Arielle waits patiently, absently humming to herself. There seems to be something else accompanying the song, but it is unclear what that is.
Azuri'ith hangs back. He is watching carefully, ready to step in and defend Arielle if any move threateningly toward her, but not stepping in just now. At this point it seems that Arielle is doing quite well on her own.
Arielle waits patiently, absently humming to herself. There seems to be something else accompanying the song, but it is unclear what that is.
'...Caraftír gwuin un abbvast an,
Narvalnar, sium vun, nargûl bast...'Not literally, but as the sages of a few thousand millenia used to mistranslate it before the fashion for misquoting ancient dwarven lore went away.
The voice is low and muffled, and it is currently difficult for Arielle to determine the nature of the speaker. It is possible that only she, the nymphs, and the speaker can here what is passing; there is a sense of hidden magic at work here other than Arielle's own...
So, power denied the shadows that wait beyond; what leads you to believe that you can thwart them, daughter of Lynora?
Arielle waits patiently, absently humming to herself. There seems to be something else accompanying the song, but it is unclear what that is.'...Caraftír gwuin un abbvast an,
Narvalnar, sium vun, nargûl bast...'Not literally, but as the sages of a few thousand millenia used to mistranslate it before the fashion for misquoting ancient dwarven lore went away.
The voice is low and muffled, and it is currently difficult for Arielle to determine the nature of the speaker. It is possible that only she, the nymphs, and the speaker can here what is passing; there is a sense of hidden magic at work here other than Arielle's own...
So, power denied the shadows that wait beyond; what leads you to believe that you can thwart them, daughter of Lynora?
Arielle tilts her head quizzically.
"What shadows? All I know is that I want my mommy, and I have to find all the singing shinies to bring her back from wherever she went. It's very important that she come back."
Important to you, yes. A lot of people who have lost their mommies want them back.
But your mommy isn't as important to me, right now, as some other things are, which includes confusing some very bad men and women.
"But if my mommy doesn't come back, I have to be the goddess, and I don't think I know how to do that. I think probably that a lot of people are going to die if that happens. I'm not sure though. A lot of the Song is still in flux."
She looks up at Eiboria with innocent trusting eyes, totally unaware that she might be divulging secrets she should keep to herself.
"Please, won't you let me have the shinies so I can bring my mommy back?"
Ask me again, if and when you have the rest. And in the meantime, the figure extends an arm to point a gloved hand at Azuri'ith, promise me that you'll do your best to keep your great-grandfather out of trouble. I'm a very busy person, and don't want to have to stop and rescue him from some of the bad men and women who walk the world.
Arielle looks a little discouraged. To be so close, but still not be able to get at the shinies she needed was almost too much to bear. At least she hadn't been told no outright. Maybe later was better than no.
"Okay, I'll try. But I don't think Grandpa Azuri'ith listens to me very much."
Oh I think he listens to you more than you think.
But maybe you should talk to him to make sure he knows what bad men and women may be around, and how to be careful in dealing with them.
Oh I think he listens to you more than you think.
But maybe you should talk to him to make sure he knows what bad men and women may be around, and how to be careful in dealing with them.
"Okay, I will. I'm not always sure myself though. Sometimes I can remember lots and sometimes not so much. It helps when I sing my mommy's song. All I know right now is that there are some bad people who are looking for shinies. And some of the shinies have been taken away from where they were supposed to be," she says trustingly.
Unless it's in a special place, people will often pick up something shiny and pretty which they see just lying there, apparently unclaimed, even if they aren't bad men or women.
And sometimes even someone who knows that something is in a special place and that it is supposed to be there, will move it because they don't want somebody they don't like to just walk in and take.
A dragon called Smagnavast hired a very secret woman, who never breaks a promise she's been paid not to break, to collect all your shinies from a Place called the Carnival of Shadows, for example, because he was worried that a bad woman called Ashaundra might find some of them.
Arielle shuddered. "I don't know who that woman is, but I get a bad feeling just hearing her name. I hope I never meet her. I'm glad the dragon did that. Thank you for explaining to me why people keep moving the shinies. I think I understand better now. They don't know what they are. It's better they don't know. I will talk to my grandpa. Thank you for your help. I will meet you again after I find the other pieces."
With that she skipped away, back to Azuri'ith, grabbing his hand and leading him away before she turned to him and looked up with sad eyes.
"That person wouldn't let me have the shinies they had, grandpa. They said I should ask again after I have all the other ones."
The nymphs relax a little and together with the person they are guarding, move off.
The figure puts down his gun.
"Child, it is getting late, and I think there are a few things you and I need to be discussing in private. We will have to continue our search in the morning. Come, it is time to go home."
On the dawn of the morning, a young waif scampers out from blind duck alley. He scans the streets of the Bazaar searching for his next meal.
The Dwarven brewmaster opens the doors to his shop on the new day.
"I wonder what customers the day will bring," he says to no one in particular.
I used to love a good beer pilgrim. Or maybe some whiskey.
Oddly enough, this merchant's shop hasn't opened for the last two days. Word at the Bazaar is he practices a dark art behind closed doors and barters with demon and divels from the outer planes. No one with the courage has dared investigate, or at least knocked on the front door.
I used to love a good beer pilgrim. Or maybe some whiskey.
"Aye, now it all flows through you like cheap cloth. I won't be wastin' any good liquor on you. Now bugger off!"
The old fisherman finally gets around to reopening his shop. Not that anyone noticed that it had been closed. Customers were so rare. And he was free to spend some extra time collecting the odd sparkly bit. They looked like they would make good lures, he thought to himself.
I took a ride on a plane once, it was really cool....being cool in high school was everyone's goal.....I used to really like high school, except for that time I got shoved in my locker by some bullies.....bullies are mean.....I don't have a mean bone in my body....I did break a bone once....it really hurt....usually, when I'm hurting, I like to take some medicine....medicine can be really awesome sometimes.....
Arielle skipped along the street, dragging Azuri'ith behind her.
"Hurry up, Grandpa. For someone who's made of air, you really should be able to move much faster."
The apparent elf male guides the sleepy woman, her clothes shimmering with a simple glamer, into a shabby inn somewhere close to the centre of the Bazaar, and hires a room for them both. He assists her upstairs to the room, jams a chair under the door handle, and lays her carefully on a bed.
The Night Dragon stalks the streets of the Bazaar, time and again going back to the house razed by death from above the previous night, and making her way out (in her elven guise) from it.
She seems to searching for something - almost trying to catch some psychic scent.
She ignores the gleam of the tiara with the star amidst the blackened and burnt timbers, and the locals, suspecting ill of anything coming from the wreckage of a house levelled by such ill-omened means, are too scared to loot it yet...
Meanwhile there is no evidence of the figure in grey with the nymph guards today; whoever they were, they appear to have departed for some other destination.
On the dawn of the morning, a young waif scampers out from blind duck alley. He scans the streets of the Bazaar searching for his next meal.
Walking through the Bazaar, a young boy spies the waif, and 'drops' a coin , and continues walking. As he walks past it, he spies something shiny in the razed house.
Arielle skips down the street, continuing her quest for the shinies. The fisherman was very happy to part with his bunch in exchange for money. She didn't understand about money. It seemed rather silly. But people liked it and they gave her the shinies for it and that was really all that mattered.
|
On the dawn of the morning, a young waif scampers out from blind duck alley. He scans the streets of the Bazaar searching for his next meal.Walking through the Bazaar, and young boy spies the waif, and 'drops' a coin , and continues walking. As he walks past it, he spies something shiny in the razed house.
Muulsh trundles to his shop, a high-end pawn/jeweler's building
"Hmm, everyone seems to be searching for these odd gems."
Muulsh opens his beltpouch and spills a handfull of glowing gems on a pad of black velvet.
"Grokus never knew what he held. Ah, the possibilities.."
"This way, Grandpa," Arielle called as she unerringly honed in on yet another shopkeeper, this time a shoemaker. He did his best to keep close to her, to try to keep her out of trouble. After they had paid for yet more of the stars, Arielle wandered outside, getting a feel for where the next stars were. And of course on the way encountered someone selling sugared nuts. She looked at him pleadingly. The child had nearly as good of an instinct for sugar as she did for finding pieces of her mother. Who would probably not thank him for giving Arielle enough sweets to rot all her teeth out, he thought as he handed the little girl the sweet treat.
After she finished her lunch, or was it breakfast? Anyways, after she was done eating and her grandpa had got her all cleaned up, something about not leaving sticky fingerprints all over everything, they set out once more. They almost had all of the stars here, she could feel it. She honed in on the shop of Muulsh the Merchant and walked through the door.
"Hello," she chirped, cheerfully. "Oh," she said happily, seeing the shinies on the black velvet. "You do have them. Grandpa! Grandpa! Hurry up! You mustn't go so slow. There are some more of them here. How much do you want for them?" [i]she asked with a wide-eyed innocent smile.
... How much do you want for them?" she asked with a wide-eyed innocent smile.
Muulsh smiles widely
"Good day child! I am sure you are fascinated by these pretties, but I am afraid I must ask a dear price in gold for them. They are rare beyond imagining and I have several buyers waiting to purchase them."
He turns to a counter and brings down a silver chain with a brightly-colored butterfly pendant.
"Now THIS piece is much more proper for such a lovely young girl. Crafted by the elves of the Great Forest, it's made of silver with mithril chasing. The wings are enameled. What do you think?"
Butterflies have really pretty wings.....I used to luv watching them fly around in the spring....spring is one of my favorite times of year, especially when all the flowers bloom.....I luv flowers, they smell really nice....I like to smell nice, so I take a shower every day.....one time I was taking a shower, and lost all the hot water....that was cold....I don't really like the cold, and snow is the worst.....my car got stuck in the snow once, and I had to walk 5 miles to get home.....walking is usually pretty good for you.....really good exercise....I like to exercise....
... How much do you want for them?" she asked with a wide-eyed innocent smile.Muulsh smiles widely
"Good day child! I am sure you are fascinated by these pretties, but I am afraid I must ask a dear price in gold for them. They are rare beyond imagining and I have several buyers waiting to purchase them."
He turns to a counter and brings down a silver chain with a brightly-colored butterfly pendant.
"Now THIS piece is much more proper for such a lovely young girl. Crafted by the elves of the Great Forest, it's made of silver with mithril chasing. The wings are enameled. What do you think?"
The elder air elemental sighs. "Put the trinket away, merchant. I will pay whatever exorbitant price you have come up with for those. I would rather not have to spend my next few days tracking down all of your buyers to purchase them back again."
Meanwhile, having overheard the conversaion between the pretty air genasi and the merchant, the young boy begins to carefully pick his way through the ruins of the house to get the shiny for her.
The ruined house is unfortunately unstable, and Lk disturbs a crucial part of a pile of collapsed timbers, tiles, and rubble. With a slithering crash, a miniature avalanche of stone and charcoaled beams envelops him.
Unable to leap out of the way in time, Lk's lower body is pinned by rubble. Try as he might, he just can't push it off. After much frustrated struggling, he finally calms down. He looks around for something to dig his way out with, and finds only a small board. Nevertheless, he attempts to dig his way out. After a much smaller avalanche, he notices the shiny is close enough to grab. Clutching it tightly, he begins to selectively pulls pieces of rubble off him.
The figure leaps up and runs over, grabbing LK's arm.
"Alright, boy?"
Still clucthing the shiny like a lifeline, Lk begins to dust himself off.
"Stupid house fell on me, but I'm okay. Think a piece of silverware poked me though... Thanks for the help an' all, but who are you?"