Monday, January 4, 2010
Party Dresses and Kitty Cats
As Nym left the destroyed area she'd been hiding in, she was careful still to stay in the shadows. Stealth: 16+5=21 No one noticed the well-dressed girl creeping through the shadows as the entered the still populated area of town. As she approached an inn, she heard a familiar parade of noise and stopped to look at who was tromping so loudly while talking to a cat. She hopped out of the shadows toward the figure, startling him. She didn't seem to notice as she exclaimed Beranhond! Meowface! Are you going to the party? I'm going to the party! I've never been to a party before, exactly. Do you like my dress? It's the first I've ever had! As usual, Nym continued talking until interrupted.
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Beranhond stepped back, startled, but quickly relaxing when he saw an almost unrecognizable Nym.
ReplyDelete"Those clothes almost do you justice Nym." He said, bowing politely. "It is a lovely dress and I am sure you shall turn many heads tonight."
"She called me meowface again..." Tigris said beside him, Beranhond smiled at him, but didn't respond to him.
"I am on the way to my party right now. How have you been the last few days?"
Nym picked up Tigrisclawu and cradled him like a baby. He looked annoyed and meowed pitifully, but Nym continued to hold him. "I..." she trailed off frowning slightly as she looked around the street. Seemingly satisfied with their surroundings, she turned back to Beranhond smiling. "I've.. been alright. I bought a new dove! And a fancy cloak. AND- AND a horse!" She was buzzing with excitement at her own mention of her horse as she stroked Tigris.
ReplyDelete"A horse?" This stopped Beranhond in his tracks. "That is quite the investment! Glad to see you got a new dove though. What type horse is it, its name?" Tigrisclawu looked awfully fussy, almost pitiful in Nym's arms.
ReplyDeleteNym looked excited to the point of bursting when Beranhond showed interest in the horse. "She's a... horse... kind?" Nym looked confused for a moment. There are kinds of horses? She thought to herself. "She's... a black and white kind? Her name is Nesme! I named her after the city in The North near Silverymoon. Have you ever been there? It's a nice little town, but it's in the Evermoors, so you shouldn't travel there in the night. The Will 'O Wisps are always hungry for more travelers. Have you ever seen a Will 'O Wisp?" Nym proceeded to tell Beranhond all about Nesme the city and the horse and Will 'O Wisps, even offering to show him what they look like so he could avoid them.
ReplyDeleteBeranhond listened curiously at her tales of the Will O'Wisps
ReplyDelete"I haven't heard of either Silverymoon or been near the Evermoors - I have spent most of my time back East at the Citadel of Torm." He paused as Tigrisclawu begin to purr.
"However, I think there isn't a need to see the Will O' Wisps quite yet." They walked on towards the party.
"So... you excited for the party? It should be entertaining, Narath wanted me to look Clericy and holy to encourage people not to drink too much."
Nym looked disappointed that Beranhond didn't want to see what a Will O' Wisp looked like. "It's not a REAL will o' wisp...just my lights..." She said trailing off. "The Citadel of Torm? That's not in Thay, is it? That's pretty much as far East as I've been, and it was... it was awful." Nym looked for a moment as though she was re-living some horrible moment as she stopped in the street. A tiny strangled noise escaped her lips. Tigrisclawu looked up at her for a moment, meowing loudly in her face to get her attention. She started and blinked, looking dazed. "Meowface! I stopped petting you. I am truly sorry." If she didn't know better, she would have thought deep concern crossed the cat's face for a moment. "There's going to be drinking at the party? What else do people do at parties? Once I had some wine at an inn in Broth. That's by The Wealdath. Have you ever been there? I spent more time in the Wealdath than in Broth! There are a lot of elves there, I'll tell you! They don't get along as well with the humans living in the area, though. I didn't really get along with those humans either. They said a lot of horrible things like 'the only good elf is a dead elf' or... oh, I can't remember the other one they kept saying all the time..."
ReplyDeleteBefore she could launch into another tangent Beranhond answered.
ReplyDelete"The Citadel of Torm is on the sea of fallen stars. It isn't a pleasant place, beautiful yes, but not pleasant. There will probably be a lot of alcohol at the party. There will probably be dancing, conversation, maybe some games." He trailed off... it had been some time since he had actually made it to a party. "I am sure you will enjoy yourself, I suspect Darvin enjoys the parties - he is in the one who demanded this gathering."
Nym blushed at the mention of Darvin. She was quiet then as they walked toward Hring's for a good few minutes before saying, "Is your Citadel on north of the Sea of Fallen Stars? We walked along it for some time some years ago! I wonder if I saw your Citadel. Is it by the Gray Forest at all? In Impiltur? It's a small forest, but very nice. Very quiet. I liked the birds that lived there, but it wasn't as quiet and thick as the High Forest..." It was becoming clear that Nym measuring the world by the forests in it and that she had in fact been to a great many of them to anyone paying attention to her constant chatter.
ReplyDelete"You miss the forests don't you?" Beranhond stopped for a moment. "Your world is so lush, so energetic. I spent most of my life surrounded by swords, books, and learning. It took a very powerful person to drag me away from it... what dragged you away from the forest?"
ReplyDeleteNym opened her mouth to answer, but closed it and remained silent for a moment. "I went..." She started. But furrowed her brow, not pleased with the explanation. "I was drug away by books and learning." She said, smiling wryly at Beranhond. "But I found it empty. So many words and rituals. So many echos and so much dust inside false walls. I was strangled by it. By the city and the city people. In the city it's all noise and talk and flashiness. Everyone runs around never seeing. No one looks at the world they only crush the world with stone and brick and ugly false paths and towers and... Humans are always running around never seeing - never being. Why?" She looked at Beranhond as though he could somehow answer this question for his entire race.
ReplyDelete"Partly because evolution gave human curiosity, and curiosity is never satisfied. We cannot be with the stone, we must know why the stone." He paused. "There are times when we humans can just be... but usually the other person doesn't just want to be with them." He remembered the calmness he had with Ceilith, and the peace he has with Narath.
ReplyDelete"Probably, we humans aren't able to be because we simply can't find someone to be with."
Nym cocked her head to one side like a little bird at Beranhond's answer. She was clearly puzzled by this strange response. "What's evolution? Does that mean only humans are curious? Why the stone is what? What do you mean about not finding someone to be with? Are you lonely? You can be with Tigrisclawu." Nym held the cat out to Beranhond.
ReplyDeleteBeranhond couldn't help but laugh as he took a hold of Beranhond and petted him.
ReplyDelete"No, I am not lonely... let's just say that there was someone I was in love with for quite some time who didn't feel the same way. Evolution is... well... it was my first duty as a prophet and I haven't done a very good job, but that is for another time."
"You are a horrible prophet Beranhond... horrible." Tigris said as he purred.
"So... tell me, what do you think of everyone in the group?"
Tigrisclawu, not Beranhond.
ReplyDeleteNym smiled "I like them all very much!" She said. "I don't think the little gnome fellow cares for me, though. He avoided me in the sewers. Of course, I only saw him for a little while and then was gone, so maybe he was just focused on rat battling and getting out of the sewers and the like. Those sewers were the worst, weren't they? I hadn't ever been in any other sewers, dungeons sure, but sewers? I can honestly say I won't willingly go in an sewers ever again! That was such a bad hiding place. As soon as I hopped in, that awful wight nabbed me! Thank the stars the lot of you showed up or I'd probably be wight food by now."
ReplyDelete"So... what were you hiding from?" He continued to pet Tigrisclawu.
ReplyDelete"Well..." Nym looked around the streets for a moment and then back at Beranhond. "I was serving as a cabin boy on the merchant ship the Sea Star out of Murran in exchange for passage to Waterdeep. Like a lot of sailors, though, the captain and crew think it's bad luck to take on a woman much less a sorceress, so I disguised myself as a boy. Well, I get bored sometimes, and so when we were coming into Baldur's Gate, I was sitting in the captain's cabin turning his pet monkey different colors when the first mate came in and saw me doing this. He threw me in the brig, they figured out I was a girl, and..." Nym cleared her throat. "They think I did... this" She gestured around herself at the destruction from the natural disasters. "I honestly didn't though! The most I could do even if I wanted to was maybe burn something down on accident! I really couldn't destroy a whole city! Now they want to kill me." She looked around as though she expected someone from the Sea Star to be standing next to her.
ReplyDelete"Ah..." he chuckled "well, you definitely didn't do this damage - that was caused by spells from the demolished temple of Lathander." He quickly narrated all he had learned from the temple and Waterdown.
ReplyDelete"Strange times are afoot. Narath thinks some dark god is being raised here, and she naturally sent me on over here." Beranhond's glazed face returned at the mention of Narath and he clearly was zoning out.
"That doesn't make them want to kill me any less." Nym grumbled, not particularly reassured by knowing someone else didn't blame her for the damage to Baldur's Gate. "Who is Narath? Is she another kitty?"
ReplyDelete"No, Narath is the Goddess I serve. Tigrisclawu here and I are her servants."
ReplyDeleteNym looked confused for a moment. "A goddess of cats and men? Is she a god-kitty then?" Despite the silliness of the question, Nym was quite serious.
ReplyDelete"No... kinda?" Actually, thus far that was a good description of Narath. "She is still finding what she is the Goddess of and she chose me to deliver her message, once I find out what that message is. So, when I said she is finding out what her message is I meant I am here to find out what the message is that she is sharing to the world." What a bizarre, bizarre thing to say. "She gave me a lot of meaning in life though, especially after Cei... people left and after I had a lot of self doubt."
ReplyDelete