Beryl and Lharzin's Journey to Chybisa

[Rex]

9th of Nolus (first month of summer), Azadmere City, Azadmere.

Beryl and Lharzin meet for the first time early in the morning ready to travel. They are traveling with a small well guarded caravan heading down the Silver Way to the kingdom of Kaldor. They terrain is rough and suitable only for foot, sure footed beasts, and special carts in some sections.

This is to give the two of you a chance to introduce yourself to each other and for some role play interaction. Encounters will be minimal and I will update in big chunks to get you in with the main group in Chybisa as quick as I can.

[Rex]

Anticipated time line:

Leave Azadmere 9th Nolus
Arrive Gardiren Kaldor 17th Nolus
Leave Gardiren 18th Nolus
Arrive Kobing Kaldor mid day 25th Nolus

Stage for caravan down the Genin Trail.

[Marullus]

The group bustles and waits, forming up at Azadmere city. Word arrives that the Apothecarist will join at the outskirts of Habe before heading down the trail, no explanation for why she is not in the mountain nor among her kin.



The woman stands alone beside the desolate road the caravan descends out of Habe. When they call out, she answers loud and clearly, "Lharzin of Clan Grimhald." With gruff assent from the leader she joins, falling in and walking besides Beryl Zaridoth. She looks her companion over obviously and with curiosity, but does not offer to initiate conversation as they begin down the path. She is heavy, her countenance plain, doing nothing to improve her personality.

Appraising her, she appears yo be traveling unusually light. She has a hammer and spear, both of carved and runes engraved stone; her armor and garments all leather and kurbul over quilting, all done with leather ties and knots and no metal buckles. Even her calf-high boots have wooden toggles and leather loops up the side rather than bronze clasps. She has a brand-new pack obviously just acquired and containing some essentials, likely enough for the trip, but nothing lasting or personal as you might expect from someone traveling from her home and no pack horse or pony.

She is initially quiet and moody, her thoughts inward as she contemplates the sealed, waterproof scroll tube she carries in her hand.

[gurusql]

Beryl is a male Khuzdul that stands 4'4" and weights about 110 lbs. He has long brown hair that extends beyond his shoulders. His facial features are predominantly covered by a thick, full beard, which is complemented by a well-groomed moustache. He is 28 years old and of average appearance, with a fair complexion. He has deep blue eyes.

He is physically fit and wears quilt, mail and leather armor and carries a trident and roundshield. He is also wearing a backpack. He is travelling with his mule named Sorkin Blue that is carrying mining equipment and other supplies.

He answers back, "Beryl of Clan Zaridoth. I have been asked to travel with you into Chybisa."

Respecting his station and more importantly Lharzin's station he leads his mule three paces behind Lharzin.

Image of Beryl

Beryl.jpg (98.38 KiB) Viewed 336 times

[Marullus]

Though her face is more homely than his, she at least does stand several inches taller at 4'8". Though she thinks herself heavy, she is a bit more trim than he is at 100lbs and almost as strong of limb.

The first few hours pass in quiet walking. Periodically she glances back at him, looking a little more irritated each time. Finally she quips, "If you're accompanying me, then get up here. You're not a whipped dog, and I'll also not have you spending eight days staring at my ass."

...

After a while longer she proffers, "Zaridoth? Grew up in Canalside?" She mulls it a moment, recognizing that it is an obscure clan that she knows little of, where her own name is among the Greatclans of the Inner City. She struggles for a connection. "...had a friend when I was young, Grethe of Clan Erkarl. Erkarl's right next to your family there on Monubul Street, you know them, the Tombcarvers? They knew the living stone quite well... Listened to the earth better than most and never found it strange... Well, that was a while ago, I suppose." She trails off, awkwardly.

[gurusql]

Beryl

Finally she quips, "If you're accompanying me, then get up here. You're not a whipped dog, and I'll also not have you spending eight days staring at my ass."

"Perhaps you are used to talking to servants that way, but I will not be responding as a servant. I was showing respect something I expected from a woman of your station." He will move up more even with his charge.

After a while longer she proffers, "Zaridoth? Grew up in Canalside?" She mulls it a moment, recognizing that it is an obscure clan that she knows little of, where her own name is among the Greatclans of the Inner City. She struggles for a connection. "...had a friend when I was young, Grethe of Clan Erkarl. Erkarl's right next to your family there on Monubul Street, you know them, the Tombcarvers? They knew the living stone quite well... Listened to the earth better than most and never found it strange... Well, that was a while ago, I suppose." She trails off, awkwardly.

When she later addresses him again, he will respond in a calmer voice, "I spent much more time in the mines, learning how to find the ores than time in the city. So I regret to say that I do not know them. I am sure they are good people. I hear that your profession is exceedingly rare. How many others have you had the pleasure of meeting?"

[Marullus]

"Perhaps you are used to talking to servants that way, but I will not be responding as a servant. I was showing respect something I expected from a woman of your station." He will move up more even with his charge.[/dialog]

"Servants?" she looks taken aback, sputtering a moment. "I meant that you not act like a servant... Station? I..." she trails off, tongue-tied and embarassed. She allows time to pass in silence, though seeming more comfortable with him walking even with her.

When she later addresses him again, he will respond in a calmer voice, "I spent much more time in the mines, learning how to find the ores than time in the city. So I regret to say that I do not know them. I am sure they are good people. I hear that your profession is exceedingly rare. How many others have you had the pleasure of meeting?

"My profession? What is it you think..." she begins, then trails off, stopping herself.

She begins again, a lower, more conciliatory tone. "To be honest, it has been a long, long time since I was in Azadmere... I've been too long with no khuzdul or kin around to speak of... and I've never had servants. I apologize, the humans have always been more coarse." She pauses, then begins a new thought. "When I was young and within the mountain, I found my greatest solace in the mines, down among the living stone, listening to its thoughts as it grows, it flows. Better company. It has been generations since there was recorded a Speaker of Stone, I have never met another. I have had many teachers, but it remains that I am oft alone." Awkwardly, she adds, "Though you were assigned, it is good to have you along with me."

[gurusql]

Beryl

"A herald from crown prince arranged for us to travel together and I was told that you are an apothecary and Guardian of which there are maybe only a dozen in the entire militia.

Perhaps I should not assume the formally and hopefully we can have a mutually beneficial relationship." He will relax his posture slightly.

[Marullus]

"Oh brother..." she says under her breath at the mention of the herald.

"Oh, yes. There are not many Guardians, it is true. Those who understand the Ways." She pauses awkwardly, uncertain what else to say about that. "You and I are likely to walk together for some time, and I appreciate the opportunity to have you beside me. Tell me... why else do you go? The promise of mines? I miss the mines..."

[gurusql]

Beryl

"While I greatly enjoy the mines to the open air, the mines are a little to civilized for me. I am a cave explorer and mine scout. The first one to the cave to help determine if the mine will be worth the Clan's investment. By the time that the mine is fully operational, I am generally long gone in look of the next mine. While the details of my mission I will remain quiet on, what I am doing should be no surprise."

[Marullus]

You have struck a chord with this mutual interest and she is downright chatty as you bond over the desire to roam natural caverns, exploring their secrets. As she rambles, her eyes sparkle and you get a sense of the strange meaning when she says the rare gift of being born a Speaker of Stone. "I so agree... it is amazing what living stone remembers and can tell you... a stone remembers the feet that trod it, where the water that eroded the limestone once flowed from, where it's gems are clutched within its breast..."

Once you stop to camp, she opens her new backpack and seems to be discovering its contents for the first time. She seems mollified by the sturdy cookware and preserved foods but gripes about the insufficient amount of cooking herbs and spices. She makes a fire for the two of you and demonstrates she is an able cook - she makes a hot meal that is better than chewing the dried hardback alone.

[Rex]

You move along through Kaldor after picking up the wagon and arrive on schedule (25th Nolus) in Kobing. Here you will need to coordinate with a caravan or mercenaries for the cross wilderness trip to Burzyn.

[Marullus]

As the caravan sets up to rest on its arrival in Kobing, Lharzin approaches the leader of it to find what sort of negotiations might be required.

Also, is my wagon here?

[Rex]

You picked up your wagon in Gardiren Kaldor on the 17th of Nolus. Been riding with it through Kaldor for the past 8 days. Sorry, should have made that clear. You are currently not with a caravan, the one you came down the Silver Way with dispersed in Gardiren. Travel across the middle of Kaldor is pretty safe, no Orcs and it is heavily patrolled for outlaws etc. You will need to get with a small caravan in Kobing as it is not the right time of year for a big one. Safety in numbers, the main issue on the next stretch is Barbarians but Orc raids are not unheard of either.

[gurusql]

Rex could you point me to which map I should be looking at, I have tried but failed my intelligence check. Without looking at a map the names are just that names and have no meaning for me.

[Rex]

sorry about that, I will post a map when I get home tonight.

[Rex]

You are currently in the settlement of Kobing. The North Common is where caravans usually muster.

Local map.

kobingB&W.JPG (675.64 KiB) Viewed 132 times

[Rex]

Map of the entire Genin Trail. You are going to be traveling the Kobing to Burzyn section.

Genin Trail map.PNG (1.96 MiB) Viewed 131 times

[Rex]

You are going in the opposite direction but this will give you the general idea.

Genin trail desc.PNG (203.38 KiB) Viewed 130 times

[Marullus]

Lharzin is visibly relieved when she returns to her wagon, which has been brough to meet her at Garderin. She drops the new-leather pack she was wearing unceremoneously on the floor and Beryl sees her take comfort in looking over the worn goods and personal mementos hung within. She seems affectionate to Barri and Bildr, her two ponies, in a way she was not with any person you've seen so far.

She is better equipped now, and you eat well from her rolling kitchen and alchemical laboratory. The dried herbs hanging in bunches all over the ceiling provide spice for food and relaxation after weary days. She sleeps within, but does not invite Beryl to do so, retiring from the campfire when it is time and leaving him to camp. (Let me know if you challenge this and we'll roleplay it.)

With the rolling wagon and plodding ponies, the pair find their way across Kaldor until they arrive at Kobing.

"Beyond Osselmarch it is the Pagaelin we must contend with. My wagon is far more tempting a target than even a pair of wandering khudzul... our visible strength must dissuade."

She goes first to the Mercantylers to find any caravans planning to roll southward. Then to the unguilded merchant wagons to find those who might have on offer a less coin-intensive, mutual-aid approach. Lastly, she looks to the companies of reputable mercenaries to find what they might require.