The Bard's Tale (Elata and Keyla)

[Keylaleigh]

Ana-Lii Belacqua would never get used to traveling by boat. Touching firm ground felt so good.

Ana-Lii was a young woman in her early twenties with a ready grin and mischevious hazel eyes. Her brown hair was growing out nicely, and her left side was only about a half a foot away from matching the right. after shaving half your head, it took a while to grow back, y'know. She was short and a little underweight. At the time she was wearing a white off-the shoulder blouse that revealed the black heart tattoo on her left shoulder and blue trousers kept on with a red sash. Strapped on her back was an old fiddle that her mother had given her.

"Well, are we there? And when I say there, I mean, where are we?" A small copper dragon walked up next to her. His green eyes sparkled with a youthful curiosity that was natural for one his age.

Ana-Lii shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure where we are, Vorelmiirik. We just got on the first boat leaving Nortruta and came to wherever we are. We'll just ask the first person we see, alright?" She looked down at the dragon, who was scrambling up her clothing to curl around her shoulders.

"Sounds good to me." The dragon nodded in approval.

[ElataDiscordia]

(( Finally, it lets me through! D8> Also, I'm using names from the campaign he was in for things... Town names are going to be really lame. ))

A half-elf priest was blessing newcomers. He wore saintly white robes and bore a silver holy symbol of Pelar. He was attractive, with no scars or extra fat. Making his way over to the bard and her dragon, he greeted them. "Greetings, travellers. Welcome to Glimmer City. May Pelar's blessings walk with you." The man smiled, displaying straight teeth. Long brown hair was woven together behind him into three braids, each with thread woven in. He looked as though he spent at least an hour getting himself ready for the day. Green eyes were friendly and held the slanted willow-leaf shape of his parentage.

"You two seem as though you do not know much of this place. Perhaps I could be of assistance?" The man extended his hand, covered in a few rings. "I am Flish."

[Keylaleigh]

Vorelmiirik looked at the cleric who had introduced himself to them. "Hello there, Flish! I'm Vorelmiirik, but you can call me Vorel for short, and this is my traveling companion, Ana-Lii Belacqua."

Ana-Lii chuckled, scratching the small dragon's head. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Flish. This little guy tends to run his mouth a lot, and won't let me introduce myself." She looked over at Vorelmiirik. "And you're the one who wanted to join me. Not the other way around."

Vorel rolled his eyes. "Pssh. That's what you like to think." He scoffed.

Ana-Lii shook her head, smiling. "Anyways, thank you. And yes, you can help me with something. Could you direct me to the city library?"

[ElataDiscordia]

Flish gave a smile to the pair. "Right this way." he said, gracefully turning towards the road and waving for them to follow. "It isn't horribly big, but it does document some things of interest." As he walked, his boots and pace gave away that he was not quite used to the cobblestone streets. He seemed more suited for a dirt road than this city. "I need to head to the mayor's house myself for a time. I am staying in the Red Mule Inn, if you are interested in knowing more about this city."

[Keylaleigh]

"Thank you very much!" Ana-Lii waved to him and walked into the library. As Flish told her, it wasn't the most impressive of libraries. Then again, nothing could ever beat the Eladrin archives of Elmiria. She was sure to find some things of interest, though. She always did. Her stories ranged from ancient myths to recent histories, and it was that variety that she prided herself on.

After a few hours of reading and recording any interesting bits of history and folklore from the city books, she left the library and decided to find a place to stay for the night.

"There's always the Red Mule Inn." Vorel was walking next to her at the moment. "That's where that Flish guy is staying, and they may have a few extra rooms."

"There's one problem with that plan, Vorel..." she trailed off, and he looked up at her with an inquisitive glance. "Yeah, we used the last of our gold on the boat ride here." She gave the dragon a sheepish grin.

Vorel sighed. He knew to stop questioning the bard on why she didn't set any money aside. "Well, I guess we're playing for our supper tonight." he gave a dragonlike shrug.

She nodded, and pulled her fiddle out of its case, leaving the case open in front of her on the ground. Then she started to play.

[ElataDiscordia]

When Flish emerged from the mayor's house, he had a new black eye that he lightly touched. With a sigh, placed a hand inside his pocket and cast a spell of lesser healing. The black eye faded as a glow surrounded it for a moment. Noticing the bard and her dragon performing on his way back to the inn, he paused to listen. How unusual he would run into her again. He would likely be leaving town soon now that the mayor had found some dirt on him...

Tossing a couple gold and a handfull of copper to her, he gave a playful wink. "Do you know "My Lady's Eyes"? he asked. An old song, definitely.

[Keylaleigh]

She smiled at Flish. "Of course I do! It was the first piece I learned!" she laughed as she started into a moderately paced ballad. Vorelmiirik soared around her as she played, humming along in harmony to her playing. While she was playing, she looked down at the open case. Over the time, she had amassed what looked like enough to get her a room for a night or so.

She looked down at what Flish had put into the case. "Thank you very much, sir. I used all of my gold to get here, so I'm back to, well, playing for my supper." She looked over at Vorel. "Just like old times, right?"

"Yeah, just like old times..." he mumbled, then resumed humming.

[ElataDiscordia]

He smiled as he listened. "Always enjoyed that song." he murmured. "Do you have enough?" he eyed her curiously. "I have more gold if you need it." he offered freely with a smile.

(( Sorry for how short it is. D8 I'll make my next post longer. ))

[Keylaleigh]

She counted her coins. Altogether she had about thirty gold from her performance, which was a little odd to her. She kind of expected more. Then again, she was very well-known in her homeland. She'd have to re-gain her fame around here.

"How much is a room at the inn you're staying at? I may have enough." She packed away her fiddle, putting the gold in her pants pocket.

[ElataDiscordia]

"It's a rather cheap inn, so don't let the innkeeper trick you into paying more than thirty-five silver." he told her with a nod. "He's a horrible cheat, you know. Former ranger, he says... But I heard he is a horrible pyromaniac." The priest chuckled, eyes narrowing as he grinned. "Anyway, why is it you've come this way? Your accent isn't familiar to me."

(( Sorry if I'm assuming on the accent, but I figured it'd be noticable. ))

[Keylaleigh]

((it is interesting that you mention the accent. In the campaign, she had a thick draconic accent))
Ana-Lii blushed. "Oh, I'm from Nortruta, across the sea. And even there, my accent is a little funny. That's what you get for learning Draconic before you even touch common."

Vorelmiirik walked up to the cleric. "She actually speaks Draconic a lot better than she speaks common."

"Yes, but that's what happens when you're raised in a Spellscale community for most of your life." Her adopted people were very rare, even in her country. Spellscales were a draconic race with a chaotic nature and a natural knack for sorcery, and as far as she knew, there was only one Spellscale community in the world, and that was her home of Tibur.

She counted through her money. "Thirty five gold, huh? Umm... do you think you could spare five more? I almost have enough, and I'll pay you back as soon as I can."

[ElataDiscordia]

(( XD Wow. I didn't know that. ))

"Silver is what I said, dear." he corrected. "You have enough... As for the Spellscale people, this is honestly my first time hearing of them... Sadly, I don't know Draconic. I have been meaning to study it, however." The man grinned. "Would you mind terribly if I showed you the way to the inn?"

[Keylaleigh]

"Nobody's heard of Spellscales" Vorel piped up. "They're very hard to find, and only in Nortruta. In fact..."

Ana-Lii shushed the little dragon. He may have been a copper dragon, but sometimes he acted more like a brass dragon. "Silver, you say? Wonderful! I mishear people all the time. Always a little bit distracted by everything around me. And yes, I'd love some direction to the inn. Thank you very much. You've been so helpful."

[ElataDiscordia]

"Just doing as any good follower of Pelar would, my dear bard." he said, giving an extravagant bow and offering his hand. "Right that way." He looped his other arm under his chest to point in the direction of his offered hand. "As for mis-hearing, that's quite alright. I sometimes mis-speak." he offered with a chuckle.

[Keylaleigh]

Ana-Lii smiled. "You remind me of a cleric I used to travel with. He was one of Thor's clerics, and he was a gentleman." She smiled warmly. "Then he made a few wrong turns, and eventually became an avatar of Vecna." She shuddered, remembering the horror of watching her friend's skin peel off until he became an almost skeletal being of pure evil. "It's a very long, and a very sad, story, though. And I'm not fond of telling sad stories if I don't have to."