Aryen Caladras - Roads

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Copper Dragon
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To Tsurlagol II

Postby Copper Dragon » Sun Nov 27, 2016 1:16 pm

Fourth to Sixth Day of Travel

One night's rest at the village by the roadside did Malvina good, or at least it did not worsen her state. Indeed, the next, fourth day the orphan girl gets up and ready to leave on her own accord, although exhaustion and weakness have not left her completely.

The Ranger leads them forward, and he is more than capable to discern the tracks of those ahead and after them on the road; if there are any hostile creatures skirting their path he will be able to note it and steer them clear of it. So far, fortunately, the only tracks he can discern are those of the Warswords that travelled between the villages on their patrol.

Beautiful and sad is the landscape around them; rolling hills to both sides, some adorned with bald populus trees and birches. The occasional vertical line of smoke suggests a hamlet nearby, or at least a collection of farms.

The fifth day of their travel heralds a slight deterioration in Malvina's condition. The village rest from the day before had helped her some, but it could only last for so long. Her eyes are sunken in, her frail form shivers more no matter the clothes she is offered with; but throughout this, she still manages to follow Aryen, or hold onto him tightly if he opts to carry her.

On their right side, the Grey Forest looms in its hilly, misty expanse. From where Aryen and Malvina see it, the forest seems to go on endlessly east and west, and behind it the Earthfast Mountains lazily look down, barely visible in their whiteness against a white-grey sky and white-black woodland. Still, the road bears no ill surprises for them, nor is their evening stop disturbed. Aryen Caladras finds for them shelter, food, and a good vantage point: in this he is experienced and has an excellent sense.

Tsurlagol is supposedly three more days travel away; it should have only been two at most on a clear day. But snows and fell winds from Auril have caused a road blockage and traffic has slowed down to a near-standstill. Perhaps this is the one small comfort that comes with travel on foot rather than by wagon: Aryen and Malvina can skirt around the affected area. There will be a delay, but not multiple days as it would be with a caravan.

Except that on the sixth morning, Malvina does not wake up.

She lies in her sleep sack, bundled in hare's furs and blankets, warmed by the wolf Fenrir around her - and looking as pale grey as snow mixed with mud. The wild animal wakes and growls low, sniffing at the child's face, before turning his muzzle towards Aryen.

The Dalelander would have a chance to rise and check her.

OOC: Skill roll provided in game: Aryen Caladras: DC 18: Heal roll: 3 + 12 = 15

He cannot immediately tell if she is dead - but he moves quickly to assist. Too quickly: even with his resourcefulness and exceptional sight for all things malleable and usable to the task, he cannot gauge what medicine or treatment Malvina's lifeless little form needs. He is able to tear all the warm furs and blankets off the girl to dry her skin off, and to change her clothes to something dry and warm as well; herbs cooked on the fire and supplied to her to fend off the fever; a check on her mangled hand if it is bleeding again and refreshing the bandages.

But he has to get her out of the wilderness, and quickly.

OOC: Skill roll provided in game: Aryen Caladras: DC 25: Survival roll: 6 + 22 = 28

While he is not able to instantly pinpoint what is wrong with Malvina, he knows one thing very well even under such duress - the way through, and out, of the wild. He has to estimate if Tsurlagol could be reached by crossing the outskirts of the Grey Forest, rather than slavishly following the road, and has to make a guess in which direction a bird would need to fly from here to get to the city.

OOC: Skill roll provided in game: Aryen Caladras: DC 25: Knowledge: Geography roll: 7 + 13 = 20

It is hard to guess. But he has to make that guess and go with it - he has to get Malvina to a settlement. Somewhere with more people, more medicine, more options than one man's talents; even if that one's skills are outstanding.

He has to leave and leave now.

And hope to arrive in Tsurlagol with a girl still alive... rather than another body to bury this winter.

OOC: The DM rolled Fortitude checks for Malvina's condition (DC 15 to get better, DC 12 to stay in the same conditions) the first three days: the results of which are 13 + 11 + 2.
Plays:
Artemis D'Assanthe, Dawnmaster
Udhana, the Kinless
Dhovainithil, Silver Elf
Jhasira of the Bai Kabor, Dawnbringer (deceased)

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Copper Dragon
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Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2015 12:11 pm
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To Tsurlagol III

Postby Copper Dragon » Mon Nov 28, 2016 6:37 pm

The Last Days of Travel

In Impiltur, they now say the seventh day - the seventh of anything - is cursed.

A sign of evil.

A foretelling of doom.

On the seventh day of Aryen and Malvina's journey to Tsurlagol, they traverse the woodlands forsaking the road in the hopes of flying straight and true as an arrow towards their destination. Aryen's capacity to measure terrain and its potential for travel is immense, and he is an unstoppable force; but is he aiming his efforts the right way? Can he afford to be unstoppable when Malvina is so feeble, her next breath may be the last?

She does not wake up and proves to be dead weight for the Dalesman, or for Fenrir who trots alongside his companion and his pup. Aryen Caladras carries a greatblade with strength, and Malvina with tireless strain, but when he needs to take a break, the nonchalant lupine bites Malvina by the scrub and drags her along in the snow. Whether the wild animal understands Aryen's concerns or desires is left unconfirmed.

Aryen would have to choose if he pushes himself to his limits, and if he commits to using what spells the Moonmaiden would grant him.

Maybe having come this far, it's a choice easily made?

Maybe it is not even a choice - but a natural conclusion for him, an instinct that drives the wolf to hunt and the man to aid the child he had taken under his wing without being asked to. And without being asked to, he carries him and his charge to his destination.

Hopefully, at least. What if it's the wrong direction? It should be west; even without the sun, he knew where that lay. What if it is southwest? What if Tsurlagol is miles past them already?

On the seventh day, he gets no answer, nor help.

On the morning of the eighth day, the Ranger would be able to get up after another short break in the race for Malvina's life.

But Malvina is dead.
Spoiler:
No. Wait.

She breathes.

They are shallow intakes of air, weak as a snowflake in summer; or a flower in winter. Malvina's deathly bluish-gray cheeks hold onto a thin blush that is just some last grace granted to her.

Aryen Caladras would be able to carry her - he would have to. And as he exits the treeline for a vantage point, to seek the surrounding landscape and estimate if he was headed the right way in the slightest, he would be able to spot it: down in the plains, a wide road flows towards a walled, tall, organic city.

Tsurlagol. It will have to be.

His guess at the direction they had to take was not correct, but also not largely off. By the end of the eighth day, Dalelander and orphan descend unto the road and arrive at the city gates. They have to pass by a few wagons, caravans and travellers in order to reach the sturdy port. The five guards would watch their approach warily among the sojourners of nightfall; but as they take sight of the faint girl-child, one of them hurries unto the plaza beyond the gates. He is calling for a physician.

And if Aryen's dogged perseverence brought them this far, it will likely not last much longer... But here they are.
Plays:
Artemis D'Assanthe, Dawnmaster
Udhana, the Kinless
Dhovainithil, Silver Elf
Jhasira of the Bai Kabor, Dawnbringer (deceased)

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Copper Dragon
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The Rising Moon

Postby Copper Dragon » Thu Dec 01, 2016 6:07 pm

Image

Aryen Caladras would have to wait a long time in the foyer before anyone deems it necessary to speak to him.

Such is the way things go: in the wilds he is a hunter matched by few, a silent sovereign who knows his realm well. Here, in the temple dubbed the Rising Moon, he is but a singular man, one whom the present priests hurrying about seem almost not to notice.

And with reason, for Malvina's condition takes priority.

Tsurlagol's streets were curling and disorientating, a testament to the city's organic growth throughout the past centuries. For Malvina, they led to the temple nearest to the eastern gates through which she had been brought this far - up until that point carried by Aryen Caladras, and past the gates carried by a well-rested guard. Malvina was brought to the temple of the silver mother, maiden and crone of Tsurlagol: to the Rising Moon.

Selûne is one of Tsurlagol's revered deities, and her temple could well be one of the city's wealthiest - a snow-white building with towers, which bore azure and midnight blue onion-shaped caps. Rather than through its double doors, it was the smaller door built into the heavy-set ones that opened to let through the child and the guard that bore her on his arms, and no doubt the Dalelander. The man who had taken this girl so far and who had changed her fate.

Finally, Aryen is approached by a short-statured young man clad in the beautiful blue robes of the Moonmaiden. He frowns slightly, but inclines his head to Aryen kindly and deeply: "You are to be thanked for the maiden's life, woodsman. Another day out in the open would have been her death. Her wound was treated surprisingly well, disinfected, although the complications could not have been avoided without proper tools at hand."

The young man falls silent, hesitant, then tells Aryen, "She's going to lose the hand and part of the forearm to keep the fleshrot away. She will live. But she will need seven days of bedrest. We must have faith that, like Our Lady's in the sky, her strength will ebb from here on."

The amicable priest, or senior novice perhaps, finally offers Aryen Caladras to come with him to Malvina; and thereafter a place for him to simply sit and be at ease in the temple's chapel. He is happy to keep the Dalesman sympathetic company, polite and friendly, if often enigmatic as the Moonmaiden's preachers tend to be.

Other priests pass by, some inclined to address the Ranger. Aryen Caladras is not immediately recognised as one who shares the Moonmaiden's beliefs: perhaps he does not tell them of it, either. They are appreciative of what he has all done for Malvina, and inquire with him many things, but none of those are about his faith or him at all. Instead they ask plentiful questions focusing on her: what had they overcome to get this far; what and how much had Malvina been eating; where did she come from; who were her parents. They want to learn of the Impilturan child, and it does not take more than a day for Aryen to see that they care for her here well and thoroughly.

Aryen Caladras can return to the temple frequently; even a cot is offered for him to sleep, as there are not many suffering illnesses or requiring healing in the Rising Moon's halls at present. In exchange of such hospitalities, the Selûnites do not ask anything; for now. His appearance makes it clear to them that he is in need of kindnesses, not debts.

Indeed, in the next days to come the temple's residents - some fifteen men and women - see him more than welcomingly. If he does not disclose his unofficial, personal to the Moonmaiden, the priests leave the matter be - but it is revealed, they seem surprised; some skeptical; others enigmatic in their smiles. The Lady in Silver's ways are mysterious and not always to be guessed. All lost and wayward souls find guidance with Her, if they dare to look for it.

Aryen Caladras will not suffer anonymity among Tsurlagol's Selûnites. Whereas he had been an unknown, a shadow for this church and even among the general populace of Impiltur; an elusive, tireless guardian who took the shape of a humble man, strong in conviction and deeds; here and now, he is not seen as simple nor as unbecoming. He is seen as the sole protector of the orphan maiden. They insist that he stays and learns and keeps his ward Malvina company... for a time yet.
Plays:
Artemis D'Assanthe, Dawnmaster
Udhana, the Kinless
Dhovainithil, Silver Elf
Jhasira of the Bai Kabor, Dawnbringer (deceased)

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Obsidian Sea
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Re: Aryen Caladras - Roads

Postby Obsidian Sea » Mon Dec 05, 2016 11:43 am

"Have you no hearts? Can nobody help her? Help her!"

Those had been his words as he and Malvina had collapsed in the streets of Tsurlagol. His violence had manifested again, disorientated by days of fruitless wilderness travel. He had missed the moments of action that spurred folk towards The Rising Moon in his distraction, looking around at the other members of the parting crowds who had watched on without strength for activity.

But that had been then. Today, again, Aryen Caladras walked through The Rising Moon with a sustained feeling of estrangement. The place was beautiful, and although it made him peaceful to walk in it, and he knew that Malvina was finally as safe as she could be, in hands more able to heal than his, he recognised so little of his own faith in this. He was no Priest, and whatever role he served Selûne in, it was not the same as what the men and women of The Rising Moon knew. It is not urgently that the man reveals his perceived affiliation to them. But he asks about their temple; their duties and their beliefs, and he lacks the talent for duplicity. As such, his ulterior motives, and an eagerly leaning investment in hearing what the Priests say might move them to suspect his passions with Selûne before he ever has the chance to reveal them himself. Still, Aryen would not hide the matter - or be proficient to do so - once the subject of his faith is broached in conversation, be it by the clever handling of the conversation by a Priest, or his own tongue betraying the detail to common knowledge before he had meant it to.

And while he is glad for the company of the Priests, and any answers and lessons that might wish to teach him, the Ranger makes Malvina his priority, as he had done for all the days of journeying this far. He drives himself towards near-isolation in his dedication to being by her side, only to step away for rest, meals, or to obey a Priest's instruction to do so. That she has only learned a little of the Trade tongue does not perturb Aryen, who shows little inclination of holding long dialogues with her anyway. He is quiet, watchful company for Malvina, betraying little emotion except a smile strained by the struggle to suppress feelings of negativity that sit within the man's breast. Those feelings will wait. For now, he would be there for Malvina: only for her, and the hope that The Rising Moon might know better than he where to give the girl into the care of those more capable than he to be her guardian in the city of Tsurlagol.
Heomar Bloodstone

Previous Characters
Aryen Caladras
Tristan Thalavar
Nathaniel Askovar
Elizabeth van der Lowe

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Obsidian Sea
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Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2015 3:09 pm
Location: London, UK

Re: Aryen Caladras - Roads

Postby Obsidian Sea » Mon Dec 19, 2016 5:32 pm

Almost.

Almost there.

He was weary, and he had allowed himself little time for sleeping: a punishment of the self, driven by a determination not to linger with his feelings. They were cruel company, and spoke louder in the silence of his lonelier hours.

So many things he could never have said, not even to himself, were left unspoken as he quit The Rising Moon of Tsurlagol. To the Priests, he had asked that Malvina be taken care of. But that had probably made him sound sceptical at their motives, or condescending to their proven care thus far. It was in hindsight that his power of perception for the social was most alert - the time, sadly, when there was little left to be done about it. But Malvina had those that would care for her, and teach her well. He knew that. Maybe this was a duty done to The Moonmaiden? Maybe it was rather a mercy that She had issued unto him, watching him blunder so cruelly through the mortal world all his years.

No, he had done right. He was at peace with his decision. And so when he found the shade of a struggling cedar tree far upon the outskirts of Tsurlagol, he knew that the tears he shed were not truly those of grief, but those of a father. He cried for all the emotions that he had suppressed midst his own self-persuasion that action was at all times of his journey with Malvina so imminent that he could not allow himself to indulge in his feelings. He cried for that he had shared none of them with Malvina: not with words. She may never have understood, anyway. Or maybe, as he was, she understood them better for not having had them muddied by his tongue. After the last tear of the evening had been shed, he picked himself off the ground, and took the road that would lead him home.

The road of return had been long, but that quest was over now, ever to hold a place in his heart: ever to define who he was, and how he perceived the world. A new patience dawned within him, and he would keep it close. And he would think of Malvina more often than he would speak of. In his youth - a time that felt so far away from where he was now - he had thought about the family he might have one day. A part of him would have liked to be a father. He thought of Zebadiah Corker for a moment.

Aryen Caladras' youth felt far behind him now, here where he stood at the parting edge of his thirtieth birthday, on the 17th day of Nightal; The Drawing Down.

The sky was darkening. Soon it would be lit by lightning; full of fire; full of thunder. He was not to know that from where he stood now, however. He felt the matted, wiry fur of Fenrir's head slip beneath his right palm. He looked down to his companion, and then ahead through the tangle of bare branches that curtained the sight of Haelimbrar's Stand from a southern vantage. Soon, the warm lights of Filur would be in view, and then the journey would not feel very much further.

Almost there.

//OOC: Thank you to Copper Dragon, who narrated a beautiful storyline for Aryen Caladras through this thread. I look forward to enjoying his return to our portion of The Easting Reach and continuing his story with her characters, and with everybody else's.
Heomar Bloodstone

Previous Characters
Aryen Caladras
Tristan Thalavar
Nathaniel Askovar
Elizabeth van der Lowe


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