Setting Forth (pre-prologue)

Posts : 9 Join date : 2012-09-07

Shaen stoked the fire one more time, letting the flames burst forth from the glowing embers. The young scholar pulled his dark cloak in closer to his body and shivered. It was by no means cold in the middle of a summer night, but the hills were barren as ever; they were only surrounded by a small grove of trees. After fingering the small fruit in his hands, he took a bite. Ah, it was sweet and crunchy, but much, much smaller than the ones from home.

He frowned to himself. It had been nearly a mooncycle since he had left the small parish, traveling south towards Daroh, the land of the mages. He had never been to the place before, but he had heard travelers, specifically a white-haired woman, speak fondly of the land. Magic was difficult to study, so a mage must be smart and there was bound to be someone who was bright enough to help his sister. He bit his lips. Tiri's condition had not improved one bit and there was nothing anyone in Meridan could do about it. This, Shaen was sure of.

He let out a sigh and rose to his feet. After walking a few paces away from the fire, he scanned the entire clearing. He could hear a rustle from the bushes, about twenty paces away from where he stood. Oh, it was just her. Great. The second of his problems. He bit his tongue and tightened his grip on his staff. Be civil... he chided himself silently, remembering Jordan's warning.

"Ms. Roseheart," he greeted, his voice carefully pronouncing each syllable of her name. Such an odd name. "I have prepared some food, if you are hungry." He nodded over towards the campfire, where the hazelnut mushrooms were roasting on skewers, with the other ends stuck into the ground. Perhaps food would make things better. If nothing else, a small meal could not hurt. Thankfully, his extensive time in the kitchen had taught him a bit about which wild foods were edible and which were not.

Admin Posts : 10 Join date : 2012-08-29

What was the necromancer doing all the way in the mountains at the outskirts of the Meridan wilderness? Not even she knew- She just wanted to get as far away as possible from that land that had given the girl so much but tragically now wanted nothing more than her demise. She had left everything behind: Every single person she ever knew including her once beloved family and most of her possession, only bringing the devilish book that caused everything a few changes of clothes that would not take all that much space. Nothing of Meridan remained in her except for one thing... Her companion Shaen.

"Mhm excellent timing, I just brought some catch myself" She responded to the priest shortly after he grabbed her attention. The girl had actually been surprised by Shaen's presence, not expecting him to be there. Since they had split up minutes earlier she had wandered around quite a bit and being as inexperienced as she was ended up losing her way... Part of her was relieved to find her friend beyond the foliage.

As the witch made her way closer and into the plain Shaen had set the campfire in, a large figure became visible following the girl: It was a long and tall quadruped creature or more like the skeleton of one; more specifically she was being accompanied by a Dire Wolf skeleton she had acquired earlier, in it's bony maw hanged the bleeding body of a small Gazelle- clearly dead but the blood was still overflowing from the deep bites... This was her "catch" and she intended to have it cut up and cooked for that evening.

Posts : 9 Join date : 2012-09-07

Shaen arched an eyebrow at the girl. During the past month or so since they had left, he had gotten to know her at least a little bit and he was not the least bit surprised by her apparent enthusiasm. Unlike him, she seemed glad to be away from their home. But, he had left on his own volition; even now, he could turn back and there would be little, if any, harm done to him. He frowned to himself as his gaze shifted towards the horizon. A towering wolf-skeleton was following Mei, as if it was an innocent dog, merely following its master, catch in its mouth, like one of the city dogs would gnaw on an old bone.

"I will assume you will be eating that..." his voice trailed off as he searched for the correct word, disdain evident in his expression. "... thing your companion is carrying." He pushed a strand of dark hair behind one of his ears. He took a few steps towards the fire, turned the mushrooms around and turned back towards Mei. "Do you require my assistance for anything?" He glanced around the area, scanning for any signs of activity along the horizon. So far, nothing, but that meant very little. He would have to stay on his guard, especially if he was going to protect Mei. He had failed his own sister. But, as Jordan liked to point out, failing once did not mean that failing again was inevitable.

Admin Posts : 10 Join date : 2012-08-29

Shaen's lack of motivation was rather annoying. Adventuring like they were was quite a refreshing and exciting experience even if they lacked any specific important objective at the time... Maybe it was the fact that she was just very happy to have abandoned Meridan while also having a "friend" to keep her company and make sure she stayed healthy. It appeared that she was enjoying this much more than her companion but why did it seem like Shaen was regretting the whole thing? Did he want to turn back? That would be a very very bad thing! The Necromancer would be ready to persuade him to continue at her side should he show further doubt.

Now it was time to deal with his questions and the food. The girl turned to her side in order to double check the "thing" her skeletal servant was carrying: It was still holding the freshly killed Gazelle with ease, making her wonder if Shaen had not figured out the plan. She turned her head and gave the priest a weird look, blinking a bit in curiosity.

"Of course, don't you want some meat as well? There's more than enough for both." By now she had reached the fireplace that Shaen set up and proceeded to sit down comfortably by it's side, her knees up and hands resting on them. The necromancer turned upwards in order to keep the priest within sight. "We're not spending the night here, are we?" She noted, giving the surroundings a second scan while looking rather displeased with what she saw.

Posts : 9 Join date : 2012-09-07

Shaen's mouth fell open slightly when he saw the meat. For the past several years, he had only eaten meat on rare occasion, maybe only a handful of times each year. It was not that the chapel of Sarael had anything against consuming meat; he just thought it tasted odd and preferred not to partake as often as the others did. He bit his lips together and moved closer to the gazelle.

"Your... companion..." He motioned towards the dire wolf skeleton. "If it will not drop the gazelle, we cannot cook it." He looked at Mei, then at the skeleton. As a priest from the chapel of Sarael, he was pretty sure that, not only was he supposed to hate undead, but also that they were not supposed to obey him. In that case, Mei would be the only one issuing commands to the skeleton. He took a few paces towards the edge of the clearing, then turned around, walked back and sat down near the fire. "As for your other question, do you know of any better place to set up camp for the night? Or would you rather turn back to the safety of civilisation while we still have the chance?" Unlike before, his voice lacked the cold, slightly sarcastic tone and was now simply one of questioning.

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