Search Posts
I'm writing this for every game I'm in: A few days ago, a very close relative was diagnosed with the initial stages of a very serious disease, and my family and I are trying to cope with what it's going to happen. It's been a AWFUL few days, and I'm sorry I didn't post anything but saying I was crushed would be an understatement. I'll try to sort through the posts since I was gone later today and post something in the gameplay thread tonight. Thank you all for your patience with me.
When the brawl is finally stopped, Aurora can't help but look in disbelief at the strange people of this town and their bizarre 'customs', but eventually the look of bewilderment on her face fades and the young paladin simply sighs, shrugs and shakes her head, not unlike how a loving mother, resigned to see her unruly child misbehave yet another time, would possibly do. Trying to be discreet, Aurora approaches her friends and helps them stand and dust off their clothes, all the while using her powers to infuse them with a small modicum of divine energy to help ease the pain of their injuries.
When she's done, she simply gives a shining smile to friends and strangers alike, and goes to sit back at her table to finish eating her meal.
"Cathran!" - Aurora yells when her friend is hit by the full tankard, indignant at what the drunken lot cluttering this hovel would apparently do just to mess with strangers.
"This... Is... " - She explodes, sending a punch flying toward the Judge's chin, then turning to address the rest of the crowd, her pleasant features contracted in an adamant expression. "Everyone, please! This has gone too far. Stop fighting, and please go back to your seats. There is no need for further violence, let's stop this nonsense now while we still can, now that this unfortunate episode is still just a bar brawl, before it can possibly turn into something else... Something worse. Please friends, stop... This is enough..." Aurora looks everyone present in the eye, her gaze gentle but firm. While there is no real anger, or even resentment in her eyes, she tries her best to look strong and resolute.
Still eating and trying to look inconspicuous, Aurora's in the middle of taking a long sip from her mug when she hears the two men Lineera's talking to come to their own conclusion about the female members of the party's profession, and the surprise is enough to make her sputter her drink back in the tankard. After a fit of coughs and the chance to clear her throat a few times, she turns toward the others and shakes her head, an amused smirk dancing on her lips - "Next time we try and infiltrate an unknown town" - she whispers, while watching Lineera's exploit with the corner of her eye - "we may want to decide in advance on our possible covers..." Aurora keeps watching as the situation becomes more and more tense, until eventually violence erupts and she finds herself forced to join the fight to help her friends. 'By the Dawnflower's infinite forgiveness, what a terrible mess...' Jumping from her chair, Aurora follows Cathran and tries to back her friend up.
Trying to blend in as much as possible and avoid unsolicited attention, Aurora keeps mostly quiet and eats her meal in silence, her gaze wandering around the room every now and then. With Lineera and Mahb getting busy on their own, Aurora raises her gaze to meet that of her friends - "Uhmm... We should probably try to get something done too. Any ideas where we could start?"
"Uhmm..." - Aurora mumbles, looking around with an uncharacteristically wary expression. After a few moments, she takes the holy symbol hanging around her neck and slowly hides it inside her tunic, then wraps herself in her cloak and pulls the ample hood over her head, a few stray locks of golden hair still in plain sight coming out from under it. "Since these people seem to frown upon the church's presence, I'll try to avoid grabbing too much attention..." - she offers a tentative smile to her friends - "I'll leave the talking to someone else... Well, Let's go then! I'll follow your lead."
YES! I have internet again! Just when I thought I was starting to get a grip on my life again... the area where I live was hit by a minor flood. Fortunately damage was very minimal (thank god!), but a small landslide did break a major gas pipe, and severely F@!*ed up phone and internet services. As it turns out, they were working on the line when the slide it, and they had to wait for the emergency to pass AND for the gas pipe to be fixed first before restoring everything else. Add to that that my provider took its sweet sweet time to restore my service even after basically every other provider was done with it, and here I am today, tired, frustrated, quite a bit pissed (since unfortunately due to this I actually missed the deadline to send a curriculum for a nice job position I believe I'd have had an actual shot at getting... -.-'), but finally back on track! ^_^ I need to run right now, I have a job interview, but as soon as I get back I'll try to catch up with the game and post something! With all my apologies (but it wasn't my fault, I swear! :o), it's good to be back! :D
"Oh, I'm fairly certain it'll take a fair ammount of time, but I don't think there is reason to worry!" - Aurora interjects in a light tone when Cathran voices her concerns - "They'll be questioned at lenght, that's for sure, but I'm convinced the thruth of their words will soon shine through." 'Or... Eventually, at least...' "Besides" - Aurora continues, in a tone much more even than her usual - "I believe it's for the best Lineera went to the temple without us... Or, well, at least without me" - she crosses her arms with a serious expression - "When Sir Kalvant determined those relics had to be desposed of, he could've have appointed a trusted knight to take them back to the temple, but he didn't... He specifically entrusted them to Lineera, to bring them here. I'm not sure why, exactly... Maybe he just wished to test her further, or maybe he wanted to give her a little nudge toward a higher path?" The young paladin stays silent for a moment, then simply shrugs - "Perhaps I'm overthinking this, and I'm getting it all wrong. Still, I'm glad Lineera decided to go to the Temple, and I'm sure it'll be an experience that'll influence her for the better, in the long run." "Uhmm... Speaking of something else" - Aurora turns toward both her friends, in turn, in her usual lighhearted tone - "back at the inn... Two rooms, five women... And a man? Oh my, what should we do! Any volonteers to share a bedroom with our Riley, or should we make the poor boy sleep in the stables?"
Aurora gives a quick bow and a candid smile to the man, before speaking in a formal tone - "Aurora Beldusk, follower of the Dawnflower, at your service. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintaince, Henry." After that, she decides to keep quiet and let Cathran catch up with her old friend.
Aurora lets her gaze wonder around the city, taking in its curious shapes and forms. Despite having visited Caliphas before, her very short visit was mainly spent inside the Temple, and the sight of the city streets remains quite alien to her. At Cathran's suggestion, the young paladin turns toward the ranger with a bright smile - "You know your way around the city? That's a relief... I must admit I barely know how to go from the gates to the Temple! Very well then, I hope you don't mind if I tag along too? After what we've been through, getting lost in this streets would be quite embarrassing!" Aurora chuckles lightly, then follows her friends into the City.
"Oh, I don't know about that" - Aurora chuckles, patting Cathran on her shoulder as she finishes her tale - "It was actually rather interesting, and it helped establish a few facts... Number one" - she starts counting on her fingers, in exaggerated gestures - "you wanted to settle down as a trapper; number two, you have no idea how to refer to our friendly scout; number three, and most important of all, when you drink too much... What happens again, exactly?" - Aurora asks casually, turning just a bit to look at her friend's expression, a mischievous grin dancing on her lips. Not a moment later however, she lets out a quick laugh and dismisses her own antics with a swift gesture of her hand - "My apologies, that was awful of me, I shouldn't have done that. I was trying to lighten the mood after our... Troubled journey here. I'll be more considerate in the future." Turning toward her friend, she looks Cathran over for a moment, before continuing in a serious tone - "That reminds me, you suffered some serious injuries in that fight. How are your wounds fearing? Are they completely healed? Do you want me to have a look at them? I do have some experience treating injuries."
After Cathran addresses the group, Aurora nods slowly - "Let's hope for the best... And be ready for the worst, just in case." - turning toward the ranger, Aurora shines the woman a bright smile - "It'd be best not to wander off alone. I'll come with you Cathran, if you allow me."
When far enough from the other's ears, the young paladin turns toward her companion and smiles mischievously - "So... Fire whisky? I reckon there is an interesting tale just waiting to be told! Assuming it's not something private... Care to share it with me?"
I'm mortified beyond belief. Just when I thought the worst was over and I had pulled through, it went all down to hell. Suffice to say I'm looking for a new job, and possibly in a few days a new home. Saying I've been miserable the past few days would be an understatement. To avoid falling into depression, I'm taking a few days off job-hunting and so on to 'reorganize my life', so to speak... Paradoxically, this means I should be able to spare the time to play a little bit! At least it'll cheer me up some! :) Right now I really need some sleep, when I get up I play to come back, read all about what I missed and finally post something. Thank you all for your patience!
I'm writing this for every game I'm in: I'm deeply sorry I disappeared for as long as I did. As you may know I'm dealing with serious problems with my job, and in the past week I was hit with an issue after another, regarding work, family and health. I've been so busy I didn't have the time to even think about taking a few moments for myself. Of course, I should have posted as much way sooner than now, instead of just disappearing and leaving everyone waiting. Every day I would tell myself I had to take a few minutes to at least write a quick post about my inability to play, and every day something new and disastrous would happen that required dealing with without delay (yes, it's been one of the worst weeks of the last several years...) My situation SHOULD be getting better starting next week, and I'll do my best to start posting again on Monday. Once again, I'm very sorry for disappearing like I did, and I hope I didn't cause too much trouble. Hope to see you next week! :)
Eva and Aurora... are you guys going to post actions? I think you are up. Yep, sorry about that, posted actions now. :)
When the trouble starts, Aurora reacts almost automatically, as long hours of drills upon drills during her time training at the Temple have taught her to do. "Everyone, keep calm and grab a weapon! Stay together, don't let yourself get surrounded! The wounded must fall back to receive treatment!" With experienced gestures she takes the bow from her shoulder, shifts her cloak so it won't hinder her movements, and snatches an arrow from her quiver, nocking it on her bow in one fluid motion. Swiftly positioning herself to the bottom of the stairs, she prepares to unleash a rain of arrows against the ship's assailants.
I must concur, 'paid' and 'overtime' seems such a strange combination of words... It's almost as if you were implying that a person could actually be PAID for doing OVERTIME! Ah! Preposterous! Inconceivable! ;) In any case, to anyone having problems at work: don't give up guys! We are with you, at least in spirit! ^_^ To help matters, I propose we find some monsters and kill them, thus accumulating precious Karma Points that the Universe is bound to recognize as an acceptable currency we can spend to buy ourselves moments of respite from our troubles! (it works like this, right? :o) Now, with our characters stuck on a boat, if only there was a way to find some monsters to vanquish... ;D
Aurora nods when the matter of travel expenses is brought up - "Yes of course. Sir Kalvant gave his word, and I have licence to see it upheld. As soon as the amulets are disposed, I'll see to it... But in the meantime, I hope we have enough for the trip, or we'll have to swim!" - a little smile dances on her lips for a moment, then she continues in a more serious tone - "In any case, Cathran is absolutely right, time is of the essence, and the route through Vauntil seems much faster. If needed I'll take full responsibility with the church for the higher expense... Well then friends, if we all agree, then let's book passage on the ship for Vauntil and get ready to leave!" Things settled, Aurora checks her equipment one last time to make sure everything is in order, then approaches Cathran to compliment the ranger. "Good thinking about the daily ferry from Vauntil to Caliphas, Cathran! Gambling on going to Vauntil and then hoping to find some way to quickly reach the Capital would've been quite risky... But with the ferry there shouldn't be any problems!" - she gives Cathran a friendly pat on her back - "How did you knew about that anyway? I don't think it was on the map... Was it mentioned in one of the books you were using? Are they about Ustalav? If so I'd love to have a chance to read through them! I haven't been here for long, and I don't really know as much as I should about this place..."
Alright, we're all stocked up and ready to go! ;) EDIT - While I still have the chance I decided to buy a few extra arrows for Aurora, with her own gold (nothing fancy, just a few golds worth of normal arrows... Just in case, you know!).
Aurora doesn't really need anything else beside what she already has (also, she wouldn't feel 'right' about spending the group's money, since she didn't have a chance to contribute in a significant way yet). As long as the party buys a CLW wand, she's happy! ^_^
Aurora takes the outstretched hand and gives it a vigorous shake - "A pleasure to meet you Riley. And I'm glad to finally get a word out of you! I was almost starting to think you didn't like me, or maybe you had something to hide..." - she gives Riley a blatant accusatory look, but she's unable to keep up her charade for long, and soon she bursts out laughing - "Just kiddin'! I'm sure you had your reasons... Maybe thinking about something back home? Oh well, don't worry about it, but if you ever need to talk, you know where to find me!" "Where am I from? Oh why, Magnimar, Varisia of course! Beautiful city, let me tell you, once you get used it... I was born there, and I trained at the Temple of the Dawnflower to become a Paladin, but I actually didn't spend much of my childhood in the city... Or even in Varisia, for that matter! You see, my parents were traveling merchants, and-..."
Work... Work... WORK! No, please stop, you cruel fiend! Have we not suffered enough!? Well... Apparently not! -.-' Ehm... Sorry I couldn't post anything yesterday guys, believe me I'm trying to be more present but work is taking all my free time these days! :( Anyway, gimme a moment to read all new posts and I'll write something of my own! :D
"A little kobold... Zombie? Which you made carry your stuff?" If the young paladin seemed a little perplexed before, she looks quite astonished now, after Lineera's revelation. After a moment though, she erupts in a hearty laugh - "By the Dawnflower's infinite forgiveness, if only Sir Kalvant could hear you! He was ready to smite your pretty little head only on the account of you looks... Oh, gracious gods, if he had known this!" - Aurora shakes her head, trying to contain her hilarity - "Oh... Oh well... On second thought, maybe he suspected something of the sort... That could be the reason he assigned me to be your escort, and not someone more experienced. Well, doesn't really matter now, does it? In any case, as soon as we got time, you have to tell me the whole story! I'm sure there's more to it..." Shaking her head one last time, and still chuckling a little bit, Aurora turns away and leaves Lineera and Eva to their conversation.
Aurora raises an eyebrow and looks at the duo quizzically. "Uh... I don't mean to pry, but... What would a 'munchkin' be, exactly?"
If needed, Aurora has a fairly decent +8 diplomacy mod, and could help sell stuff! :) EDIT - we crossposted! But yep, if Aurora overhears the party wants to sell something, she'd probably offer to help. ^_^
The young paladin bends over to look the two unruly children in the eye, trying to stifle her laughs - "Now, now, there is no reason to worry, Mahb's a good witch, she doesn't hurt children! But there may be bad people out there, and you should listen to your mother and not go outside the city walls alone, okay?" - she gives them both a warm smile and gently ruffles their hair, before straightening up and giving the blue haired woman a little wink.
"Oh?" - Aurora raises an eyebrow as she eavesdrop Mahb's remark - "And here I thought witches exclusively got children for their stew by stealing them! But buying seems so much better, much more orderly! Glad to see you are such a good law-abiding citizen Mahb!" - she chuckles lightly, her blond locks dancing around her.
Awww... I didn't make the cut for the Superstar Top 16 :( Now I'm sad... So sad... No really, look how sad I am! -> (´Д｀）/ See? Very sad! .
Oh, well, there is always next year I suppose! ^_^ (Also, I'm not that sad, only a little sad, and it was a fun experience! ^_^)
Aurora takes a few steps to get next to Cathran, to be able to answer the ranger without having to yell over the crowd's noise. "Uhmm, I'm not really sure, but... Oh, yes, now I remember! It happened a month ago, a tentacled creature tried to kidnap a young child, and the Tengu and the Unicorn came to the rescue! They saved the child, killed the aberration, and even fought off a dozen or so zombies in the process... You know, this was one of the reasons why Sir Kalvant took the Perdition's Point report so seriously, and went personally to deal with it." Aurora turns toward Cathran and offers her a beaming smile - "It's nice to know there are still heroes around when you need them the most, don't you think?"
"That's the spirit!" - Aurora exclaims, taking the ranger's loud voice and fast speech as a sign of confidence about the journey - "And it's good to be here, Cathran, was it? I'm glad you didn't take offense about Sir Kalvant forcing my presence upon you all. I know he can be... Difficult at times, but he's a good man and he's trying to do the best he can with what little he has." "Well, anyway, I might as well make myself useful! Do you need help with tha-" The young paladin takes a few steps toward Cathran, but before she can reach her the drow priestess catches her attention. "Oh?" - Aurora raises an eyebrow at her new companion's odd question - "Well, it's not raining undead frogs, so for Ustalav this is indeed a nice day, isn't it?" - she chuckles a little, then offers Lineera a shining smile - "You know, since you said you like my hair, I could show you how to do the same with yours. It's actually much easier than it looks, and I think I'd suit you perfectly! Uhm... Now it's hardly the time though... Well, we'll talk about that another time" - she dismisses the matter with an elegant flick of her wrist, then she turns toward the others - "Now we need to get underway. Are we ready to go, friends? Or you need help packing?"
From among the ranks of the caravan's knights, a very tall woman steps forward, dressed in simple clothing covered by a well-made chain shirt. She possesses fair skin, light blue eyes, strong but pleasant features, and a long mane of stunning blond locks kept in an elaborate hairstyle. The woman looks at Kalvant for a brief moment, as if asking for a silent confirmation of some sort, then turns her gaze toward the group of travelers from Perdition Point. "Well met friends, I'm Aurora Beldusk, follower of the Dawnflower and paladin of Her church. By order of Sir Kalvant, I will accompany you and help you in your task" - her tone is calm and formal, and she even offers a little bow at the end of her speech, but when her head rises again, a huge smile appears on her face and her voice becomes much warmer, even playful - "And since we'll be traveling together, please call me Aurora, no need to be formal! I'm sure we'll get along wonderfully... Now, I just need a moment to gather my things, and I'll be up and ready to go!" Whistling a little tune, Aurora hurries back to the caravan to get her things, apparently quite happy about the new arrangements. |
