[Open to ALL] Dreams of Ettermire...

(This is a social thread that takes place in Ettermire AFTER the FQ events. Stuff MIGHT go down mid-way through the thread. But for now I want as many people as possible to join. For this I am observing a loose turn order. So whoever posts posts. All newcomers to the site welcome!)

The Cataclysm.

That's what they called it. A few years after trickles of information started arriving about what happened. The bastard Gods have abandoned us.

Lornius...an island off the coast of Corone turned out to be a volcano and exploded with fiery wrath in what should have been the end of all things.

But life moves on.

Survivors of The Cataclysm were just trying to pick up the pieces. Ashfall fell for many years after the eruption but finally stopped. The world was devastated and the strong were destined to survive.

I was one of the strong.

An exiled Demon from the Tular Plains...I currently operated in Ettermire.

The reason I came back home was to take something that didn't belong to a certain someone.

My life.

That night....I sat in a tavern of Ettermire listening to the denizens stories of despair and woe-is-me bullshit. Parts of me wanted to laugh. Laugh at it all. The irony of this.

The thought entered my mind again...The Gods had abandoned us.

But perhaps...we never needed them to begin with.

Where some saw only devastation and suffering...I saw something else.

Opportunity.....

The female Drow in front of him looked at Nosdyn carefully. "You were deep in thought again my lord."

Nosdyn nodded. "How long have you known me, Illsandra?" Nosdyn responded.

"By my reckoning...been about three years." She said rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

Nosdyn nodded. "Three years and four months to be exact." Nosdyn said. "Do you remember when we first met?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I do."

"There's a reason you were saved...all these things always have a reason." Nosdyn said.

"I am aware...but with you there is more than just the usual bullshit that those syndicate types try to sell us. You have strength my lord." She said calmly.

Nosdyn thought back to another time. The day he was meeting with Lars...another adventure several years prior. Someone else had told him the same thing. "Someone told me I can break N'Jal's influence. I'm not sure about that. Would require more testing."

The Drow carefully analyzed his words. "I've never heard of anyone being able to break a Thayne's influence."

Nosdyn lower his gaze for a moment. "It can be done. I lost a friend over this. But it can be done."

She looked at him very carefully. "What are you suggesting then?"

"After I'm done cleaning up a certain...other situation. I'm going to require your help with something." He said.

"I owe you my life. In a lot of ways we all do." She said in response.

"I would not go as far as to say that." Nosdyn responded. "But your loyalty is appreciated. It will make things easier...when the time comes."

And the hour had indeed arrived.

^Open to all. Any can enter at this point. Typical Ettermire tavern setting. LOTS of NPCs yall have free reign over except the ones I specify as my own. (Illsandra is one of my own NPCs and part of my main Nosdyn story. I need her intact out of this thread for future stuff. But all others are open game. Have fun everyone and let's have a blast doing this!!!)

There were few places in Althanas where Reina ever felt comfortable anymore. The demonic entity which had ‘chosen’ her to be its plaything would pop-in at the most inconvenient of times. If she attempted to pray to the angels she grew up worshipping he would interrupt and try to speak with her. When she was alone or vulnerable he would manifest before her in various physical and ethereal forms. And at night when she would try to dream he would haunt her with dark visions of his future plans for her. Reina’s main solution to this living hell, after killing herself proved impossible, was to surround herself with as many other distractions as possible. Loud and noisy cities tended to be the best locations for solace.

Ettermire was proving to be the best choice yet. Sure, the dark elves were assholes, there was no helping that, but the rose-haired woman had not found a move lively city in all of her travels. The sounds of clanking machinery, congested streets, and even the racial slurs shouted at her all proved to be more soothing than the ritualistic chants of her youth. In the three weeks since she had arrived not a single person took much of an interest in her aside from a passing glance or inappropriate comment. It was perfect.

Tonight the katana wielding girl found herself sitting at the far edge of the brass paneled bar. For all of their faults and hoighty-toighty nonsense about gears or steam or whatever they called their technology the drow were quite talented winemakers. She sipped on what must’ve been her third or fourth glass of merlot, spinning the cup round a few times after her drink so she could inhale the luscious notes of raspberry and plum. As her nimble fingers danced back down towards the bottom of her mug she pushed the glass forward and briefly scanned the room.

Unlike a few of the other taverns she had stepped into only about half of the patrons here were dark elves. Refreshing.

One of the tables had a group of dwarves who were rowdy and clinking large pints of stout together, spilling a not-so-insignificant amount in the process. Across from her was an unassuming muscular man with dusty blond hair. Though just to her left sat a group of three very serious looking dark elves speaking in hushed tones. Best stay clear of that trio.

“Another,” Reina stated while gesturing a finger at the silver haired bar keep. His disapproving frown helped convey his displeasure in having to serve a species other than drow.

Had she noticed the blue skinned demon positioned behind her there was a good chance she would have tabbed out and left right then and there. Expeditious consumption of wine was a great way to distract herself from the demon who had sway over her. The absolute last thing she wanted to do was to meet any other of their ilk.

Nosdyn sat at his table with his companion.

His mind was troubled...many questions loomed therein that were perhaps better pondered in other environs. The Demon would be obviously different from the rest of the denizen of the tavern...though almost all other races were accounted for. Most folks would take understandable unease at seeing a Tular Plains exile in the flesh. He kept his cloak on more oft than not those days, wearing full leather equipment carefully maintained.

The tell-tale sign would have been his own blue skin tone, and glowing amber coloured eyes. A past opponent...Zack Blaze would have considered that urine coloured. Nosdyn narrowed his eyes for a moment listening to the ebb and flow of the crowd. He was a military strategist at heart, he knew the battlefield was a thinking soldier's game. The loud group of Dwarves in the other table were just displaying their usual behavior. He'd seen that group a few other times.

Braggarts, sell-swords, arrogant pricks they all were. The whole lot of them, even Nosdyn. But he was comfortable in that environment. There he could at least be himself without "fear" of persecution or judgment. The exact opposite was true in Radasanth's former government. Currently there was anarchy there, and a pretentious guild had recently attempted to "take over" Radasanth herself. Normally, the conflicts and politics of Hume society were no relevance to Nosdyn. But those were not normal times.

This was post The Cataclysm events.

Much of Althanas was in a state of some recovery or suffering...Nosdyn saw something else. Opportunity for profit and personal gain.

Illsandra, drank silently also contemplating her own matters.

Nosdyn had not touched his drink or his food...he did not have much of an appetite since taking over The Syndicate.

There was work to be done if he was going to usurp the entire Thayne religion.

He opened his eyes again at that point and smiled at Illsandra. "Your lilac perfume I always did like."