The Ghostfence rp: Playground 1 Options

[Olen]

Rothan

When one of the armigers from the rear ran past Rothan vaguely wondered what it was. The mer looked frustrated as much as anything else and he would have ignored it except the caravan was so slow and the foyada had little enough to look at and occupy him. A few minuted later he saw heads turn further forward in the caravan. The mer he'd spoken to the previous night, Dranas if he remembered correctly, was leading two guars back down the caravan. He looked non to pleased about it either.

Rothan approached an armiger, "What's happening?" he asked.

The guard glared before recognising the priest, "Nothing sera. The pilgrims guar just died, not that its a surprise."

Rothan nodded, "I suppose I should see what help I can offer him." He didn't mind and as the only priest he really should. It was something to do anyway. He turned back and hurried to catch up with Dranas. He hadn't been completely sure about the mer, but going back to help the pilgrim made Rothan wander if the suspicion he'd felt was unjustified.

"Hello," he said catching up with Dranas.

[canis216]

Dranas Heleran

Dranas cocked his head to the side at the greeting, but did not stop moving. "Oh, you. Rothan, was it? What you brings you back this way? The armigers tell me that I'm best qualified to take on the extra load, so back I go."

[Olen]

Rothan

"Well it's the pilgrim's guar which died so it's my duty really to see that he's ok. It's good of you to look after his stuff though," said Rothan, "I imagine he'd be quite stuck otherwise."

Passers by continued to give them odd looks as they neared the back of the column. A fair way behind that he could see the pilgrim by the lifeless mound which was the dead guar, the ash raised by the caravan was already settling on the bags and its hide. The path behind the was churned by passing feet, the high sides of the foyada loomed above it. I can see why they use such a large guard, he thought.

[jack cloudy]

Haz

Haz let out a sigh and began to undo the Guar's pack. He honestly didn't care for the contents of the bags, but he knew that people would ask questions if he just abandoned the 'vital construction supplies'.
"speaking of which, it seems that I'm about to become the center of attention." The thought unnerved him more than he was willing to admit.

Eno Arval

Eno held up a hand in greeting To Dranas and Rothan as they walked passed. He didn't mean to eavesdrop, but then again, neither of the two were whispering so he still heard about the dead Guar.
"Well, now that I know of it, it would be rather rude to ignore this situation. Come on, my friend, let us help those in need. And don't worry, I'll carry any additional luggage myself. You are quite loaded as it is." He said to his Guar and turned around.
"Excuse me, I'll be coming along with you two if you don't mind. With an extra pair of hands, we should be able to resolve this situation in a matter of minutes, right?" He called out to the priest and trader.

[canis216]

Dranas Heleran

"Well, I suppose an extra set of hands wouldn't hurt, though I don't think it'll be any problem. I'm pretty handy at packing guars."

Dranas then urged his guars on a little faster. The pilgrim, ridiculously, was trying to shoulder the heavy load himself.

"That pilgrim might need an extra hand or two just to get those packs off his shoulders, if he's doing what I think he's doing."

[minque]

Rianne

Rianne walked beside Dralas at the rear end of the caravan. The two ashlanders walked without too much talk, it wasn't necessary, they had this special understanding between them. Morrie carried both their baggage without problem, she was a strong guar indeed.

When she heard a screaming noise from behind and the turned around to see what the commotion was about, the sight stunned her. A Guar had fallen to the ground and its "owner" bent over it and kicked it in its face.

Rianne went hot with anger, she could not stand an animal being mistreated. She forgor about her aim to keep a low profile, this was outrageous!

What the hell is he doing, I'll just kill him!

"take her" she said to Dralas , handing him Morrie's leash, then she leaped towards the fallen Guar

"What are you doing, you filthy scum" she yelled at Haz, pushing him away from the animal, then she kneeled beside the guar, putting her hands on its head

Nothing existed except the guar and herself....she just held its head, mumbling strange words...

[bbqplatypus]

Apelles Velvus

Apelles continued to look forward, distracted by his thoughts. Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind him.

"Velvus! Hey, Velvus! Apelles!"

Apelles turned around. One of the Armigers apparently wanted to speak with him.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"One of the travelers' pack guars just died. Salms wants you to go back and babysit while they move the supplies off the carcass. It's about a hundred yards back of the rest of the caravan - you can't miss it."

"I'll be right there."

He jogged briskly to the back of the column. He could see the dead guar, along with a few Dunmer who were gathered around it. As he got closer, he noticed one of them - a tall, slender Dunmer woman - had rather violently shoved one of the of the other travelers, and now had her hands all over the guar. She seemed to be muttering something underneath her breath.

What the hell is she doing? he thought. Is she trying to steal supplies? Strip it for meat? Say a prayer over it?

Well, whatever the situation was, he knew he had to defuse it - physical altercations between caravaners were dangerous and distracting. He covered the distance between himself and the guar, keeping his hand close to his sword (thus ensuring that it was very prominent and noticeable). He slowed his gait to a more moderate, confident stride and approached the belligerents.

As he approached, he noticed a familiar face out of the corner of his eye.

Heleran? What's he doing back here? Ah, well - I'll deal with him in a moment. First, the girl.

Apelles put his hand to his side and grabbed the hilt of his sword. "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to step away from the carcass and keep your hands where I can see them."



OOC: To be honest, I'm not sure how the timing should work on this one. I'm thinking Rianne sees Haz kicking the guar, and runs over there (taking a bit of time to do so) - otherwise, it doesn't fit with the fact that the other characters are able to have so many different conversations. As is, I think we can just roll with it - it provides the chance for characters who haven't met before to interact.

This post has been edited by bbqplatypus: May 5 2009, 04:54 AM

[Dantrag]

OOC: i agree, just run with it

Dralas

After Rianne left all riled up, he noticed a number of other people making their way towards the guar. Morrie gave him no trouble when he followed, probably because they were going back to Rianne.

One of the caravan's escorts ahead of him--one of the few that wasn't an armiger-- put a hand on his weapon as he approached Rianne and warned her to get away from the animal.

"No need for that," he said, gripping the wrist of the man's sword hand, "She means no harm."

[bbqplatypus]

Apelles Velvus

"If you'll kindly take your hand off my wrist, you'll see that I don't, either."

Apelles recognized this Dunmer from earlier - he had spotted him back in town. An Ashlander - and judging from his grip, a pretty damned tough one.

He pulled his hand away as the Ashlander loosened his grip. He took a step back and put his hands back at his sides (though not on his weapon).

Apelles took another look at the Dunmer woman. She was still whispering something indecipherable in the general direction of the guar's head. "So...what exactly is she doing, anyway?"



OOC: I'm assuming that, in good faith, Dralas would let go (if only for the sake of not starting any trouble with the rest of the escorts). If you object to this, Dantrag, I'll edit this post appropriately.

[jack cloudy]

Haz

Haz merely shrugged as he was shoved aside. Under any other circumstances, he most likely would have taken offense but now, he frankly didn't care. If anything, he was just glad that with the Guar dead, he was rid of one nuisance.

While the woman busied herself with the corpse, he picked the bags back up from the ground and tried to shoulder them, just when the rest of the group arrived.

Eno Arval

Eno shook his head. First Rianne had suddenly flung herself at the Guar, and now her friend had gotten into a minor argument with one of the guards.
"Please everyone, let's not be hasty." He said as he knelt down beside the Ashlander woman.
"Sir, we offer to split up that luggage of yours amongst ourselves. You can hold onto any personal possessions of course, but the rest is temple property and well, it can't be good for your back to carry all that by yourself." He continued before turning his attentiont towards the Guar. All the while he was wondering just what Rianne was really doing.

"Don't tell me, she's trying to heal it through magic?" He wondered to himself.
"So um, do you think the poor animal can still be saved?" He asked out loud.

OOC: Now I honestly have no idea what Rianne is doing so I'm just guessing. For all I know she could simply be listing a recipe for making pie. (though that would be rather inappropriate right now. I'm guessing she's doing a prayer of some sort.) But just in case she is doing some magical healing, I'd like to ask that it fails. I think it's better that the dead guar stays dead here.

[minque]

OOC: Don't worry, she can't resurrect anything, of course the guar stays dead!


Rianne

Rianne rose to her feet, not even looking at the man telling her to stay off the guar, she just turned to the crowd and spoke out, loud and clear:

"This Guar was dead even before it hit the ground, there was no need to kick it in its face, it was a cruel and meaningless action."

She then turned to Haz, saying:

"If you hadn't done this I would have offered you to put your things on Morrie, she's the strongest Guar in this caravan, but since you are a cruel and evil man, I say you carry your bags yourself"

She went over to Dralas, giving him a faint smile

"I'm sorry, but I can't stand animals being mistreated" she took his hand and squeezed it shortly

[canis216]

Dranas Heleran

"This caravan is slow enough as is, and while Rianne's concern for the guar is touching, we can't have this pilgrim hauling all this Temple gear on his shoulders. He can carry his bedroll and whatnot, but we'd better load the rest on my guars--they're plenty strong and I can balance the load so they'll hardly notice the extra weight."

Hopefully that would spur everyone back to business. In truth Dranas didn't give a damn about the dead guar--it had been old anyway and was already dead when the pilgrim kicked it out of (understandable, he thought) frustration. He did care about catching back up to the caravan--something about this place, whether the quickening wind or the lack of cover, something was not right.

[Olen]

Rothan

Rothan sneered at the ashlander woman's performance. The heathens certainly had odd ways and stranger ideas. Who cared what happened to the guar? Now had it been fit that would have needlessly slowed them but even if it hadn't been dead it had been well on the way. He left Dranas pondering the bags on his guar and went to the pilgrim.

"Are you alright sera?" he said.

The pilgrim said nothing.

He smiled, of course the vow of silence, "Sera do you write or use signs?" It was a bit weak in his opinion but certain sects, especially at junior levels, allowed writing or certain sign language under vows of silence. He rummaged though his pack and pulled out a slightly crumpled parchment and a bit of charcoal. He made the sign of saint Veloth and offered them to the pilgrim.

OOC: not sure how Haz will react, but missing the sign would make Rothan suspicious

[Dantrag]

Dralas

Dralas said nothing while Rianne chanted to the guar. Those were the words of a wise woman, he observed. Dralas couldn't believe that he'd been traveling with a wise woman all this time. Was she really a wise woman though, or was she a mabrigash? Either way, he was in trouble; wise women were more revered even than the ashkhan, and Dralas had not been treating her as such this entire journey.

He could see in the other peoples' faces that they thought little of Rianne and her attempt to heal the guar, and wanted nothing more than to teach them all a lesson in respect. Especially the priest. In an ashlander camp, looks like those given to a wise woman could get you killed, and with good reason.

Despite everything around him though, what interested him most was the pilgrim. Something was odd about him, but Dralas couldn't figure out what (besides the obvious fact that he kept his face hidden behind a cowl). The guar was dead, and Rianne had proven there was nothing to be done about it, but it seemed unfitting for a pilgrim to be kicking his pack animal in a fit of rage. Something was amiss.

Dralas noticed the sign of Veloth and bit his tongue; the Temple and most other dunmer had long abandoned the Saint's teachings. This priest knew nothing, just like the silent one.

"Not everyone has the same respect for the land that we do," he said to Rianne, "Cruel and evil might be a bit strong, but ignorant fits."

[jack cloudy]

Haz

When Rianne suddenly snapped at him, Haz was simply too dumbfounded to think of how to react. So in the end, he did nothing other than let the bags sink to the ground.
"If it was already dead before it hit the ground, it couldn't have felt that kick. Then what's so cruel about it?" He thought as he was approached by Rothan.

The priest was clearly trying to strike up a conversation with him, something he did not look forward to. That, and he made some sort of strange gesture. It was too quick for him to follow and even if he had been properly able to observe it, he wouldn't know how to reply.
"What was that? Cultural, religious? Do I mimic it, whatever it was? Or...I guess I'll just bow. That's always a safe move." He wondered and added the action to his thoughts.

Haz accepted the parchment and charcoal.
'I WRITE, NOT GOOD. DON'T KNOW SIGNS' He scribbled down in the same crude writing that marked his book.


Eno Arval

Eno whistled softly, one corner of his mouth rising in mild amusement.
"She's a feisty one. Reminds me of my cousin, only younger. Though I guess she has a point somewhere." He said to himself as he pushed himself back onto his feet with a grunt. His knees made a popping sound and he pulled a face.
"I know that sound. It means I'm getting old. Anyway, sir Heleran. Let me help pack while the others busy themselves with the pilgrim. Although, given how many hands we have, we could also carry the Guar if we felt so inclined." He spoke and bent down again to pick up one of the bags that the pilgrim had dropped.
"Oh, there go my knees again. Good grief."

This post has been edited by jack cloudy: May 10 2009, 09:30 PM

[canis216]

Dranas Heleran

Dranas pulled a spare canvas pack off of one of his guars. Speaking to Eno Arval, he said, "If that pilgrim is going to carry his personal gear, that only leaves the one pack of Temple goods. We should divvy up whatever's in the Temple pack so I can split the load between my guars. If he needs help carrying his personal stuff I suppose some could go on your guar or..." Dranas paused to think, and then turned toward Rothan, the priest.

"Say, Rothan, can you ask that pilgrim if he can manage his personal gear, or does he need help with that too?"

[Olen]

Rothan

Rothan frowned, he knew opening with the sign of Veloth was a little irregular. He often did though, it could mean as little as good luck; depending on how the recipient reponded. Other signs could suggest rather an interest in the book he carried, one way or the other. But a bow? That was strange.

The pilgrim took the parchment and charcoal and scribbled something down before passing it back. Even wears gloves, Rothan noted. The contents of the paper were even more perplexing, in almost deliberately poor script was written: 'I WRITE, NOT GOOD. DON'T KNOW SIGNS' .

Any pilgrim, let alone one heading in silence to the shrine of pride, could read and so write. Or at least make an attempt at grammar. He gave the pilgrim a quizical look, there was something wrong but he couldn't decide what. Perhaps the mer had been sent to watch him and was trying to keep his distance? He brushed the thought away as paranoia.

"This evening I would lead your prayers if you would like," he offered the veiled pilgrim. As he did so he noticed the ashlander man glaring at him but before he could react Dranas approached him.

"Say, Rothan, can you ask that pilgrim if he can manage his personal gear, or does he need help with that too?" he asked. Rothan nodded and turned back to the pilgrim.

"Well?" he passed back the pad an paper.

This post has been edited by Olen: May 10 2009, 10:03 PM

[minque]

Rianne

She noticed Dralas ' look at her and bit her lip. Damn, I forgot, he is one of us, he reognized my chant! But he won't reveal me...I certainly hope!

She gave him a faint sign, hoping he would understand not to say anything.

She felt that the others were annoyed with her, but she didn't care. Seeing an animal being ba treated awoke her basic instincts, she could not help reacting as she did.

Rianne made no attempt to help with the sacks of the pilgrim, she just looked at the others with dark eyes and when Dralas made the remark abut respect for the land , she gave a faint smirk.

So right you are, my friend



Then wiping the dust of her trousers she slowly walked past Dralas, whispering in his ear just as she passed him:
"Don't worry I prefer to not be recognized for what I am, you my friend are blessed, I will confide in you later, just keep up the normal you"

Then she noticed the elder man who's knees were making weird sounds as he bent up or down. Those knees could do with some treatment or the man would get trouble later on.

"Sera, your knees are troubling you, right? Would you mind if I had a look at them? Maybe I can help..to make things better for you"

[Dantrag]

Dralas

Dralas held Morrie's leash while they waited for the pilgrim to get his things situated. He looked back to see the caravan getting steadily smaller as it grew more distant.

Approaching their escort, he pointed towards the caravan, "I think we're running out of time."

[jack cloudy]

Eno Arval

Eno smiled politely and shook his head.
"No thanks. I may complain a lot, but these legs of mine will be able to carry me for a few more years without any problems. Besides, I believe our friend is right. We'd better think about catching up instead of sitting around here" He said with a quick nod to Dralas.

Haz

Haz thought about the offer of a prayer. He really didn't want to risk any further contact with this priest.
'CAN CARRY PERSONAL ITEMS MYSELF' He wrote down and after a quick thought, he added 'THANKS FOR THE OFFER BUT PREFER TO PRAY ALONE'
"Let him think I'm a loner. That suits me fine."