Tai Reen's page

Tai leaps back over a table and silently prays it does anything to keep the hordes back. Reuniting with the others deeper in the kitchen, he steels himself as he sees the swarms of little monsters following. Knowing it's likely in vain, he swings his sword regardless, slightly comforted in the familiarity of the thing, at least.

'Damn!' he thinks, looking around. 'Gotta be something more to do... Finally, his gaze settles on the scores of iron pots, pans, and trays. Come to think of it, he'd seen some of the things recoiling from similar irons back in the other room...
'Maybe...'

Tai continues his egress even as the others around him hold their position and reinforce the line. He considers joining them, but decides against it at this point-- he knew from experience that too many hands could muddy things up even more than they already were.

'Best to stay with the Royals for now he thought to himself. 'At this point, who know's what we'll find in the kitchen; can't leave all the fighters at the rear...'

With one last look towards the King, Tai catches a glimpse of the twisted, alien monster that Acaciano turned into, and feels slightly comforted. Given what's happening, it's a weird feeling, but he shrugs it off-- they'd been in rough scraps before. Now he needed to focus on the royals.

Which would have been easy, except for this damned fog! Tai fumbles his was through the gaps slowly, trying not to trip over himself or anyone else. Hopefully it's as hard for them to see through as it is for us...

Coming out the other side of the cloud, Tai moves to catch up with the others, keeping an eye out behind their growing-in-size group.

With his sword freed, Tai turns around to get his first real glance of the opponent, and manages to (barely) keep from vomiting. Shaking off the momentary nausea, he throws a glance to the King's dais, trying to see Acaciano. Normally, across a room like this, in as hectic a melee as he'd ever seen or heard of, there'd be no chance of picking a single man out of such a crowd this far away, but knowing Acaciano he wouldn't be a man for long.

Gritting his teeth, Tai abandons his friend, for now, and does the only thing that makes sense in the situation: he follows along to help protect the Royal Heirs however he can, stopping at the edge of the conjured mist.

Tai continues to pull at his sword's bindings, finally pulling it free.

As all hell break loose --literally-- at the party, Tai finds himself momentarily happy he’s been seated only a seat over from Darvan, because without the man’s warning, Tai would have had the slightest idea what challenge they were to face.

Steeling his nerves, he turns back to the table in front of him, and begins working at pulling his sword free from its ties.

::László, Acaciano, Tai, Etc::

"Ah, you'll be looking for Dargaryen then," Tai chimes in. "He leads the Steel Fists."

"I could have sworn I saw him somewhere here..."

Late Afternoon - Iron Gauntlet Inn. End of Block II

Tai keeps a watchful eye on the low-burning candles in the Inn, and eventually realizes he'd best make the trek back to their camp sooner rather than later if he wanted to find anyone still awake. After making sure he's introduced himself and spoken of the Voice of Trees to everyone, including the later-additions, he finds an appropriate and polite lull in the conversation and stands, bidding the others farewell.

"Well, as much as I'd like to spend the rest of my night here, reveling with you all, I've some work to do back at camp-- and not a short walk to get there either. Ha! Of course, if any would like to visit before tomorrow evening, by all means. We are, or course, the only camp with a Treant," he says, smiling. "You can't miss us."

After pleasantries, Tai moves towards the exit, he respectfully bows to the group, offers a final farewell, and exits, making his way back to camp.

Iron Gauntlet Inn

Tai politely responds to each of the members at the table who've offered their arcane services, in one way or another.
'Well, everyone seems nice enough, though I'd expect little else at this point. When the going gets tough though, I guess we'll see how people respond under pressure.'

To Aramil in particular, he replies, not unsurprised to hear about the Elves expected response:
"I hope you're able to convince them, Aramil, but if you're not, well, they won't have been the first and they won't be the last Elves who've not exactly cared for one such as myself. I suppose we'll just have to earn their respect the old-fashioned way."

As the conversation moves on to the elimination banditry and the like, Tai sits back and allows the others to lead the conversation, silently taking notes in his head about each of the groups.
'Ha! I wonder if the King signed on anyone who hasn't eliminated a bandit gang?'

*********

As Theodric makes his way over, Tai looks on silently after introducing himself appropriately. Marveling at the blind man, he continues to let the others speak as he listens on, splitting his focus between the conversation itself and musings about Theodric's skill with a blade.

::Tai/Dargaryen/Bartek/Aramil::

"Mmm, fair enough Aramil, and well put. Arcane magic is, as it turns out, somewhat lacking in our camp. We could do well working together, your Magefort and my team. Might even be that working with Acaciano and myself, sharing some but not all of your blood, could serve to help ease the transition, or at least dull the shock of working with so many new faces -and styles- so quickly."

::Tai/Dargaryen/Aramil/Baretk::

Tai let's out a low whistle as Darg and Bartek acknowledge the size of their memberships. "That's impressive, Gentlemen. I know that my fellows will be unable to match you for sheer manpower, but I hope we'll still prove useful, and worthy colleagues. Many of our skills are on the harder-to-come-by side of things, I assure you. And all things that you'll appreciate, allied with Erastil as you are."

"And Aramil, sir, what can you tell us of the Mageford? I've heard the name thrown around quite a bit, but little detail of your company itself."

::Tai / Dargaryen / Bartek / Aramil::

"Well met, Gentlemen, Miss," Tai says, settling in and offering a poite bow.
"And to each of you, on behalf of the Voice of Trees, congratulations on your selection." He was no bon vivant, but he'd gone out of his way to pick up the social customs during his time training with Acaciano's mother.

"I'll admit Bartek, and Aramil, you've got me at a disadvantage; I don't believe I know much about your companies, either." Tai flags down the bartender and silently orders a drink, gesturing to the man behind the bar, then continues seamlessly.

"Now Darg's 'Steel Fists' here, we saw them earlier today, and when we realized they followed Erastil, well, we figured we'd have a lot in common. And since we'll all be in this together, best to start off with good relations, eh?" As Tai's drink arrives, he tosses the barkeep a coin and he takes a sip.

"We're a good folk, us who speak for the Green. A hardy folk, and well-seasoned. There's a lot you learn in a city like this, sure, but most of our company, we've taken our lessons from the Wilds, and that's a perspective we're sure the King will be needing as we go along."

Tai smiles confidently, "Our company itself- we're led by a trio of Druids. Acaciano, who was with me earlier in the square today, is our leader. You can't miss him; he's the one who turns into a tree." Tai chuckles, then finishes. "Pine, a gnome, and Jem, a halfling, are the others. You'll have a chance to meet them soon, I should think. They're a interesting pair, those two. Don't take anything Pine says too seriously, he's....well he's playful even as far as gnomes go. And Pine, well, she's as bookish a Druid as you'll find, if you believe that. And me, well, let's just say I'm not a bad guide, and I'm not so bad with a sword either."

"Now do tell, what of your yourselves?"

::Dargaryen's Inn::

It had more than a few hours, but Tai eventually found out where the Steel Fists had set up their temporary headquarters. A great deal of time had been spent tracking down false leads to taverns and inns. The Steel Fists had indeed been to most of them at some point --in fact it was starting to seem that they'd been to most of the taverns in the city-- and they'd certainly been memorable. Ultimately though, Tai found what seemed to be the right inn, or at least he hoped. He could track a white hare in a snowstorm, but finding this group had proven more difficult that he'd expected.

'For such a rowdy group, these folks certainly are hard to pin down. Are these really the Erastil worshippers we saw in the square?'

Tai shook his head free of prejudice, and entered the Inn. He made his way to the bar and greeted the man, speaking loudly enough to be heard by the the others in the place, and in an inviting tone.

"Ho there. I'm Tai Reen, representing the Voice of Trees. I've been told I might find the Steel Fists here. Any truth to that?"

Tai speaks up as well: "Pleasure."

The idea of Theodric using two dueling swords simultaneously bothered him far less than most; in fact, he found himself intrigued. His own style, despite being based a traditional Aldori foundation, had evolved over years of practical, live-or-die fighting to be more similar to the sweeping, two handed, and scythe-like cuts Acaciano preferred with his scimitar. He knew his swordplay was better when he could leverage his strength rather than his speed, and he'd long outgrown the need to explain away his style to others.

'Should Theodric's group and ours get selected, I'd like to see him fight with those swords some day,' Tai thought.
'It certainly sounds interesting, that's for sure'

”Well, good thing we saw your mother yesterday,” Tai quipped to Acaciano as they entered the Red Square a few hours later.
”Because it looks like our ‘today’ is going to be rather… occupied.”

Glancing around, both men took in the sights, sounds, and smells of the square with a mix of strong reactions. Both loved Restov, certainly, but years away had certainly left them changed. The city still appealed to them, it just felt a little louder than they remembered. Today, maybe it was.

”Indeed. ‘Occupied’ I think is the perfect word,” Acaciano laughed back.
”I don’t think Heartwood enjoys staying back at camp but today, especially today, there’s little doubt it’s the right choice.”

Moving through the square, a number of familiar faces stood out to their keen eyes. Some they recognized from the buildings where they’d signed up initially for the venture, and some they recognized from the camping fields. Some, Tai figured, were strange enough that they had to be adventurers waiting for the announcement-- there weren’t that many “interesting” folk in Restov, at least that he remembered.

A few minutes later, as they worked through another clogging knot of people, Tai’s ear’s picked up a few interesting words. With a firm tug on Acaciano’s sleeve, he subtly pointed out a rather varied collection of people. ”Pretty sure I just heard ‘liberate Sevenarches’. Now there’s an interesting idea, eh Acaciano?”

Acaciano redirected his focus from a different group of people he’d been looking at on the other side of a large ring of onlookers surrounding a dancing performer. He’d caught a glimpse of a horned woman with a somewhat scaly face who he’d seen disappearing into a camp on the outskirts a day ago, with a large cat on her heels. He started to wave-- they’d need allies at some point and that pair would probably have more in common with them than most others would-- and then he felt Tai tugging at his arm.

’Sevenarches? Now that IS unexpected’ Acaciano thought, before replying,
”Very, friend. Very. Let’s get a closer look and see who exactly this is.”

Following Acaciano's lead, Tai made his way over to the group, keen to introduce himself.

Cohort Age:

starting: 20 + 2d6 ⇒ 20 + (1, 2) = 23years
advancement, in months: 8d6 + 3 ⇒ (4, 1, 5, 2, 2, 5, 5, 3) + 3 = 30 = 2.5 yrs

So thats: 23 years + 2.5 years = 25.5 years