Fantasy Of Magic and Forgotten Lands

[Lekiel]

~To the Northlands~​

Due to the nature of this RP, the details of the story differ slightly, depending on the Homeland and class of your character. For simplicity's sake, the default alignment of your character will be 'The Dominion of Arya'.

. . . . | . . . .​

It started in the most peculiar of ways. Though perhaps not the most unusual, depending on how you see it. A border town, within the northmost reaches of the Dominion comes across a decaying body of a soldier floating down the stream. Now, such floaters though rare, was not unheard of by villagers. The truce between the three kingdoms opening up travel throughout the lands, giving the keys to errand adventurers to go out treasure seeking. This floater would have simply been dismissed as another stupid hapless soul, had 'he' (well, six out of ten of the border patrol wagered the overly decayed body was a male) been discovered by simple folk.

But as fate would have it, a particularly enthusiastic patrol captain and his men spotted the body as they were making their last rounds for the shift. Excited at the unusual sight (now, you must forgive him as patrolling borders can be really boring as of late; the most action a Dominion soldier would have these days would be to see their Bloodsworn counterparts and hurl insults at the pointy ears. Unless one were placed within Wretched infested territory, but that's besides the point). Now, upon recovering the body and searching it, our dear captain discovered a tattered map carefully rolled up in a worn but otherwise intact leather casing, effectively protecting it from the stream waters. Eyeballing the corpse, our dear astute Captain deduced that this man was no simple adventurer. Though very much faded, one could assumed that he wore the colours of sorts. The body belonged to a soldier (there were also other trinkets found on the body to confirm the suspicion). Though from which army was the question.

Fast forward a month or so (cause I'm really lazy at story-telling), the body and map now resides within the walls of Midranthos, capital of the glorious Dominion. Ambassadors from the other two regions had all but confirmed that the soldier belonged to neither one of their armies. Embroiled within their own internal politics, the Vanharen and Aryan Lord was quite intent on dismissing the peculiar situation; that is until their Elvish counterpart remarked that the map depicted a region towards the north of his Kingdom. The Vanharen representative snorted the claim away and took his leave, all dramatic with his green smoke and eerie theatrics.

Now, one must understand, that the people of Andarun understand, that their world does not end beyond the Skyreach Mountains north of the Bloodsworn. One should understand however, that it is extremely difficult and nigh impossible to cross said mountain range; as only a very small handful of people have ever done so. Reports of what lay beyond, was simply that of a winter wonderlan- I mean, desolate landscape, with nothing to offer.

Long story short, the Bloodsworn delegate happened to know of some relatives who had been across the mountain range, (oooh destiny oooh plotfixing! oooh!) and thought it would be interesting to see what they could find. The Aryan acting very much true to his stereotype, the haughty noble, did some complicated math in his head and realized that he stood a chance to gain from this conquest as well, with nothing much to lose. Hence, he declared that he too will send an emissary to the north.

You my friend will be playing this Aryan hero (picked by the Aryan noble, for whatever reason. You could be an annoying bastard child that nobody will miss but will bring honor to his name if he succeeded or some... well its up to you!) ^-^! You may also choose to play a character from The Bloodsworn. Try to tie in your character's background with how he/she will fit into the story. Don't hesitate to ask questions!

I will be playing your Bloodsworn guide *-*!

~The Map~

~Character Application~


For this RP, you may choose any of the 'normal', 'special' or 'elite' classes. This is not a first come first served basis. So take care in writing out your application.


Just a basic character skelley will do, as below:​

Name:


Age:


Gender:


Homeland: (The Bloodsworn, Arya. The Vanharen is offlimits)


Race:


Class:


Equipment: (Please be mindful of the limit one person can carry ; )


Appearance: (at least 3 lines, include a picture if you have one. Otherwise, add more description to define your physical features)


Personality: (Optional, can be discovered through the story anyway ^^ but extra merit if you make the effort and come up with something "great")


Character Background: (Character background and history. Keep it.. uhh how shall I put it? Balanced? I mean there's no point being a super skilled legendary mythical warrior God who can fell a whole army with a sneeze! Andarun has extensive lore and background, use it to fit your character in! Try to relate your character to the story setting. You could be some minor noble seeking to bring honour to his family, a political nuisance that others want to be rid off, a nobody with nothing to lose hired by the ambassador to be loyal to his cause etc.)

 

[Lekiel]

One Week Ago

"Seler`Tanadris, amin sal rangw`uuma mankoi amin aut`caela!" The younger of the two women cried, wringing her hands in the air as she turned away. She crossed her arms over her chest, a frown on her face as she fixed her eyes on a painting hanging by the wall of their house. An Isilhin warrior sat astride his stallion, leading a charge into a horde of Wretched, backed by the colourful pennants of his clan and allies. His features were clearly depicted, but the cleanliness of his facade was far from the scarred and battleworn lines of Father; if ever she could address him in such a familial manner.

"Talyndra... Saes last`amin." The other replied, gently but firmly, her voice pleading. She reached out to grasp the shoulder of her step-sister, trying to get her to turn back. A servant dressed in a neat but subdued dress glanced curiously from a balcony overlooking the immaculately decorated living room. On the wall, just behind where the two sisters stood, a pair of crossed runic elven blades - the family heirloom - glinted in the warm glow of the elemental lanterns.

"There are many other rangers who know the area! Why can't you send them? I'm sure they can attempt the crossing!" The protest was spoken in commons, though Talyndra still refused to turn around. At first glance, both women were starkly different, as night was to day. One with long flowing amber locks and olive skin while the other was fair, pale skin so translucent it almost seemed to gleam like the moon. But while the younger woman had let her brown hair flow freely, gently cascading about her shoulders, the other had pinned her long dark hair back out of her face; a common conduct of someone in her line of work.

"Ile sinta`tanya naa a'risa." The older woman sighed. "We are perhaps the only two who has ever gone beyond the Skyreach and traversed the wilderness... I mean, there are the others... but I doubt any amount of gold would make them attempt that pass again. I would've gone myself but-"

"You can't. Your duties won't let you..." Talyndra interrupted, her voice flat. She was resigned to her task, there was only so much she could argue. In truth, she knew there was no other way. She had only resisted just because she felt she had to say something. Turning around finally, she gave her sister a hug. "I don't know if I can do this, seler. I've always had you to back me up. Out there, I will be on my own... I've heard your tales of adventure and everything and I'd always longed to go.. but now that it's in front of me.."

"You'll be fine, don't worry. If I'd had the slightest thought you aren't capable, I would not have suggested you to go." Tanadris smiled as she embraced her sister. Then stepping back, she grinned. "Besides, I think its time you took a breath of fresh air away from your dusty spell books. Make an edan friend or two. I heard you'll be joined by a top inquisitor, a handsome one at that."

"Seler!!"

~The Present~​

The elf stood fidgeting impatiently as she stood on the porch of the tavern. Leaning forward with her chin resting on the palm of one hand and the fingers of the other drumming the wood of the balcony restlessly, she cast her eyes about, searching for someone. One of the four Bloodsworn rangers glanced over at her, a frown creasing his otherwise smooth forehead, as he and his companions sat astride their mounts.

He is late! A whole day late in fact! Her sources had told the elf that she was to meet the Aryan representative at the Flitting Wyvern Tavern in the Bloodsworn border town of Fairgale at noon. Noon yesterday. Of course there wasn't any real need to hurry, but that didn't change the fact that he was late. She knew what her sister would say, she would tell her to be more patient. But Talyndra could not help it, she was unlike most elves, who were supposedly known for their patience and calm conduct. Talyndra snorted unwomanly at the thought.

A chill wind swept across the front, and despite the fact that it was a little past noon, the air was pretty cold. Clouds drifted past, obscuring the sun as dried autumn leaves swept across the compound. Talyndra tugged her pale green cloak closer about her, stared down the pathway and immediately noticed a figure approaching the tavern.


~Translations~
Language of the elves available in the Bloodsworn Lorebook

Seler`Tanadris, amin sal rangw`uuma mankoi amin aut`caela! = Tanadris my sister, I don't get why I have to go!

Talyndra... Listen to me please.

You know that is not true.

Seler - Sister

OSWonder

 

[OSWonder]

Dominion of Arya, Midranthros | Ashenhaime Mansion, Main Study | Two Weeks Ago

There was a dying man in his backyard. There was blood on his shoes and a smear of dirt across his cheek. His hair was a right mess. Vahn wolv’Bane could not have chosen a better time to visit.

Evyn stared at the straight back of the older man who was standing by the window, forbidding aura enhanced by the dark, stormy backdrop the outside world provided him. The Lord said nothing for a long while, choosing instead to remain brooding there while his pitiful mentee was struggling desperately not to zone out. And people thought he was the dramatic one, honestly.

They both knew what the man was here to say. Or, at least, he could make a pretty confident guess about it. For one, he could bet that it was about the quest he had been offered earlier. For two, he was fairly sure that the elder wanted him to accept it.

Personally, he felt it too vague and risky. The long, arduous journey promised no definite yield but plenty of pitfalls. Even the noble who had brought up this task knew that and had, therefore, left it open to the floor. Evyn suspected that the man was prepared for the one to take the quest up to end up being a normal Inquisitor rather than a Vahn.

Which would likely have been the result, had he not existed. If any of the Vahns truly believed anything good would come out of this quest, they would have been grabbing it for themselves. Recommending him as their representative was the last thing they would have done, rather than the first. Even if he did succeed, the best he could do was jump up a couple ranks. Why bother, then, when he could climb even higher much faster by digging up some dirt to challenge another Vahn over?

“The quest,” the Lord finally begun, snapping Evyn out of his thoughts, “sounds promising. If it were to go well, it could be the discovery of something amazing. You would be known throughout Andarun and, I expect, would stand to gain quite a bit as well.”

That’s a very big ‘If’ you have there, he thought but smartly kept his mouth shut.

“It is an honour to receive such an enthusiastic recommendation from so many Vahns as well,” Lord wolv’Bane added, almost as an afterthought, as if he didn’t know that Evyn knew that neither of them believed that.

“All things considered, I would suggest you accept it.” Ah. There it was. The final nail in the coffin. The shattering of whatever tiny hope he might have had of not undertaking this tiresome task. It was an order disguised as friendly advice, the now grey-haired Lord's staple method of communication with him. The last time Evyn had dared to decline any of his so-called father’s wishes and got away with it was...well, never.

“If you say so then it must be so, no?” He replied, the slightest bit of bite in his tone that, were he a few years younger, he would have never thought to use when speaking to the terrifying Vahn. He really should watch his snark, he scolded himself, not for the first time. That little edge was likely what was prompting the series of irritating quests from the elder in the first place.

“I will accept the quest.”

++++

Bloodsworn, Fairgale | Flitting Wyvern Tavern | One Noon Too Late

They were late. Evyn was acutely aware of that from how panicky his only female companion seemed, constantly biting her lip and looking around, tethering on the edge of saying something. She didn’t dare to, not to him. He wished she did. Her constant fidgeting was more annoying than anything she might have had to say about their slow progress.

It wasn’t as if he wanted to be as late as he was. Unlike certain other citizens of the Dominion, he placed little importance on the apparent superiority of their human race. Even if he did care about that, this would have been an awfully petty way to display that. Not that he wasn’t awfully petty, of course, but he had plenty of other ways to make people suffer in his arsenal without adding one more day to what was already bound to be a long journey.

How they ended up so behind time, then, was a long and stupid story involving one of his men, a thieving woman and a ridiculous chase for their coin bags. That man was no longer in the world of the living. Neither was that woman. Their passings didn’t make him any earlier in arriving, sure. He did it anyway. Awfully petty, indeed. No wonder the girlie didn’t speak up.

As the team of Inquisitors neared the tavern, the Flitting Wyvern, he could immediately spot their guides, already waiting outside on the porch. Signalling to one of his men to take the reins, Evyn slid off his horse and headed to the Bloodsworn representatives on foot. Their entourage consisted of five people just as his did, four rangers on their mounts and one Elven woman whom he assumed was the guide. She was the only one who matched the description he was given among them.

Pretty little thing. He looked back at the Inquisitors and saw that exact same thought in the eyes of some men. He hoped to god that this wouldn’t become a problem. As insulting as it was to say about his own kind, humans lacked an appalling amount of self-control.

He felt the cold glares of the folk on their mounts sting him from the moment he entered their line of sight. His body instinctively tensed, his hand jerking toward the firearm in his right holster. His mind, however, thought their expressions rather amusing. Clearly, they were not so pleased about that day long wait. Evyn sent them his most infuriating grin as he inclined his head in greeting.

He sauntered toward the elf, faint smile playing at his lips, no apology anywhere to be seen in his demeanor. His gaze ran over her, subtly, and he found her quite literally a pretty but little thing. In Arya, ‘impish’ and ‘beautiful’ seldom came together when describing appearances. In her case, however, it did. The woman stared at him with sharp, emerald eyes that reminded him of a disapproving professor looking at his disappointment of a student. The thought only served to further his mirth.

“Arya greets you, Miss…” he trailed off, dragging out his last syllable for longer than necessary, “Elf.”

Laughter rose from his crowd of followers behind him. It was not that he had forgotten her name but rather that he did not really trust himself to pronounce it right. In this way, she would be prompted to introduce herself, at least. She would also probably be offended but Evyn wasn’t one to care about that.

“Vahn Evyn, pleasure to meet you,” he continued without a hitch, like he hadn’t heard his men react, and raised a hand for her to shake.

 

[Lekiel]

Having spent most of her recent life in Hearthfire Academy of Aran`Fadrasil, barely venturing any distance south meant that Talyndra had never met an Aryan in her life. There had always been a significant amount of humans within the capital of course, but most, if not all of them, were Bloodsworn humans. She'd heard many a rumour about how Aryans that deserted the Dominion and sought refuge with the Bloodsworn had to wait several months in the border towns for all the excessive body hair to fall off and for them to be able to speak without the snobby ostentatious drawl their kind was known for. Various harrowing accounts ran that one could smell an Aryan coming down the road from half a mile away, and that they were a savage and war-hungry people; savage to the point that although they spoke in commons, no one could really understand what they were saying (which really didn't make any sense at all ironically, the rumour I mean). Of course, with such rampant whisperings the only source of information Talyndra had, she wasn't sure what to believe. That being said, while most would've shied away from having anything to do with Aryans, Talyndra was actually rather intrigued and had longed to settle her curiousity. While most elves were inclined towards upholding longstanding views and traditions, Talyndra often found herself having a more objective view of the world than her kin. At least, that was until she had to waste a whole day waiting for the clown to show up.

Taking all that into consideration, it was no surprise that when the tall, lean, fairly clean-shaven edan presented himself before her, she briefly cast him an appreciative look before her face hardened into a scowl at his incorrigible demeanor and noisy rabble that were his companions. She felt their eyes on her, mostly from the men at his back, which did nothing except sour her mood even further. As he stepped forward, there was a subtle ring of steel and tightening of drawstring and leather.

"Tulunka!" Without looking, Talyndra let out an exasperated sigh and waved the overly suspicious rangers to back down. They had been on high alert for no apparent reason two days in a row, and after they nearly pin-cushioned an unfortunate Deadlander merchant the day before (he survied unscathed), Talyndra was starting to get tired of their antics. What an adventure this will be, if even your own kin got under your skin!

The elf drew herself straight to her full towering heigh of 5 feet 6 inches, and stepped over to the steps leading down from the front porch. Her robes rustled in the autumn breeze as the tap of her boots on the wooden floorboards echoed in the relatively silent atmosphere. High afternoon usually meant that places like taverns were usually deserted. Talyndra kept her steps deliberate as she made her way over, emerald gaze glowering intently at the inquisitor's own blue orbs.

Stopping just short of the first step, so that she still stood taller than the human (only barely), she addressed him. "You are the edan the Dominion has sent for the expedition, I presume." She spoke in commons, her voice had a lilting alto timbre to its pitch. He had quite the nerve to not even offer an apology for the delay. It took all her will to not retort in spite to his insolent introduction, resorting instead to a clenching of her jaw. He did offer his hand out, and if not for her sister's last minute tutoring on Dominion etiquette, she would have no clue what she was supposed to do with it. An annoyed frown marred her otherwise smooth forehead as she took in the sight of the Aryan and his proferred handshake (which was supposed to be a polite way of greeting, though he had been anything but polite). "I thought you would be... earlier." Talyndra said, deadpan. Her gaze shifted momentarily to his cahoots, before resting back on the Vahn. She grasped his hand, with but the briefest of touches before retracting it as if afraid she might contract some sort of infectious disease.

"Talyndra." She uttered her name pointedly.

. . .
"Tulunka!" - Steady/Stand down.
edan - human

 

[OSWonder]

Bloodsworn, Fairgale | Flitting Wyvern Tavern

The breezes that attacked them outside the tavern were cold and sharp, cutting through even his coat and suit to send goosebumps sprawling across his skin. Evyn remembered that this place called itself Fairgale. Whoever had named it such clearly had a different idea of what a fair amount of wind was than his.

That pointless thought ran past his mind as he watched the elven woman, Talyndra, if he recalled correctly, descend the stairs, her robes floating rather theatrically around her. She stopped where their eyes met easily, standing so straight that she almost looked tall. Her glare had more fire behind it than he would expect of the famously cold elves of Bloodsworn.

When she spoke, her voice drifted in the air, a melodic sound that would have been charming had the tone of her words not been so scathing. Evyn hummed a vague agreement to her assumption, though he had no idea what edan actually meant. A human, perhaps. Or, maybe, a representative? Well, whatever, he was a something sent by the Dominion and that was close enough.

The elf proceeded to frown at his extended hand, as if considering some factor only known to her. When she finally took it, she let go so quickly that it resembled a slap more than a shake. He wondered if he should be insulted at how reluctant she was to touch him. There were rumors among Aryans than touching a non-human creature was a bad omen. Did her race, too, hold such ridiculous beliefs?

“Yes, well, I had thought I would be earlier, too, Talyndra,” he drawled in response, blatantly false regret coloring his voice. It was a shoddy excuse of an apology, if it could even be called that, but Evyn offered no other as he removed his stare from her and directed it to his surroundings.

The tavern was practically deserted, the occasional curious passersby being the only other occupants of this section of the town. Even then, or perhaps because of that, they drew every pair of eyes around. He and his group made for an odd sight in Bloodsworn, he guessed, with their unusual equipment and dress code. At some point, in a passing town, a child had even tried to grab at his revolver in wonder. Luckily for all parties, her mother had dragged her off before she could even get close. Not that Evyn would have let the kid touch it, anyway. There had been more than one incident of accidental shots fired by children whose parents were idiots. One of the current Vahns nearly lost his title because of a similar situation.

Surprisingly, he had gotten more weary glances thrown at him from strangers on his way to Bloodsworn than within the Dominion. He would have thought people who knew exactly what he was, with his Vahn crest and glaring wolv’Bane emblem, would fear him more than people who probably didn’t even know what an Inquisitor was. People had such an irrational fear of the unknown. Not irrational in this case, in fact it was very wise of them, but still.

“I assume we will be leaving immediately?” Evyn asked, after his short pause, turning his attention back to the guide. He smiled, a seemingly innocent expression, and added, “I hope you know your directions as well as you’ve claimed, Miss Elf, because we’re already behind time.”

 

[Lekiel]

His arrogant insolence rubbed her already frayed nerves raw and it took all her will to not just slap his pretty face and damn the consequences. Instead she satisfied herself with sarcasm.

"Oh... I didn't know you cared about being.. what was that human word? Punctual? Seeing as how we're a whole day behind schedule-." Talyndra abruptly bit back any further response before she ended up delaying them any further. Her scathing remarks probably meant nothing to the prideful Aryan. She descended the last couple of steps and breezed pass the Aryan in a huff. Whirling away with a rustle of her robes, she headed over to where one of the rangers were holding her horse for her and pulled herself gracefully up.

"The airfield is a short ride away.." She gave Evyn another green-eyed stare before kicking her mount into a steady trot. Signaling the rangers to lead on the group took off towards the north-west border of Fairgale. Their destination, the Fairgale Skyship Airfield. Fairgale was a major Bloodsworn settlement that had grown into a decent sized town over the decades as trade routes opened up between the kingdoms. As the first largest town anyone traveling into Bloodsworn lands from Haven would encounter, a temporary skyship airfield was developed up on a grassy plain just north of the town. Over time, the airfield grew in size as more and more merchants took advantage of the transport to cut short many weeks of travel towards the Bloodsworn capital. Today, calling the town of Fairgale as a busy logistics hub would be a very modest description at the very least.

So it was, that as the sun was now barely visible over the tops of the trees, it found the group making their way over a well traveled winding road. The path was enclosed on both sides by tall ominous trees which seemed to grow taller and wider the further north they went; the canopy began to block out most of the late afternoon light shrouding the group in a kind of pale early evening glow.
Had they only account for themselves, Talyndra and the four Rangers could have easily traversed the winding tree lined road from the Fairgale main district down to the airfield in just over a quarter of an hour. But with the lumbering pack of apes on horses in tow, the journey took unnecessarily longer than usual. They didn't pass by too many other persons along the way, and Talyndra suspected that trade was starting to slow down, what with the beginnings of winter approaching.

The general consensus amongst many of her people had always been to shun and even despise any who didn't swear to the Bloodsworn Alliance. A stance which their four ranger escorts seem to subscribe to. Though they kept their own counsel for the most part, the four seemed to want to disassociate themselves from the others as much as they could. They trotted their horses a score feet ahead of the humans, occasionally breaking into a canter to maintain the distance, almost never glancing to see if the they kept up. Still rather pissed from their previous exchange, Talyndra was inclined to ride along with the rangers, exchanging many a merry banter with the four. They were handpicked personally by her sister, and had much they wanted to know about their Captain's younger sibling.

Before long, they were but a few hundred yards away from their destination. Out of the blue, there was a low rapidly beating hum coming from somewhere behind and above them, and before either of them could look up, there was a rush of wind as a Skyship dipped in low as it passed overhead, its lightsails glinting and gleaming in golden hues as it reflected the fading sun. The ship quickly moved out of view as it landed in the nearby airfield, docking and perhaps unloading its cargo of trade goods and merchants. They had paused a moment, Talyndra turning to look back at the Inquisitor as the ship flew overhead but quickly turned resumed their journey as the ship dipped out of view.

The broad roadway narrowed down to a cobbled pathway as decent sized lodges came into view and stalls lined the road. Before them was a mass of people. Peddlers, tallymen and merchants hollered out their wares, a surprising variety of goods from even as far east as the exotic Heaten`hua desert spices. Forced to slow down due to the crowds, Talyndra found herself drifting back until she was pretty much alongside the Aryan convoy, eventually finding herself riding abreast to the Vahn. Deciding that they had gotten off to a bad enough start, she thought she could at least try to smooth things out. If anything, just to make their future expedition just a little bit bearable.

"Have you been on a skyship before... Hevern?" The foreign name rang oddly on her lips, but she tried her best to imitate the pronunciation with which the human had introduced himself earlier.

 

[OSWonder]

Bloodsworn, Farigale | On the Road to Fairgale Skyship Airfield

Miss Elf and her rangers strutted ahead on their mounts, leaving him and his Inquisitors to trail behind like stalkers rather than travelling partners. They rode so separately that the unknowing passerby would have thought them totally unrelated. It wasn’t really a problem, however, since neither group seemed to mind this fact. Certainly not his group, at least, judging from how they were giggling over nonsense behind him.

Evyn mostly ignored them, focusing instead on cramming as much of the unfamiliar roads into his memory as he could. It wouldn’t do to have no idea of where he was should anything unexpected occur. Knowing the map of every place he went to was one of his most basic rules, a habit nurtured after some unpleasant life lessons.

The fascinating sights that lined their path proved fairly distracting to his cause, particularly the occasional dwarf that walked by. Elves were practically human in their appearance. Dwarves were a whole other story and intrigued him much more. They had human-esque features, sure, but even the stoutest of men would look slender next to them. It was like seeing a distorted version of humans. Evyn could see where the whole idea of his race being superior came from, when so many other races looked like humans but just not as...normal. He still didn’t buy it. It could also well be humans that looked like them, just more boring.

As this thought flew across his head, a massive ship flew over and stole his attention. The skyship cast a shadow over the road as it flew past, landing a distance away where he assumed was the airfield. The huge vessel had glided through the sky with an abnormal grace, a contrast from the slow rumble of the Dominion’s skyships. It was impressive, especially when he considered the quickly fading sun.

They met with a market as they neared their destination and Evyn turned to check on his team, making sure they were still one whole amidst the crowds. It was like he was their babysitter. Perhaps, he should have insisted on picking his own team more strongly. He had thought that his people were too valuable to waste on this seemingly doomed journey and had only brought along one. Now, it seemed a fool thing to do. It would be better to let a few good underlings potentially die rather than potentially die because of a few bad ones.

A now-familiar melodic voice cut through, pulling his gaze toward Talyndra who had fallen in beside him. Hevern, she had called him. He arched a slim eyebrow at that. Was that purposeful revenge for Miss Elf? He considered her strict behaviour from earlier. Probably not. Mirth lit his eyes, painting the ghost of a smirk on his face.

“I have, once, Tindra,” he replied with laughter in his voice, saying her name wrong despite having gotten it perfectly right just minutes ago, “but none quite like that just now.”

His gaze flitted to where the beautiful ship had disappeared in the horizon then back to the woman. Since she had taken the trouble to speak to him, he might as well tone down his sarcasm for the sake of a longer conversation.

“I heard that Bloodsworn’s ships were the dancers of the skies. I suppose that is true,” he continued, wondering how to repeat his name to her without sounding as mocking as he tended to. He was relieved of this dilemma when Calvus, the only one with loyalties to him in the crew, came forward.

“Vahn Evyn, I’ll be riding ahead,” the young man said in a clipped tone, clearly as sick of the rest as Evyn was.

“Are you asking or telling?” He responded with a teasing, not mocking, tone that had the boy turning sheepish. It was a tone that only took to his voice when faced with someone he actually gave damns about. As hard as he tried, he usually failed to repeat that same softness when talking to others. If he could emulate that tone as he wished, he imagined this journey would go with a lot less verbal sparring than it currently seemed poised to.

“Begging.” Evyn chuckled at the answer and acknowledge his request with a slight nod of his head. As the Inquisitor rode off, he turned back to the elf, wondering if she had caught his name this time.

“Pardon. As I was saying, the skyships here seem a lot different from ours,” he paused, considering his next words. Conversation was hard when you knew hardly anything about the other person. It was especially irritating for the him who was used to having stacks of information in hand about everyone he came into contact with.

Finally, he gave up on saying anything more of substance and simply tagged on, "And you?”

 

[Lekiel]

The elf sniffed when Evyn butchered her name, and from the look on his smug face and his earlier much better attempt at pronunciation, she realized it must have been intentional. Though he clearly was not the nicest example of his race, the inquisitor did not seem like the kind to make petty insults for the sake of being mean. It was still annoying nonetheless, but Talyndra felt no need to voice a protest... yet. She observed his interaction with one of his subordinates with much curiosity. Though they exchanged but a few words, she sensed more camaraderie in Evyn's tone when he spoke to this particular companion than with any of the others thus far.

"And you?” Two words which took her by surprise. It was a pathetic attempt to carry on the conversation. But it was an attempt, which was ten times more warmth than she had expected from the Aryan.

"I..." She hesitated briefly, still a little guarded about Evyn's true nature. "I have... My sister used to- has taken me on many of her scouting expeditions... her being a captain of the Calenfari Rangers..." She glanced at Evyn out of the corner of almond shaped eyes. "In fact, we've chartered the Calenfari's very own Satulwe`... I mean flagship," She added for his benefit, "for the first part of our expedition."

Their progress through the crowded pathway was slowed, but eventually, the crowds begin thinning... or rather, the roads began widening once more. However, instead of continuing on, the rangers took an abrupt turn and led them off the main path onto a grassy plain. The paving ended to be replaced by a well traversed dirt path and before them, was the famous Fairgale airfield. Set out in a vale between two forested hills and illuminated by the deep golden rays of the late afternoon sun, it was a sight to behold. Keeping to the town's namesake, periodic gusts of wind rushed unfettered across the open expanse. A windy flurry knocked the hood of Talyndra's cloak back, catching tendrils of her amber hair as she paused to take in the sight. It did much to brighten her mood.

A multitude of gleaming Solean Lightsails of the anchored Skyships billowed in the wind, cheerily greeting them against the backdrop of setting sun. On either side their meandering group, shouts of airmen preparing the decks could be heard as ships of all sorts floated a couple of feet off the ground. Most were merchant ships, there were even one or two bearing the markings of Dominion Officials, with their steam propeller engines chugging away and puffing smoke.

Talyndra led the way in silence until they neared the far end of the airfield. Walking past a particularly flamboyant galleon (complete with hanging tassels, who in the name of Anara would add tassels to their skyship?), they suddenly beheld a majestic clipper. Its polished wood was etched with elemental runes and carved with cloud markings. On its bow, it proudly bore a carved statue of a Wind Sprite. To any trained shipbuilder's eye, the skyship could only be described as an elegantly sleek masterpiece. And indeed it was, with its three broad masts and puffed up lightsails undulating in the airy sky, the ship looked as if it was straining to take off into the sky where it belonged. Along its front, spelled in hammered polished gold letters was the word, 'Anarthiren'. At the sight of the ship, Talyndra could not help as a small smile softened her face. At least there's something to look forward to.

Talyndra ran an appreciative hand over its smooth Heartwood hull, her eyes gleamed in delight when she felt the latent elemental magic hum beneath her fingers with barely suppressed power. "This... is the Anarthiren, my sister's crowning glory and also our ride to the north." She grinned in excitement, as she regarded the inquisitor. "You may direct your men to load their supplies with them." She waved at several burly Nektara who had lumbered over to assist them.

Talyndra watched for a moment to make sure everything was in order before inviting Evyn onto the boarding plank. As they stepped onto the polished deck, Talyndra cupped her hands around her mouth and called out seemingly to no one in particular. Her gaze roamed across the breadth of the ship, as if searching for someone.

"Quel`andune! Nae saian luume'mellonamin Elheim el`Naral!" Her rich melodic voice rang out above the chatter of the handful of sailors loading the last few supplies. They were stood in the center of the deck. Talyndra settled her eyes expectantly at the ornate doors leading to the ship's bridge, for a moment there was no answering call.

"Yallume! Aaye lirimaer, cormamin lindua ele lle Talyndra iel`Farandir!" A booming voice sounded from behind them. Talyndra gave a little cry of delight and turned to behold a smartly dressed Captain. Towering at nearly seven feet, the man wore a dark forest green ship captain's coat, with immaculately polished silver buttons across his broad chest. A bicorn complete with white plumed feather sat on his head, and an elaborate rapier was tucked to his side where his hands currently rested. With his broad physical built, squarish jaw, deep set grey eyes and equally greying beard, the Captain was quite clearly human. Though many weathered lines and even a scar decorated his visage, his eyes gleamed with a fire that could spark a warmth even during the coldest winter nights.

Talyndra stepped forward to embrace the man and Elheim returned the favour with a warm bear hug. Releasing the petite elf who had a broad smile on her face he couldn't help but remark, "The last time I saw you years ago, you were this tall..." He bent slightly forwards and in a slightly mocking gesture, placed his hand atop the elf's head. "Oh... you were the same height! I guess you haven't grown much taller since. Pity, you were an early bloomer." Elheim feigned disappointment as he shook his head.

"Auta miqula orqu, Elheim!" Talyndra could not help it. She had always been sensitive about her height, though she wasn't particularly short, she nevertheless was on the lower end of the spectrum.

"Tsk, tsk... manners child, manners." The bearded man shook his head, though he could barely contain himself and let out a chuckle at their little banter. As if finally catching sight of the Inquisitor, Elheim cocked his head slightly in the direction of the Vahn and winked. "Has she given you any trouble?" It was more of a statement than a question as the Captain stepped forward and extended a calloused hand to Evyn for a shake.

"Vedui Aryan! Greetings!" A broad grin brightened his face but steely eyes regarded the Vahn carefully, as if sizing the young man up.

"Elheim el`Naral at your service! The elves call me Elheim the Emerald, though I don't quite fancy such suffixes. Regardless, I'm the Captain of this marvelous beauty-" the man gestured expansively over the vessel, "and also forever indebted to Tanadris, our dear Talyndra's sister. Which is why I jumped at the opportunity to provide some measure of assistance."

. . . | . . .​

"Quel`andune! Nae saian luume'mellonamin Elheim`el Naral!" - Good afternoon! It has been too long my friend, Elheim`el Naral!

"Yallume! Aaye lirimaer, cormamin lindua ele lle Talyndra iel`Farandir!" - At long last! Hail to you my dearest, Talyndra daughter of House Farandir!

"Auta miqula orqu, Elheim!" - Go kiss an orc, Elheim!

"Vedui Aryan" - Greetings Aryan

 

[OSWonder]

Bloodsworn, Fairgale | The Anarthiren

Evyn knew of Tanadris. He knew that the Dominion originally asked her to be the guide on this journey but that she put Talyndra up instead, citing some typical excuse or another. A passing curiosity entered his mind that maybe the elf was like him who ended up forced onto this long trek by the so-called recommendations of another. The fondness in her voice as she spoke of the other woman, however, proved that thought most likely wrong.

He added one more word to his dictionary of Elven as he listened to Talyndra speak. Satoolway? Satullwae? Something to that effect, basically, which was supposed to mean flagship according to Miss Elf. He wasn’t sure how exactly that would come into use for him ever but, well, knowledge was knowledge.

As they rode into the airfield, he was surprised at the amount of color that surrounded them. Evyn had not thought airships were things to be so brightly decorated. It seemed he had been wrong. He could understand why. If he owned a giant flying ship, he definitely would decorate the hell out of it as well. Perhaps not with tassels, though.

The ship which they were to ride was relatively large and rather grand. Rather than their transport, however, what caught Evyn’s eyes were the half-trees coming their way. If dwarves were intriguing, those things, Nektara, they were called, were simply mind-boggling. He suddenly felt like a frog in the well after being slammed in the face with so many new things in the span of one day. He barely managed to pull his eyes away from them before his curious gaze crossed the line into dumbstruck staring.

Clearly, Calvus was a lot more into the idea of the airships than he was because even from here he could see the sheer excitement on the Inquisitor’s face. The boy looked about ready to run into the large contraption like a little kid and explore.

Talyndra wore a similar, if less fascinated, expression on her face as she introduced him to the Anarthiren. He found it interesting that this ship was what inspired happiness in her that had been lacking before.

That animation only increased when, on board the clipper, a huge man appeared from the ship’s hold. Large as he was, there was no mistaking the features of who seemed to be the pilot of the Anarthiren. This man was human.

He was slightly taken aback at this realization. He knew that there were humans in Bloodsworn, the majority of whom were from families that had left Arya due to some reason or other. He was under the impression, however, that they would be a more secluded group here in Bloodsworn. For the Captain of a ship to be of his race was unexpected.

The prevailing sentiment of Aryans tended to be against humans in Bloodsworn. However, given this man didn’t turn out to be one of the very rare ones who managed to escape the Inquisition’s reach to here, he didn’t really care. Well, that and if he was a good and, more importantly, fast pilot. In fact, if he had to be perfectly honest, Evyn gave more damns about the latter requirement.

If one of those old men back home heard me think that, it’d be cause for a challenge, he mused to himself. The only pleasing thing about this journey, in his opinion, other than maybe Talyndra’s face, was being away from those geezers with their constant, suffocating observance.

He lingered behind Talyndra, gaze wandering the expanse of the ship’s deck, taking in the sights around him. The duo completely ignored him in their greetings to each other, like he wasn’t even there. Idly, he considered if he should take offense to that.

Has she given you any trouble? The turn of their conversation to him caught him in surprise, depriving him of the chance to make a sarcastic remark before the man, Elheim, spoke again.

“Vahn Evyn wolv’Bane,” he introduced himself, grasping the elder’s outstretched hand. The too-firm grip threatened to crush his hand. A grin curled on Evyn’s lips as he withdrew his hand from the Captain’s grip with no apparent discomfort.

“Pleasure to meet you,” he continued, gaze raking Elheim with renewed interest.

The man towered over him. Which was unusual. Evyn was used to men being taller than him, broader than him. He had an average height and a lean build where most men in his work were built like oxen. He was not used to the difference in stature being so obvious, though. It irritated him almost as much as it amused him.

“You are a rather...impressive looking man, aren’t you, Elheim?” He observed dryly, humor tinting the edges of his tone.

“I’m sure you’re skills will be even more so,” he added, amiable voice contrasting his somewhat condescending words, “I look forward to the flight.”

 

[Lekiel]

"So the ladies say!" Elheim winked at the inquisitor before roaring with laughter. "Ah, you flatter me Vahn Evyn. I'm sure you're no half an arse yourself! The reputation of the Vahns precede you Master wolv'Bane, no doubt no small feat was accomplished to achieve such stature." Elheim offered the Aryan a broad smile, though his eyes were enigmatic.

From the sidelines, Talyndra watched the exchange between Elheim and Evyn curiously, noting the minute inflections in the way Elheim interacted with the inquisitor. The captain was no easy man to read, nor was he the toughest, but she knew Elheim enough to know when he actually took extra notice of the people he interacted with. And what he saw in Evyn certainly impressed him. Which was surprising, all things considered.

"I-I think we should get underway... hmm?" The elf decided to interrupt the introductions before it got to the awkward stage.

"Hmm? Yes.. yes of course! HOCIRI`HOPA! Lume ana`auta!" Captain Elheim turn with a click of his boots and bellowed. An answering chorus of 'Ayes!' and affirmatives from his crew as they leapt into action, swiftly disengaging the Anarthiren from her moorings and anchors. Not a moment too soon, the clipper lurched and then a low beating hum reverberated from within the bowels of the skyship.

"You'll be alright... Evyn? It might be a little shakier than what you're used to." In that moment, the elf surprised herself with two things. One, that she managed to get his name right. Two, that she found it really natural to express simple courtesy to the Aryan, despite whatever prejudices her people had for the Aryans. There was another rumble and then a lurch as the skyship bumped against its moorings. Talyndra temporarily lost her balance but managed to catch herself against one of the ropes around the masts.

"We will be leaving shortly... once we have taken off and steadied our course, we will have to meet Elheim to discuss our route. For now, what would you like to do? I can show you and your men to your quarters or take you around the ship, if you're interested?" She eyed the young man whom Evyn had called Calvus. His clear fascination with the Bloodsworn made cloud-dancer was infectious causing a grin to curl the corners of her lips.

. . . | . . .​

HOCIRI`HOPA! Lume ana`auta! - CAST OFF THE MOORINGS! Time to go!