[Medieval] Knight Adventures 0: First Quest

[Omni]

Index:

SPOILER: Click to show

KA 0: First Quest
KA1: Black Hound of Haflinger
KA2: Lake Monster of Moran
KA3: Night Terror of Tarpan

Maps for reference:

SPOILER: Click to show

((Note: red text indicates Dwarven language.))

In the city of Medieville, at the gates of Stallion Manor, Sir Orrin Ironbeard stood ready to leave for adventure. He had spent the weeks since the wedding preparing, gathering supplies and making sure everything was in order. He was ready, and eager to set out on the road.

There was just one thing to take care of first.

"I can't believe it. My little Geralon, all grown up!"

"Mama, I'm thirty-three," the four-armed, half-ape knight replied to the dwarf, chuckling a bit that she was able to use some humor even during their goodbyes. "And it's not like I haven't been on adventures before."

"First time ya've done them willingly, though," Aira said.

"True 'nuff."

"Now I'll try not to keep you from goin' out and savin' people," the dwarf said. "And I know I've said it a dozen times already, but make sure to get enough to drink."

"I will, mama," replied Orrin.

"Write often."

"I'll try, mama."

"Don't talk to strangers."

"Yer jokin', right?"

Aira flashed a sly smile. "And stay out o' danger!"

Orrin burst out laughing. "No promises!"

Aira laughed in return before letting her gaze grow softer with worry and love. "Honestly though, come back to me in one piece."

"I'll do my best."

With that, the four-armed knight bent down and the knight and his mother embraced each-other in a hug.

"I love ya, mama."

"Love ya too, Orrin. May your path be steady and sure."

"And may your feet always find good ground."

The two exchanged one last round of goodbye kisses, held each-other a little tighter for a moment, and let each-other go. The knight mounted his trusty steed, looked back with one last smile, and waved. He gave his horse the command to walk, and he rode off toward adventure.

-----

Thankfully, getting to Destrier - the capital of Bern, region of House Stallion - was relatively simple: follow Horseshoe Road until you get there. Still, Orrin thought it would be good to check his map once in awhile, just to make sure he was on the right path (and get an idea of how long until he got there). He had only been in Destrier once before, and then he had stayed at Destrier Castle. So after asking for directions - and waiting for the peasant he'd ask to get over his confusion long enough to reply - he headed for the local inn and stable, known as the Saddle Blanket.

Once he made sure his horse and supplies were taken care of, he entered the inn and approached the bartender and gave him a friendly little wave in greeting. "Hello. Can ya tell me if any elf-knights with black hair have come by here?" he asked.

The bartender paused. "I've pretty sure there haven't. We haven't had many elves passing through here for a long while. I haven't seen any today."

"Hmm, guess I got here first," the knight replied. "Well then, what's on yer menu?"

SPOILER: Click to show

Orrin and Aira have a silly-but-heartfell farewell before Orrin heads off to Destrier. Once in Destrier, he finds the inn that he and Sieg are to meet at. Finding out that Sieg isn't there yet, he orders something to eat.

[Shinko]

Sieg's trip up through Northern Corvus had been mostly uneventful, and for the most part his brief journey through the southern tip of Rindfell and Hereford in Kine hadn't been all that noteworthy either. But when he got to his first major stop in Bern, he realized that he was drawing an awful lot of stares whenever he took his helmet off. At first this baffled the knight, until he realized what the people were staring at- his ears.

Alain had mentioned a few times that elves were a very rare sight in Bern, but it hadn't occurred to Sieg what this really meant until now. His ears were only a little tapered off at the tips, because he was only half elf. A true elf had much, much longer and wider ears, that came to sharp points at the end. In Corvus most people didn't even notice his ears being pointed until they'd been talking to him a while, and even then they had to ask to confirm his elven heritage because the sign was so vague.

Here though, everyone noticed his ears almost immediately. He occasionally heard comments on his eye color as well- bright, glittering amber wasn't really a normal color for human eyes to be. And of course, every time he opened his mouth there was that accent no one around here recognized. If he was lucky someone might identify traces of Corvid dialect in his speech, but generally it was swamped by the faint trills and whispers of his Elvish.

When Sieg stopped for the night at inns along the way, more often then not he found strangers addressing him as "Sir Elf." The few times he gently corrected people that he was only half elf, they had just seemed confused, and continued to address him as an elf. After a while Sieg gave up on it. It didn't really hurt anything for them to assume he was pureblood, but he wished they wouldn't stare so much.

After a bit over two weeks of travel, Sieg finally arrived at a large city built around a river- this could only be Destrier, the Bernian capital. He was supposed to meet up with Orrin here, in an inn called the Saddle Blanket. As Sieg rode into town, he found that once again his unusual appearance caught people's eyes and drew some whispers and curious looks. He did his best to pretend not to notice, though the warmth that was spreading across his face indicated he was probably advertising his unease more then he wanted to.

Finally, after a bit of asking around, he managed to find his way to the inn he was looking for. By this point Freya was getting antsy, picking up on her rider's unease, and he gently stroked her neck. "Easy girl," he said in Elvish. "Easy. The hard part is over, for now. We can both get some rest for a bit."

Unconsciously rubbing at the tips of his ears, Sieg left Freya with the stablehands- giving his contrary mount strict orders to behave herself- and entered the inn. To his relief, he spotted Orrin almost immediately, apparently tucking into some meal he'd purchased for himself. Grinning, the half elf came up to his friend and plopped down in another chair beside him.

"Heyla!" he called cheerfully, clapping Orrin on the back. "It's good to see you again, Orrin. Hope you haven't been waiting too long. Bern is a lot bigger then the maps make it look to be, and it feels like everything is straight up and down." With a laugh he added, "How do these folk get used to living with so many hills everywhere? In Corvus it's all flat marsh and scrubland."

Glancing over the counter he added, "I hope they haven't put the cooking things away yet, I've been on the road since dawn and I'm famished."

SPOILER: Click to show

Sieg arrives in Bern, met with a great deal of curiosity that prickles his social awkwardness. He finds Orrin, and is happy to no longer be alone in this strange place where everyone is staring at his pointy ears.

[Omni]

Halfway through chewing on a piece of fruit, Orrin turned upon hearing a certain voice, with a certain accent, that belonged to a certain half-elf. Remembering to swallow, he raised up one of his free hands. "Hey! Sieg!" he said, giving his friend a thump on the shoulder in return as he sat down - a bit more enthusiastic than the one he had received a moment ago. "Nah, I haven't been waitin' too long. Hope it wasn't too hard for ya to get here."

"How do these folk get used to living with so many hills everywhere?" Sieg asked, likely at least half in jest. "In Corvus it's all flat marsh and scrubland."

Orrin shrugged. "And Kine is mostly flat farmland, least where the people are. Durin' the drought, it could really parch ya at times. Course, I don't think I'd like to deal with all that marsh ya mentioned, either. Seems like anywhere ya go, travel is tough, unless it's home." He smiled. "But I'm still excited. How about ya?"

Sieg looked over the counter, presumably at the kitchen. "I hope they haven't put the cooking things away yet, I've been on the road since dawn and I'm famished."

"Aw, I think yer fine. And I'm sure they'll getcha somethin'." He paused, looking at the kitchen himself to try and get a glance of what they were up to. "Say, we can talk to the barkeep when ya have a meal. But until they bring ya somethin', why don't we go over what Alain mentioned at the weddin'?" Orrin paused again, this time a little more awkwardly. "He mentioned a black dog and a lake monster, right? I'm, ah, afraid I don't remember too well." He glanced away and cleared his throat, wanting to leave it at that.

SPOILER: Click to show

Orrin gives Sieg a friendly greeting in return, comments that travel seems to be hard no matter where you go, but he's still excited for ADVENTURES! He suggests that they review what Alain told them while waiting for Sieg to get a meal.

[Shinko]

The half-elf couldn't help but feel his mood lighten considerably in the face of Orrin's good humor. "I'll be the first to admit that traveling in Corvus can be a trial if you aren't used to it. What looks like a perfectly solid patch of grassland could very easily be a carpet of peat concealing a bog. Those are frighteningly easy to drown in if you don't know what you're looking for."

Orrin smiled. "But I'm still excited. How about ya?"

"Of course," Sieg replied, stretching his arms languidly. "It takes more then a little hard riding to dampen my enthusiasm. And even if they made for rough travel, I'll admit the landscapes of Bern are beautiful. Makes me curious what it looks like in the real mountain areas."

When Orrin admitted that he didn't entirely remember the conversation they'd had with Alain at the wedding, Sieg smiled sympathetically. His own memories of that day were patchy, and what little he could recall from after the alcohol got into his system was muddled and more than a little embarrassing. And he hadn't drunken nearly as much as Orrin had that night. The poor ape man was probably hungover well into the following afternoon. But at least Sieg had been more or less sober when they spoke with Alain. His memories of the conversation weren't perfect thanks to the time that had passed and the brevity of the discussion, but at least he could remember it.

Lowering his voice so as not to spook anyone in the immediate area, Sieg replied, "A black hound yes, a monster that pulls people into a lake and drowns them, and he also brought up some sort of vampire. I couldn't remember the names of the places he said they were in offhand, but once I got my hands on a map of the region I did manage to job my memory a bit."

He leaned over the side of his chair and pulled a small map of Bern out of his bags. Pointing to a small dot in a valley just north of Destrier he said, "This is where he said the black hound was. Half-linger? Hah-flinger? Anyway," he moved his finger to another town along the border with Lange. "That's Tarpan. I'm pretty sure it's where he said the vampire was. Being so close to the border, that'll be a tricky one. If it flees over that line we don't really have the authority to follow it. That might even be why no one's caught it yet."

"As for the last, well... it's not marked on my map and I couldn't remember the name exactly so I had to ask around. I was able to get people to tell me where there's a lake that's supposed to have a monster problem, and," he pointed to a dot of blue northeast of Haflinger, one that didn't have any rivers running to it, "That's the one they identified."

He laughed as he turned the map around so Orrin could inspect it. "Though getting that information out of people wasn't easy. Between them being too superstitious to want to openly talk about it and them staring at certain parts of my anatomy," he gave his ears a meaningful tug, "I felt sometimes like I was talking to a wall. His grace really wasn't kidding about elves being almost unheard of in Bern. I imagine between the two of us we're going to draw a lot of odd looks in the more isolated regions."

SPOILER: Click to show

Sieg jokes around, then pulls out his map to shows Orrin the destinations Alain gave them as starting points. He's not really sure how to pronounce Haflinger. XD

[Omni]

Orrin listened as Sieg described the dangers of traveling in Corvus, and it's quasi-literal pitfalls. "Ach... Remind me to never travel off-road in Corvus without a guide." Then a thought occurred to him, and he paused. "...The roads are safe, right?"

Orrin smiled when Sieg confirmed that he shared the excitement. "It takes more then a little hard riding to dampen my enthusiasm. And even if they made for rough travel, I'll admit the landscapes of Bern are beautiful. Makes me curious what it looks like in the real mountain areas."

The half-dwarf gave a nod. "Yeh, they're beautiful for sure. Sunrise must be amazin'. Have ya seen when a cloud is in front of a mountain, and ya can still see the peak?"

At the mention of the monsters, Sieg started to speak more quietly. "A black hound yes, a monster that pulls people into a lake and drowns them, and he also brought up some sort of vampire. I couldn't remember the names of the places he said they were in offhand, but once I got my hands on a map of the region I did manage to job my memory a bit."

They leaned over a map as Sieg pointed out the places he thought the monsters were, and Orrin burst out laughing when Sieg mentioned his troubles getting information out of people. "I hear ya. Though at least they just stare at yer ears. Sometimes I have trouble getting people to believe I'm real. Try workin' with someone who thinks he's goin' crazy." He rolled his eyes and turned back to the map. "Hmm..." Orrin pointed to Halflinger. "That seems like a good place to head to from here. We can just ride through the valley to it." He pointed to the lake Sieg mentioned. "Then we can go here, since it's fairly close by."

He lifted his finger and leaned back from the map. "We might wanna ask the barkeep what he's heard, though. See if the stories match up or what else we can learn." The half-dwarf looked back over at the kitchen. "Speakin' of which, where is he?" He looked around for the barkeep, then for a bell or something to call him with. After spotting nothing, he shrugged and looked into the kitchen. "Hey, keep! Or someone!"

Sure enough, a moment later the barkeep came in from the door to the kitchen. "Yes? What is it?"

Orrin pointed at Sieg. "Can we get somethin' for my friend here?"

The barkeep gave a smile, which had a bit of a 'businessman' feel to it. "Sure!" He turned to the half-elf. What will you have?"

SPOILER: Click to show

Orrin chats a bit of the dangers of traveling in Corvus, and the beauty of Destrier's mountains. At the mention of people staring at Sieg's ears, Orrin mentions that some people have trouble believing that the half-dwarf is even real. They talk a bit about monsters and where to go, and Orrin calls up the barkeep to get Sieg something to eat.

[Shinko]

When Orrin asked if the roads in Corvus were safe, the half elf looked up towards the ceiling, an expression of mock innocence on his face. "Of course the roads are safe. The summer rains usually only spawn flash floods bad enough to wash them out every few years or so." He laughed, and in a more sincere tone added, "Seriously, the roads in Corvus are well maintained and as safe as anywhere else. You needn't worry that one will walk you into a crocodile pit or anything, we generally try our hardest to avoid letting that happen."

At Sieg's remark about Bern having fantastic landscapes, Orrin nodded in agreement. "Yeh, they're beautiful for sure. Sunrise must be amazin'. Have ya seen when a cloud is in front of a mountain, and ya can still see the peak?"

Sieg tilted his head, a sheepish grin on his face. "Orrin, I have lived in Corvus my entire life; until this trip the furthest north I'd ever been was Medieville. I haven't ever seen a real mountain up close period."

The half-dwarf laughed when Sieg brought up the unusual attention the two of them would draw, and when Orrin explained that sometimes people didn't think he was real at all, the half-elf chuckled. "I doubt that I'll ever be able to compete. To be honest I think I've actually proved to be a bit of a letdown. Some of the folks I've talked to expressed disappointment that one of the elves of legend was a full head shorter then they are."

His amber eyes were glittering with amusement as he said this; his short height was actually nothing to do with his elven blood, and everything to do with his human mother. At 4'6" she was absolutely tiny, and though at 5'1" he was at least not as short as she was, he was still a good bit shorter then almost anyone else he met.

When Orrin suggested the begin their journey in Haflinger, and proceed from there to the lake, Sieg nodded. That made perfect sense to him. So their first target would be the supposed Black Hound that Alain had mentioned. The Grand Duke hadn't said anything about the hound except that it existed, so the first order of business was probably to figure out exactly what the creature was doing that was causing problems.

He was distracted from these thoughts by the bartender, who Orrin had finally managed to flag down. Being the son of a merchant, Sieg recognized the "smile for the nice customer" look on the bartender's face and did his best to conceal his amusement. "If you have anything in the way of stew, I would be much obliged," he replied, sliding a handful of coins down the table towards the man. "And a few slices of bread to soak it up with. My friend and I are for Haflinger once we've finished our business in Destrier, and I plan to eat as hearty as I can before we're back to trail rations."

In Sieg's experience asking questions directly usually clammed people up, especially when it came to bad news. But he hoped this casual mention of Haflinger would get the barkeeper talking, if only to confirm the dubiousness of their destination by trying to warn them off. Not all barkeepers were gossips, but Sieg had run into enough that were to agree with Orrin that quizzing the man was worth trying.

SPOILER: Click to show

General, unimportant character building conversation stuff. Then Sieg casually name drops Haflinger to the barkeeper, hoping to get him talking about the place and any rumors circulating about it.

[Omni]

Orrin chuckled softly at Sieg's response to his question about the roads. "Alright. No disrespect; just thought it'd be good to make sure." He grinned before continuing. "I've heard that rivers... travel, given enough time. And I can't say I know an awful lot about bogs and what have you. For all I know, they could do the same!"

Sieg grinned a bit at Orrin's question about mountains. However, the smile almost seemed embarrassed. "Orrin, I have lived in Corvus my entire life; until this trip the furthest north I'd ever been was Medieville. I haven't ever seen a real mountain up close period."

The half-dwarf leaned his head back with understanding. "Ah. Well, if we see that happenin', yer in for a treat! I thought it was really neat, anyway. Ooh!" He subconsciously held out an index finger, bobbing it a bit as a thought formed in his mind. "Maybe sometime we'll ride up above the clouds! Wouldn't that be somethin'!"

Thankfully, it wasn't too much longer before Sieg was able to order something to eat. However, at the mention of Haflinger, the bartender raised an eyebrow. "Haflinger?" he said. "If you're going there you better be careful. There have been rumors about a black hound taking people at night."

Orrin raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. "Oh really?" he said. "What can ya tell us about that?"

The bartender's expression seemed to suggest he was unsurprised, if a little concerned. "Well, legend has it that it's a demon dog from the 'Pit, with a ghostly black body and glowing red eyes. It's a bringer of death, and takes the souls of the dead to the afterworld. It often appears around gates, bridges, crossroads and the like, but only hunts at night. It can appear out of nowhere, and vanish as quickly as it shows. My suggestion? Stay away from Haflinger if you can help it. And if you have to go there, don't go out at night."

SPOILER: Click to show

Orrin and Sieg chat a bit more about travel. At the mention of Haflinger, the bartender gives a warning about the rumored black hound, and upon asking, gives more information on it. He seems to have guessed that the knights want to go after it.

[Shinko]

Sieg listened as the barkeeper described the black hound- at least he had confirmation now that Haflinger was indeed the right city. He wondered if the dog in question was really supernatural or not- entirely possible that it was, though it could also just be a very angry, aggressive wolf. Stories had a habit of getting exaggerated as they traveled.

Still for now it was better to err on the side of caution and assume the stories were absolutely true. It wouldn't hurt anything to be over-prepared and find out things weren't as bad as they seemed, but brushing off the stories only to find out they were true could very well get both of the knights seriously hurt.

As the barkeeper moved off to get Sieg's order, the half-elf turned to Orrin. "Doesn't sound like anything I've encountered before. Could be that the story got stretched and it's not nearly what it's been made out to be, but if it is something supernatural, it's well outside my experience." He smiled crookedly and added, "Though you'd think after gryphons and a giant reticulated python, a dog wouldn't be too terribly bad."

He drummed his fingers on the table, his expression turning pensive. "I don't suppose you've ever heard of this like before?"

SPOILER: Click to show

Sieg ponders what the barkeeper said, says he's never heard of anything like this before, and asks Orrin his opinion.

Sorry for short reply, this seems like the part of the conversation where they'd need to have a decent, serious back and forth discussion without too much tangenting so I didn't want to bog it down too much with jokes or anecdotes.

[Omni]

At the half-elf's question, Orrin raised an eyebrow. "Ya mean have I heard about things like the hound before? Can't say I have. I haven't spent much time in Bern, and I guess the legends in Kine are a bit different. Or at least, none of the ones I heard of involved dogs." He looked to the side in thought. "I think the strangest one was a few years ago when some of the farmers' cows disappeared, and some of the taller fields had strange, even circles cut out of them. I don't think that one was ever figured out but," the half-dwarf shrugged, "it hasn't happened since, last I heard.

"Yer right about preparin' though." He held his chin in thought. "How do ya fight a ghost though? If it only hunts at night, I guess it might not like the light. It might be a good idea to make sure we have plenty of lantern oil."

Around then, the bartender returned with Sieg's stew. "Say, in case we did end up gettin' stuck at night, have ya heard anything about how to ward off demon dogs? Or ghosts, at least?"

"Can't say I have," the bartender replied. "If you really need to know, you might want to ask at the cathedral or monastery. If anyone knows, a servant of Lord 'Woo will."

SPOILER: Click to show

Orrin hasn't heard much about demon dogs, but thinks a lantern might be good against something that only hunts at night. He asks the bartender if he has any ideas on how to fight demon dogs or ghosts. The bartender suggests asking around the local monastery or cathedral of 'Woo.

[Shinko]

Sieg took a few bites of the stew while Orrin talked to the barkeeper. As the man walked away again, the half elf shrugged. "As good a place to start as any, I suppose. In Corvus the Jades usually approach such things with magic, but then again 'mage' and 'priest' is often synonymous for them. I seriously doubt we're going to find any holy spell talismans or enchanted swords lying about in the Bernian capital. But given this region's lack of affinity for magic, it is much more likely to have approaches to the issue that we can utilize ourselves."

He tapped the small blue gem on his belt, and a matching one on the dagger that he wore horizontally on his back. "These are both amulets- weak ones mind you, they've only charge enough for one use each. They're standard issue for all Nid'aigle knights, though we're supposed to only use them in emergencies because getting the enchantments placed is expensive. The one on my belt can cast a shield to ward off most common magical attacks, though I need a few seconds to activate it first and it doesn't do anything against mundane weapons. The one on my dagger can give me about five minutes of enchantment to pierce magical shields. But... neither is helpful for hitting a ghost."

He ate a little more, then turned to Orrin with a smirk. "You're the local expert, Sir Ironbeard of Stallion. Where's the cathedral from here?"

SPOILER: Click to show

Sieg explains that the blue gems on his belt and dagger are actually weak amulets, but neither is good for hurting ghosts. And I am not pulling that out of my rear, it's a headcanon I've had for a while and just never got the chance to establish. Anyway, he asks Orrin where they need to go to find the cathedral.

[Omni]

"I seriously doubt we're going to find any holy spell talismans or enchanted swords lying about in the Bernian capital. But given this region's lack of affinity for magic, it is much more likely to have approaches to the issue that we can utilize ourselves."

"I figure it's as good a place to start as any," Orrin said to the other knight. "Though who knows? Maybe we can actually learn something from people as spiritual as them." He gave a bit of a grin at that pun.

The half-dwarf listened as Sieg explained the amulets he carried. "Lucky! Stallion doesn't have stuff like that, since they don't work much in magic." He shrugged. "Couldn't find much in Medieville that I could use. Not within my budget, anyway. The closest to a 'magic' place is probably the church so... yeah, might as well look."

When the half-elf used Orrin's title, he gave a soft chuckle. Once he finished laughing, he held his chin, looking up as he did his best to recall the location of the cathedral. "Well, if I remember correctly, it should be straight north from here." He pointed toward the door of the inn. "Just head up the same road ya used to get here. Ya can't miss it." He turned to his plate, seeing that it was mostly empty. "Would ya like to take a look when we're done eatin'? Or do ya think it's late enough that ya'd want to tuck in first? Either way, I think we should stop by the market and make sure we have enough supplies before we leave."

SPOILER: Click to show

Orrin is slightly jealous of Sieg's amulets, having been unable to get something similar. He goes on a bit about how the cathedral is probably their best shot for info or supplies for ghost-busting, and answers Sieg's question on where he thinks it is. He asks Sieg if he wants to head out now or get some shut-eye first.

[Shinko]

Sieg rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to brag, honest. I just try to make a habit of letting anyone I'm working with know what all I can and can do and what tools I have on hand, so we can plan strategy accordingly. While we're on that topic, I usually carry a sword in public places because it's versatile, but given the choice going into combat I prefer the weight of a mace or battle ax. I'm okay with a knife or staff in a pinch, but I'm no good with bladed pole arms and I'm an abysmal shot with a bow."

He ate a bit before continuing. "Since I'm so short most enemies have a height advantage against me, and in general I'm weaker then most trained soldiers. But being so small also means I'm generally faster on my feet then other fully armored knights, and more nimble to boot."

He gestured vaguely in the direction of the stables, where Freya was guarding his packs. "I have a mace in with my things, as well as my heavy plate armor, though I also have the lighter leather armor I'm wearing now for wear on the road. What about yourself?"

He took a few more bites of his stew, pondering Orrin's question. "If it's close enough we can walk there, I'd as soon go tonight. I'm not that tired really. But if it's far, I'd probably wait until morning to rest Freya. She's been the one doing most of the walking after all." He tugged at his cuirass with a scowl. "I'd like to take this weight off first though. I seriously doubt we'll get attacked in the middle of Destrier and even if we do I think I can handle whatever might come our way with just my sword and knife. I do agree about supplies though, my last restock was in Percheron and I'm almost cleaned out."

SPOILER: Click to show

Sieg apologizes for making Orrin jealous, and then explains what he can do that's useful in a fight and what supplies he has. He asks Orrin what he can do and what he has, so they both know what each other is capable of and they can plan around that in their upcoming adventures. He says if the cathedral is within walking distance they should go ahead and go tonight, but if it's far enough that riding would be better to wait until morning so the horses can rest.

[Omni]

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to brag, honest. I just try to make a habit of letting anyone I'm working with know what all I can and can do and what tools I have on hand, so we can plan strategy accordingly."

Orrin gave a sheepish grin and neck-rub in return. "And I didn't to make ya think I thought ya were braggin'." He put his hand down. "What I meant is... how do I put it... I thought it was nice that ya had somethin' that works against magic. I'd be nice if I could get somethin' too, considerin' ya never know when ya'll run across it, but it's just not that easy."

He listened as Sieg listed off his weapon preferences, replying as Sieg took some time to eat. "I hear ya on the swords. Sometimes I carry two with me: one short, one long. I've also got a shield that I'll often use. I can probably cover ya on bladed pole arms; I've brought a voulge, though I mostly like usin' it ridin' a horse. I'm probably not much better with a bow, but a crossbow... Heh, I gotta admit havin' an extra set of arms comes in handy for that one. Hammers are fun, which might be the dwarf in me talkin'. And, ah, I've got bolas... and I guess ya can count rope..."

"Since I'm so short most enemies have a height advantage against me, and in general I'm weaker then most trained soldiers. But being so small also means I'm generally faster on my feet then other fully armored knights, and more nimble to boot."

"Don't forget that yer a smaller target!" he said with a smile, poking the half-elf in the shoulder. "Seriously though, ya've got some advantages bein' small. It seems like bein' bigger means bein' tripped more easily. And I bet ya have a better time squeezin' through things."

He listened as the other knight listed his preferences on whether or not to walk. "Well, I know ridin' a horse can still be tirin'. I just wanted to make sure. Another thing to consider is that the market should be right across from the cathedral, and more people are in the mornin'. We don't know how long the priests'll keep us, so if we go tomorrow we can get it done all at once."

"I'd like to take this weight off first though. I seriously doubt we'll get attacked in the middle of Destrier and even if we do I think I can handle whatever might come our way with just my sword and knife. I do agree about supplies though, my last restock was in Percheron and I'm almost cleaned out."

Orrin nodded. "Of course, though I can't let ya have all the fun!" he said with a wink, pausing as he realizes something. "Aw, I missed ya in Percheron? We should've met there!"

SPOILER: Click to show

Orrin discusses weapons and height (dis)advantages. He mentions that it might be good to go to the cathedral and in the morning so they can get everything done at once. He agrees that they don't need much equipment for shopping. He then realizes they both passed through Percheron without meeting.

[Shinko]

"And I didn't to make ya think I thought ya were braggin'. What I meant is... how do I put it... I thought it was nice that ya had somethin' that works against magic. I'd be nice if I could get somethin' too, considerin' ya never know when ya'll run across it, but it's just not that easy."

"Well such things are a little easier to come by in Jade lands, I would imagine," Sieg replied with a shrug. "And it's hard to function without some way of dealing with magic in the Jade territory, since magic is so prolific there. After all it's not all in the hands of the nobles and their employees, there are hedgewitches attached to some bandit groups and former mage students who went rogue. I don't know about the Jade's personal knights, but the elves are trained specifically to know how to deal with a mage even if we have nothing on hand except for mundane weapons. It's not easy, mind you, not at all, but it's... doable, if you're fast and think well on your feet."

As Orrin listed off his weapons of choice, Sieg couldn't help but laugh. "The mental image of you with two swords, a shield, and a crossbow all at once is an intimidating one indeed, my friend. You must be a mighty force to be reckoned with in combat. In general I don't care for shields- I wield a longsword, and I've neither the height nor the strength to hold it in one hand as you must do... Or perhaps not, you do have a few more arms then I do." He laughed again. "All the same, I generally find shields too cumbersome to my personal fighting style, which involves a lot of fast movements and feints."

The half elf grinned when Orrin pointed out the various advantages that could be extracted from being small. "That's generally true, yes. It's a fair good thing I'm not claustrophobic."

"If you think it'd be better for us to meet the priests in the morning, I'll defer to your judgement," he said, finishing up the last of the soup. "And I'm surprised we missed each other in Percheron, though it's entirely possible you got there a few days ahead of me. I've been pushing Freya pretty hard on this last leg of the trip to make up some time I lost back in Corvus. I had to spend a day or two bunkered down in Iscaria because torrential rains had caused a mudslide that washed out the road. Fortunately the Jades put a lot of money into keeping their roads well maintained, so it didn't take long to clear, but all the same it would explain why I didn't see you."

He cracked his neck, and stretched his arms high over his head. "So, what shall we do in the meantime, then? You have anything in mind?"

SPOILER: Click to show

Some inane chatting, then Sieg asks what Orrin wants to do until bedtime since they're not meeting the priests tonight. If you want to set up for a timeskip at this point that's fine with me Omni, but if there was more character development stuff you wanted to do instead that's fine too~

[Omni]

Orrin listened as Sieg mentioned the availability of magic in Corvus and the kinds of things they often had to face, nodding once in awhile. "Makes sense. Still, Bern has things like demon dogs. Ya'd think they'd have somethin' to fight them off." The half-dwarf paused. "Hmm... Maybe that's part of why they haven't been fought off, yet."

As Orrin listed off his weapons of choice, Sieg couldn't help but laugh. "The mental image of you with two swords, a shield, and a crossbow all at once is an intimidating one indeed, my friend. You must be a mighty force to be reckoned with in combat. In general I don't care for shields- I wield a longsword, and I've neither the height nor the strength to hold it in one hand as you must do... Or perhaps not, you do have a few more arms then I do." Sieg laughed again. "All the same, I generally find shields too cumbersome to my personal fighting style, which involves a lot of fast movements and feints."

Orrin guffawed at the Sieg's mention of Orrin holding so many weapons. "Intimidatin', sure, but not very practical. Like I said, extra arms help with the crossbow, and I usually like to use two hands for the shield. Might be good for a scare. Heh, or just to show off."

The half-elf explained the reasons he thought why they missed each-other. "I was surprised ya even came through Percheron; I thought it was out of yer way. If I'd known ya would go through there, I would've suggested it as the meetup place."

Sieg finished his soup and stretched. "So, what shall we do in the meantime, then? You have anything in mind?"

"Not really. I guess we could walk around a bit; stretch our legs and get more familiar with the area. Or we could tuck in early and get a head start tomorrow."

SPOILER: Click to show

Orrin agrees that he'd be intimidating with all those weapons, but comments that it'd be hard to fight that way. He says he didn't suggest Percheron as a meeting place because he didn't think it was on Sieg's route. He then suggests they either take a walk, or get to sleep early.