Outentown - The Seeker

[Obsidian Sea]

Alvira Legre has been accommodating some strange guests. A silent man, accompanied by two others. He waits without word, watching every entrant - but he speaks to none of them any more than the woman that has opened up her home to him and his allies. People of the village frequently stop by, if not only to give Alvira Legre company and distraction from the strange intensity of the silent man. Some attempt to speak to him: they, too, are not acknowledged. The man's companions explain that he waits for the arrival of another, but they cannot say who, and they do not say why.

Becoming rather concerned for the health of the man, and the potential permanency of his staying, Alvira Legre sends word to Sarshel, Vlasta, and Thelnam, asking that those that live there might come to meet the man in the hopes that the one upon whom he waits will be among those that heeds the news.

[Silver Snow]

The little homestead was a frequent stop for Lucien Castell, the Cormyrian swordsman. He pulled up with his newly acquired battle-steed, Casimir, and after some difficulty, coercion, and treats was able to tie the reins of the stallion to the sturdy wooden fence. Outentown was on the road, a good place to stay the night between destinations, and while the town's tavern was a good destination to aid a dry throat, it didn't have any beds to speak of.
Lucien would be aptly acquainted with the Legres by now, though not to any great extent or personal friendship. He never much inquired on their dealings past the general expectations of politeness, and if they were to inquire into his they'd get only polite and noncommittal responses in return.
Noting the somewhat packed house and the strange company, Lucien would check if any of the rooms remain open..and, more subtly, if all was well with Avril and her household. He, though, wouldn't strike up a conversation with any of the men out of turn. His usual affability was now more restricted than ever, and usually to the few friends and acquaintances he had left.

[Obsidian Sea]

It is a strange atmosphere in the Legre Farmstead when Lucien Castell arrives. What precious little food each household rations for its days following a cold and cruel Spring and Summer is now dispensed among many mouths regularly. Two men in bland robes, touched by the sun to make them dark of skin, sit and watch alongside another man who, foremost among them, garbs and holds himself differently. He sits upon the floor, adjacent to the heat of the fireplace, and he stares ahead. He looks at Lucien Castell as he walks in, and then returns his attention to the door, wordless.

The house is quiet that night. Alvira Legre explains to the swordsman that the villagers have made regular visitations, but she has no guests this night save for the man and his allies. A room is available, and meal too if Lucien wishes it. Though Alvira assures the man that all is well, that is a certain discomfort that is evident in her as a consequence of the strange circumstances surrounding her current guests. Accommodating until the last, she seems reluctant to turn them out, and though she has difficulty hiding her sense of discomfort, Alvira distracts herself by fussing about Lucien Castell and making sure his lodgings will be comfortable for him.

When the night has taken hold and things are quiet, Lucien Castell might hear a handsome voice on the floor below just as he means to drift off to sleep.



"If I met you face to face,
Would that face erase my past?
Step by step,
Word by word,
Word by word, by word.

In search of you..."



Sleep has claimed the busied Cormyrian before more words are intelligible. The slow, hypnotic nature of the verse has put an end to this day's thoughts.

[Obsidian Sea]

Things fall into a consistent, albeit a strange rhythm as the days pass accommodating The Seeker at the Legre Farmstead. That household has known a myriad of guests in recent years, including the magically gifted; the race of Elves; and holy people of Divine purpose within the nation. Alvira Legre has offered bed and bread to such an eclectic range of characters that the only guests left for her to entertain are likely the members of the kingdom's nobility! Still, few have stayed so long or behaved so strangely as The Seeker and his chorus.

Many guests have come to observe The Seeker. The residents of Outentown have come: the swordsman Lucien Castell stayed the very same night as was The Seeker's first stay. Since then, the High Dawnlord Artemis D'Assanthe has attempted to engage The Seeker on the nature of his quest, and upon the same day, Alvira Legre's door opened up to the Elf, Celith Galiner; the foul-mouthed Jonan Mard; the seamstress, Wilhelmina Alenar; Merney Valroc, King of Midsummer; and the Monk, Anton. In their own respects, people of remarkable substance, set apart from the citizenry by their own unique strokes of individualism. And yet, The Seeker has not moved to know them. His chorus chant, as though they were an extension of The Seeker's mind - or his soul.

Still The Seeker waits.

[Dawnbreak]

At a rather late hour in the night, the Legre farmstead was visited by the ranger known as Élise - a not too unusual of a guest, yet certainly not familiar enough with Alvira and her kin, being a woman of the wilds. Having heard of The Seeker by word of mouth, she would have approached the man tentatively, before seeking lodgings for the rest of the night.

[Obsidian Sea]

Alvira Legre comes through the door of the house with Élisabeth Duval, having met her on the path whilst chasing down the children for their final tea. She greets the Ranger, courteous to the woman with whom she might not be the most familiar, but to whom she has nothing but a kind word to offer - a kind word, and a curious smile. The trappings of a Rogue and the lifestyle of a Ranger might be her choice, but there was something meticulously noble in the bearing of the one who called herself Élise which distinguished her from another who would walk such paths.

In advance, the Cormyrian is treated to a word of apology for The Seeker's aloof manner of behaving. There is a palpable squeamishness in Alvira as she explains the circumstance of the last few days. The attention that the situation has attracted to the housewife's abode seems to make her uncomfortable, but neither does she wish to see her current domestic circumstances continue in perpetuity, and so inevitably she must welcome new guests.

"But if nothing can be done for it, the High Dawnlord has invited him to stay at her home in the city. Perhaps he will go there. There's a lot more people go to the city than our wee village! Usually is, anyway." She laughs, a little breathless against the sharp cold which has left her voice a bit coarse, "I am sure there's more interest for visitors in going to the house of a Priestess than there is in coming to our little home!"

Coming through the front door of the Legre Farmstead, the children have already foregone a place by the fire to sit around the table. Alvira precedes Élisabeth Duval into the house, harrying the children over to the cabinet to produce the cutlery for supper.

Stepping through the door of the warm home, Élise promptly claps eyes upon the same sight that others might have described to her. A man, his skin golden from the sun and his hair palest blonde, sits upon the floor staring so intently upon the doorway that it abstracts the corporeality of everything around him. Two men, clad in the same bland robes as one another, their skin as dark as The Seeker's, sit upon the couch and wait with him.

As with every new person that walks through the door, The Seeker looks up at the Cormyrian woman that enters. He stares a long time at her, intensity gathering in his eyes - eyes now possessed of a yearning quality. It is as though it were the most fascinating sight in the world when he unfolds his legs, tentatively rising to his feet as his arms reach out to frame and to capture the image that stands in the frame of the door before him: that of Élisabeth Duval.

"H-here," he begins, his voice tremulous with emotion and his throat dry, with all the amazement of a man who has met his God. "She has come. My true love has come!"

Behind him, the two men rise swiftly from the couch. Alvira Legre turns from the cabinet, and the children too. All eyes in the room seize upon Élisabeth Duval.

//OOC: To be continued serverside at the next convenience of both the DM and the player.

[Obsidian Sea]

The morning after Élisabeth Duval visits the Legre Farmstead, The Seeker and his modest procession is witnessed by the folk of Outentown, solemnly departing the village. At his back, the two men in bland robes who accompanied him chant quietly at his back. Alvira and Tared Legre stand at the door of the house watching them go. Concern reaches the simple woman's face, but not regret. Yet when her friends in the village ask her what transpired, she respects the pseudo-privacy of The Seeker's quest and those with whom he spoke. The only person to whom she speaks of the matter is High Dawnlord Artemis D'Assanthe upon her next visit to the village.

"He wanted me to tell you - to thank you. He wanted to - to thank you for your kindness."

It is all that she says, but the words are true. Alvira seems in the moment of her intercourse with Artemis D'Assanthe to be a little sad. Perhaps it would be ignorant to think that time spent accommodating The Seeker would not have effected her in some capacity. She has her family, and her business, and what troubles her about the experience will not remain troubling for long. What is to come next for The Seeker, however, remains unknown to the people of Outentown.

They take the road south towards Dilpur. Few ships leave Sarshel's harbour under the present circumstances. A quiet retreat from Impiltur is accompanied only by the hushed verses of the two men that travel alongside The Seeker. Travelers and merchants claim to have overheard scraps of what they sang.

"And what Seeker finds rest away from his heart's desire?
And what Seeker finds rest away from his heart's desire?"