1. The Wilderness

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Aug 3, 2023 6:34 pm
Luckily for Stella, Aiwë is easily diverted. She thumps darkly on her drum. "He cut off a couple of the giants' toes. I thought he was taking trophies." She smiles at Stella, the dark cloud passing quickly from her face. "He wasn't though. He wanted proof for the guards. I judged too quickly. Dieter has more honour than that."
Last edited August 3, 2023 7:12 pm
Aug 3, 2023 7:10 pm
"That he does," Stella nods, still talking quietly, leading the draft horses along. She draws her lips to a line, and shivers slightly, adrenaline still wearing off. "The fight was...rather brutal. I hope we've done good here...I'm glad it seems he's not doing it for sport, though. I've been a bit worried about him...he kept screaming death whenever we'd start a fight, and I couldn't tell whether it was for intimidation or thrill. But he didn't do that this time, huh?"

She's tempted to glance towards Dieter, but didn't want to let on that she was talking about him. "When we got back to Nashkel, he told me he learned to fight so he could be a hero, but that now he doesn't feel like one...and that getting to kill is a reward in itself. 'Blood money', he called it..." She falls silent, not sure what to make of it. The clopping of hooves fills the silence for a moment, then she continues. "I tried to press him more, but then he changed the subject and that's how we started making iced cream," she grins. "At any rate, thanks again for watching out for all of us."

Then she elbows Aiwë, still grinning and leans in closer and lowers her voice even more. "Also, if you're going to embarrass me to death, you had better be prepared to write me a ballad too."
Aug 4, 2023 8:28 pm
Aldous chuckles lightly, still a bit breathless from the fight. "Did your father have some romantic enchantment on the arrow? I've actually read about a far-off religion that believed in little naked halflings with wings that would shoot men and women with such arrows, to make them fall in love. I'm guessing your father probably doesn't make a habit of sprouting wings around naked though, especially with giants causing avalanches as that sounds terribly cold, and... and this conversation's really gotten away from me. Um..."

He shuts his mouth and gets in the carriage.
Aug 4, 2023 8:36 pm
The group continues on its journey north with little trouble. At one point the carriage breaks a wheel, but with some quick work Sheemish is able to repair it.

The trip is much faster with horses, and on the second day at midday they arrive in Beregost!
OOC:
The story continues here!
Aug 4, 2023 9:03 pm
Quote:
I'm guessing your father probably doesn't make a habit of sprouting wings around naked though,
Stella had been distracted by her own embarrassment, but after they started on the road again, she ran her conversation with Aldous back in her head, a bit of an involuntary habit, her mind trying to pick apart together all the things she said wrong.

Stella lets out involuntary snort and smile as she realizes what he had said.

When the wagon wheel breaks and Sheemish fixes it, she finds a moment to speak to Aldous briefly. "For the record: Sprouting wings? Yes. Naked? Noooo. Though you wouldn't be the first to compare Papa to a cherub..." She accentuates 'wouldn't' with a point of her finger.
Last edited August 4, 2023 9:35 pm

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