpack that was sitting in the grass along with a pair of boots. As he searched a small, long bodied furry animal of some description crawled out of one of the boots, up his arm into his sleeve and vanished into his shirt. This seemed to set the youth giggling. "Geshal that tickles."
Strange little animals aside, he seemed to find what he was looking for and came running back. "See, not an issue at all. Have you out in no time." He then knelt and started to dig around Wildfire's feet, first making a trench to direct any further wash away a bit. As he dug with his small spade he said to Eric, "Elcheane is the town just up the road," he paused a moment and pointed in the right direction with his spade. "If we're lucky we'll be able to make it in time for the mid day meal."
|
|
|
|
Post by wildfiremagni on Nov 13, 2007 12:47:55 GMT 9.5
"Thanks," Wildfire said as he managed to pull his feet out with a wet, schlooping sound. As soon as he had balance again, he made sure to move onto the dry sand. "Well, with that taken care of, getting to Elcheane in time for a meal sure sounds like a good plan if I ever heard one," he said as he decided to walk quickly over to the dirt track. Once he got there, he removed his boots and quickly emptied them of the water and muddy sand that had gathered on the sole.
"Well, that was something I don't plan on doing again any time soon," Wildfire said as he put his feet back in their leathery protection. He hoped that he'd be able to lose this caster, but he had a feeling that Eric had other ideas...
|
|
|
|
Post by Eric on Nov 15, 2007 17:49:47 GMT 9.5
Eric followed Wildfire, but waited for a moment. "You coming Davess?" he asked. He wasn't at all aware of how uncivilized he looked. His hair all matted and tangled and his dirt covered face and chest. Or the scant clothing he wore. Looks didn't occur to him. "So what's a town like?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Scraverx on Nov 16, 2007 20:41:56 GMT 9.5
[Just as an aside, there is no easy way to tell that Daveth knows magic.]
Once Wildfire was free from the sand, Daveth collected his staff from where he'd planted it and returned to his pack getting it back into some semblance of order. Aside from the spade there were various small pots and pouches that contained who knows what - though there was a noticeable herbaceous and earthy smell to most of what he had. Once his pack was back in order he brushed the dirt and sand from his feet before pulling on his own boots, the long bodied furry animal that had taken refuge in his shirt making a brief reappearance to sniff at the air with it's little nose.
"I said I was going to town anyway didn't I?" He queried in a slightly puzzled tone. Then to Eric he said, "Well towns... they're big and there are usually lots of people. More then in say a village , which is generally smaller than a town, or a hamlet. Hamlets are small groups of families or farms... well... basically. Elcheane is the biggest town in Temanea. I've heard there are even bigger ones and Cities as well, which are bigger again, to the south and east but I've never been to them."
Daveth got his pack on and started walking along the road. After several minutes of silence he added. "Oh... we might get some odd looks from people in the town. Well... I often do because I don't visit the town very often and people talk. Mostly it's my tattoos but also I'm known to be a bit strange because I prefer plants and animals to people most of the time. Anyway... you wont see many people dressed like you, Eric, but like I said the markets are good if you have money or something to trade you can probably get some extra clothes and find an inn with a bath maybe."
[Overall, I figure the walk is about 30-45 minutes. Up to you guys if we post some more or skip ahead some time]
|
|
|
|
Post by wildfiremagni on Nov 18, 2007 13:17:24 GMT 9.5
((Just as another aside, Wildfire can be a jerk sometimes.))
"I have to admit, he's got a point. If you walked into Elcheane like that, you'd stick out more than those quick-grow thorns that I covered my brother's stables in after...never mind. Point is, you'll be too noticable in that," Wildfire said as he casually pointed to Eric's loincloth while he rested his bow on his left shoulder. He figured that Daveth wasn't much of a threat and since they were close to a town, there wasn't much chance of anything attacking them for now...
((I don't mind much if we fast forward to the town.))
|
|
|
|
Post by Eric on Nov 18, 2007 15:26:03 GMT 9.5
Eric looked down at his scant clothes. "Oh, well only place to get something new would be in town," he reasoned. And with that he was off.
----
About half an hour later the three were at the edges of town and Eric was more awed than ever. So many people in one spot and with animals that weren't hunted, something he thought odd. "Why keep animals if you don't need to eat them?" he asked. And the the buildings, each solid and well built as opposed to his little huts. "They must all be rich," he commented.
|
|
