Forging his journey...(OPEN TO ALL)

[Paladin_Lorenor]

(FUCK IT guys let's do this. We talk a big game about the good old days it's up to us to embrace a bright new future for Althanas. Let's all come together and rp with one another!!! No epic stories, no bullshit, JUST good old fashioned rp. No post/turn order...let's just rp all.)

In the outskirts of Radasanth, just on the cusp of Concordia Forest, Lorenor found himself standing there.

He'd been hanging out in Radasanth for a time now and now he was curious about what sorts of Adventurers he would meet that day. His recent battle against William Arcus got him thinking about how many people didn't know who he was. It's time for that to change. Lorenor thought to himself. It was a bright, sunny day. Middle of September weather, on a Monday. Carriages and traders were entering in and out of Radasanth going through one of the many outposts and check points. Lorenor was a citizen of Radasanth, but further, he was one of the daft Paladin folks. His attire held the marks of a Paladin Order. One that was quite obscure. The Paladin had glowing blue eyes, his hood was down. He stared at the lines of folks heading their way into Radasanth and out of Radasanth.

His eyes narrowed for a moment. He pondered once again entering the city, but decided that he would venture into Concordia Forest.

But before he could do so...someone caught his attention. An older woman was waving towards him and attempting to call out to him.

"You there, Adventurer!" She called out to Lorenor.

Lorenor turned his attention to the older woman and her party. He nodded to her and walked in her general direction. "Is something wrong?"

The woman nodded. "We're trying to get in The City." She said carefully. "There's a long line up ahead and we have no where else to go. Heard there was work here, we came here from Serenti." The woman said.

"There's work here. There's always work in Radasanth. Do you need help with anything else?" Lorenor asked.

"Could you talk to The Guards on duty and ask them to let us in? I would deeply appreciate it." She said calmly.

Lorenor thought about what was being asked. There was indeed, a long line of folks trickling to and from Radasanth. But it seemed that they needed an introduction of some sort. Lorenor nodded at that point. "Gather your party and come with me." Lorenor said. He was a Paladin, it was his nature to assist those in need.

One of those burly Radasanth guards looked at Lorenor and his friends. "Ah. Lorenor, you're back already?" Zhimee, The Guard asked.

"Got a favour to ask, Zhimee." Lorenor had some pull with the guards...not a lot but some. He'd fought and bled for them many times as was the way of The Paladin. "These folks need to check in. Send them to Arkah in The Tavern. The fine lady there is looking for work." Lorenor turned towards the older woman and smiled at her with a soft nod.

She nodded back. "My lord, if you could help us out. I'd appreciate it a lot."

"Because you have a contact." Guard Zhimee said calmly and looked towards Lorenor. "Give me a moment." He said and walked towards the rest of the check point to talk to his superiors. Zhimee returned a few moments later. "Lorenor, your party is cleared to pass the check point." He said with a soft smile. "And lady, welcome to Radasanth."

Lorenor nodded as the older lady and her companions entered Radasanth.

At that point, Lorenor raised his hood and proceed to walk towards Concordia. He had to train.


(I have a general idea for later on. But for now, let's all just rp with one another and get this all going!!!)

[Nevin]

Nevin let out a deep breath, his shoulders aching from tension. Dealing with the cult had not been easy - and his decision on what to do with the non-corrupt parts had surprised him. But still, it had not been their fault for that they had fallen for the trappings of the church, and he was not about to take away the message of unity and acceptance that they were clinging to. It had given them hope in lives that didn't really have much to begin with. But. He was done with them, for now, and outside of the city once more. He still felt like it stank, so needed to get out and breath some fresh, clean air before dealing with anything else happening inside the city walls.

As he tried to relax, he heard some shouting. One dark eye cracked open and Nevin peered around until he found the source of the noise. It wasn't sounds of combat as he had feared for a moment, but rather an older woman leading a group of people into the city. Heading the other direction from them was a shorter man, dressed in the trappings of a Paladin. Idly the alchemist wondered just why the townsfolk had stopped the holy knight - had they needed something from him?

Nevin stretched again and settled back against the tree he was sitting beside, Aphrael trilling her merry flute above them as she enjoyed the sensations of relaxation coming from the man. She had been quite distraught about not being able to help him recently, and so just being nearby was soothing to the unusual bird.

The Paladin was walking towards Nevin - well, more likely towards the forest that lay down the trail past the currently bare-headed man. Still, it was enough to make Nevin raise one eyebrow ridge - he had had to shave his eyebrows too. His hair did tend to be rather... distinctive.

[The Crooked Knight]

Sketch had walked through the Concordia Forest, his mind set on the task of finding some clues about the “Unfettered King” that the witch “Baba Yaga” had mentioned when she’d read his fortune. He’d not really cared where he went, the fact that he was looking for folklore and legends meant that he just had to walk.

The shaggy haired storyteller walked into the town of Radasanth, and the prospect of a good meal and a bath appealed to the lean man. As he walked through the outskirts of the town, he saw a group of people trying to go into the town, a man with armor that made Sketch think he was someone with authority, and someone he recognized, Nevin the alchemist from Stonevale who Sketch was friends with.

Sketch went over to the group to eavesdrop a little, apparently the group was trying to get in past a checkpoint and the armored man was helping them across. So, there was some sort of screening that you had to pass to get into the town, good to know. Sketch made his way over to Nevin, he figured that it was a good time to say hi, it would be more comfortable to have someone in town he knew.

“Nevin! How are you doing my friend? Aphreal, you look beautiful my lady, your voice is a ringing bell. I didn’t know you were planning to make your way down here? I’m looking for a bit of information about a specific Grym, and I’m having no luck. Has the shop been doing well?” Sketch made a bow to his friend and his beautiful blackbird familiar.

Sketch was interested to hear about what Nevin had been up to since they’d last had a talk. Their foray into the mines had been profitable for everyone, and they’d had a good time doing it. Sketch was hoping that this encounter wouldn’t result either goblin raids or mood swings.

The man in the armor came walking over to them, and Sketch got a better look at him, his armor carrying the marks of a paladin order of some sort, his head covered by a hood, and his eyes were glowing blue. Sketch was drawn to the eyes, he always checked the eyes when he saw something strange, just out of habit. He had the look of a career warrior, the strength and stamina that came from hours of training.

“Greetings my good sir, I am Sketch, a storyteller, and my friend here is Nevin, one of the most well learned alchemists you’ll ever meet. It’s an honor to meet you sir, may inquire as to what order you belong to?” Sketch gave the man a low bow with one hand over his chest, as was his usual custom when meeting someone new.

[Paladin_Lorenor]

Lorenor finsiehd his dealings with the old woman and her party, and began walking in a general direction towards Ruild.

As he walked though, he paused. A daft looking fellow introduced himself and another fellow who was resting by a tree. Lorenor blinked for a moment, the expression casting a shadow across his face. Lorenor was a bald fellow, he lowered his hood at that point. His clothing and simple armour had the markings of some Paladin Order or other. Lorenor found the question a bit odd. The markings themselves weren't immediately recognizable other than the fact that he WAS a wielder of The Holy Light.

Lorenor nodded politely to the odd pair. "...I would rather not discuss the nature of my Order." Lorenor was being as polite as he possibly could, but certain matters...especially that...were quite sensitive to him. He adjusted his gauntlets for a moment or two. And looked at Sketch for a moment. "Sketch was it? And Nevin?" Lorenor nodded again. "My name is Lorenor. I'm one of them Paladin folks." Lorenor still felt odd saying that greeting. It was not too long ago that he was a servant of N'Jal. "Had some prior business in Radasnth got cleared." Lorenor wore a smile on his face at that point.

It was a beautiful day and it was young yet. There was always room for adventure. "I haven't been to Stonevale in some time. Tell me, is Nan still making her fine clothing out there?" Lorenor asked. He was curious about the citizens of Scara Brae and how they were doing at that point. He had not been out that way in some time, but Scara Brae herself was a bustling city in it's own right. Lorenor was not aware that Nan had gone into retirement, and taken in the homunculli named Ezra.

As he stood there, he observed Sketch and Nevin. "You're an Alchemist yeah?" Lorenor asked. "What sorts of potions can you brew?" Lorenor would be interested in Alchemy of course, and seeing what sorts of stuff Nevin could make. Lorenor's ears had caught wind of the adventures of a certain Alchemist in Stonevale. Perhaps...that was the same Alchemist. He rubbed his chin. Lorenor was in full armour and wore a claymore sytle iron weapon across his back. It was crafted in Radasanth style blacksmithing.

"If you need business, perhaps my Order can assist you with a long-term contract." Lorenor said carefully. There was always need for skilled apothecary folks in any good guild or order. At that point, Lorenor turned towards Sketch. "You folks met in Stonevale, I take it?" Lorenor adjusted his gauntlets again. He waited for the two to respond to his questions as he stood there.

A soft and warm breeze was flowing in from the East.

[Nevin]

Nevin and Aphrael had both jumped a little bit as Sketch approached them. They hadn't noticed the storyteller coming up, so his arrival caught them both by surprise. The alchemist shrugged slightly at the barrage of questions and comments - the orator definitely could talk a lot, which didn't bother the taciturn alchemist all that much. He knew he himself could go off on tirades if something interested him, after all.

"Shop is doing alright when I left.
Had to take some time out to go deal with our other business, and some of my own. I think I'm getting close to finding that trainer." Then the glowing man was upon them, and Sketch introduced them with an open, easy air. Nevin raised an eyebrow as the man mentioned Nan - that woman certainly was popular.

"Nan is indeed still making clothes,
and right now she's got a pet project of trying to turn a girl into a young women as she thinks she should be." The likelihood of that succeeding was low, but he wasn't about to go ruin the old woman's dreams of living vicariously through Ezra. "As of now, I primarily deal in non-magical herbal potions and tonics, medicines and antidotes primarily, though I do also make sedatives and candies." The bald alchemist shrugged. The paladin seemed rather reticent, unwilling to speak about himself - which was a change from the clergy that Nevin had once known. But in his mind, that was a rather good thing - the priesthood of the Church of the Eternal Sway were a special kind of nasty, and the Church of Crimson was.... Difficult to categorize.

"And I don't particularly hurt for business, though I am always willing to help. My current main focus is on exploration and experimentation,
now that the issue of Miner's Lung in Stonevale is largely dealt with. I'm currently traveling to find new ingredients, and learn new recipes and the like."

[The Crooked Knight]

"Sir Lorenor, do not let Nevin mislead you, he is an excellent alchemist, when we had a band of goblins invade the mines, Nevin is the only reason we didn't lose many more lives, the man is a hero, even if a modest one." Sketch said, putting a reassuring hand on Nevin's shoulder. "I myself am here hunting a particular creature, have you perhaps heard of the witch "Baba Yaga"? She's a wicked creature said to prey on the weak and desperate, and I need to find her to have some questions answered.

Sketch didn't think that the paladin would be able to give him much help with his hunt, Baba Yaga only prayed upon the weak and foolish, he doubted that this man would fall in that category. Then again, Sketch thought, she'd managed to fool him, so what did that say?

He was glad Nevin was doing well since the goblin incident, and he guessed that his shop was flourishing after the rumors that had started about him. In fact, there were an intense number of rumors that circulated about Nevin, one stated he was secretly married to a cat-girl and had a secret love child, while at the same time he had been seeing the young female that he'd mentioned was staying at this "Nan's". Sketch had a great amount of respect for the man, for even if they rumors weren't true, he'd had to have gotten himself into some very interesting situations to gain his reputation.

Lorenor seemed an interesting sort, he almost seemed to glow as he stood in front of the pair. He felt that perhaps he'd need to be wary of using his powers around him until he'd gained the paladin's trust, he wasn't sure that a warrior of light would take kindly to someone who could create an artificial night and summon creatures who were living nightmares. He didn't normally like to keep secrets about himself, but he didn't want to make the man uncomfortable.

Sketch held his hand out to the man, and attempted to shake it with a genuine smile on his face.

[Garron]

The morning greeted Garron with an irritating chill and slime-riddled wake up call made possible by way of a native frog to the cheek. He met the morning in turn with a shifting and growl. The Corone-bred rich forest ground was hard with centuries old coppice. Several decomposing twigs from trees surrounding and hashing pebbles stamped out by time laying under his bedroll edged the Alpine man to roll to his side and curse. He had been too exhausted to care at the time he lay his head to rest. He cared now, though… Concordia did offer a pretty, bright golden dappled glow of sunlight blazing a trail through thick green ancient drip-lines and dark tarnished shadow dwelling beneath, but the sudden awakening left Garron grumbling.

He sat up slowly with large hands rubbing at the peaks of his kneecaps before arching for meeting his lower back to rub out sleeps soreness. “Damn Concordian awakenings…,” Garron whispered to himself. ‘Ugh' The Son of Winter struggled, but managed to find his knees and long stretched his upper portion aligning the 7’ frame to its length points. Outer fists banished sleep from tired viridian eyes, and Garron peeked around his campsite for safeties assurance through slit eyelids. Unsolved tidings were thick these days and he knew well of the mysterious things that freely lurked within the wood.

A wisp of gray smoke trailed from a small campfire surrounded by found rock and bone of many sort over time piled to stay off the spreading of flames, with an offering of smoldering oaken glaze aroma mingling with damp underbrush and an added crisp adventurous glean to the morning. Garron shook his head and a hand found the haft of his trusted warhammer that lay beside him for the calming feel of iron in his hand. Finding his feet, Garron began collecting his necessities and made sure to snuff out his fire before traversing towards the Bradbury River for a washing of used items and body. Radasanth was weighing on his mind.

[Garron]

Cooling waters of the rushing river washed over him like he had been a protruding formation among racing rapids, scrubbing away the dust and sweat of his journey thus far had been a refreshing start to the day. His feet groped soft soil byway of the Bradbury river bed when exiting, sliding on travel-worn black breeches and reddish-brown boiled leather tunic when banking had once again been found. Sepia laden hair dripped wet, and Garron pulled it back into a low ponytail, tying in a thin leather strap to fall his hair to grace between broad shoulder blades. He laced up his boots and strapped up his leather belting. Garron gathered up his warhammer loosely held in right hand, then wandered back to where his bedroll and items lay dormant along the shoreline.

The days prier weighed heavily on Garrons’ body. Battling bandits and creatures along the way doomed a heavy toll to this point. Bruises, lacerations and exhaustion pushed him to limits end and he was left with thoughts of why the northern portion of Concoria had fallen to such disarray. He knew well the Rangers were on point, as his mother was an outgoing ranked member and as prior tag-along missions forced upon him to join served him. He always refused invitation, and always will. Something had been different around the local vicinity lately. Bandits were more brazen and creatures stirred with irritation.

Strange sounds trumpeted shrieks, chirps and screams out of the forest wall as Corones’ sun crept along towards its mid-day peek. Garron couldn’t make out much sense of what filtered out of the wood, for it had been muffled by thick trunk, ancient ruins and abundant leaf. He knew something was off and it unsettled him. The unrest was clear and he started off west to the northern road to possibly find some clues along his way to its path towards Radasanth.

[Nevin]

Nevin frowned and shot Sketch a look out of the corner of his eye. That didn't seem accurate, or right, not from what he 'knew'. But.... This wasn't the first time that the things that Sketch summoned, the Grym, turned out to be more than they appeared. That dwarf one had somehow learned about minerals it hadn't know before, in time to prevent Sketch from burning Plynt up. And now - now this one was apparently completely not under his control? And in fact, was here, attacking people of her own volition? No, Nevin was fairly certain that there was more to the Grym than Sketch knew - or at least more than he was willing to share. Considering Nevin himself had a few secrets under his sleeves that he hadn't shared with the other man, he couldn't particularly blame him, he supposed.

Still, he shrugged and shook his head. "As an herbalist, I am skilled. However as a true Alchemist, I am lacking, as I have yet to pick up any of the transmutative arts. Books dealing with that subject are Cobalt-taken hard to find." He stood up, rolling his shoulders to work out some of the kinks that had settled in as he napped under the tree. With a happy trill Aphrael swooped down and landed on his shoulder, her massive wingspan settling around his head for a moment before she folded up her wings and played a happy trill of pipes. The alchemist rolled his eyes at her but didn't translate what the impertinent little bird had said. Something was bothering him, a tension in the air he couldn't quite place - it certainly wasn't from either of the present men. While he was curt, Lorenor didn't seem actively hostile, and Nevin knew Sketch wouldn't want him hurt - Nevin knew how to make the medicine that would let the man sleep.

A mental urging to Aphrael, and the enormous crow took off into the air, wings beating as they carried her up into the sky.

[Paladin_Lorenor]

Lorenor saw the giant bird take off for a moment and nodded towards it.

He, of course, took Sketch's hand as the other man offered it. He shook hands firmly with the story teller. The Paladin had a strong grip. As he stood there he looked at the pair of friends, and noticed that there was a steady flow of citizens going to and from Radasanth. Out the corner of his eyes, he noticed Garron approaching Radasanth from a different direction. He made a note of the warhammer that the fellow wielded. As Lorenor did that, he listened to everything that Sketch and Nevin spoke about.

"You lot fought some Goblins?" Lorenor rubbed his chin carefully. "That is a very brave thing to do, to protect so many that could have never defended themselves." Lorenor had a thick Radasanth accent. He was not a city dweller though...he had manners. Most city folks were rude and it was a growing concern. "I am glad that you fellows made it out of that ordeal intact. Goblins are not known for their mercy." Lorenor considered what he had learned. If Goblins are once again active in Scara Brae, perhaps it is time for me to take a trip out there. Lorenor thought to himself. Then he continued to talk to the two fellows. "An Alchemist, regardless of skill level, is always in demand." Lorenor said calmly. "You probably saved a lot of lives that day and you should be glad for that...but...in those sorts of situations The Needs of The Many. Far outweigh the Needs of The Few. Or The One." Lorenor recalled the old proverb. His friend, Sei Orlouge taught him that a long time ago when he was still under the influence of N'Jal.

"Someone who meant a lot to me taught me that a long time ago." Lorenor said with a soft smile on his face. One thing was certain, Lorenor had a genuine sincerity and kindness about him. His eyes had a gentle glow about them that was almost peaceful to look at. He continued to make small talk with Nevin and Sketch but then he recalled the question Sketch had asked. "Baba Yaga?" Lorenor considered the name for a long moment. He knew of many fortune tellers, and witches and the like, but that particular name seemed somewhat familiar to his teachings. Lorenor looked at Sketch. "The name seems familiar to me. Probably one of the many Fortune Tellers in the area." Lorenor said. "I can get more information from my Order later on. But for now...I am content to simply converse with you guys. But yes, I think I have heard of The Yaga clan before." Lorenor said thoughtfully. He was also considering his knowledge of The Thayne Codex.