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  1. #11
    Member

    EXP: 1,754, Level: 1
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    Level completed: 88%,
    EXP required for next Level: 246


    Vixen Crowsfoot's Avatar

    GP
    257

    Name
    Vixen Crowsfoot Quansaldo
    Age
    Around 3500
    Race
    Half-goddess, half-uniano
    Gender
    Female
    Location
    Corone
    So there was dwarf blood in her.

    Vixen found her eyes wondering up and down the strong, but still feminine figure before her, those small pink but striking irises judging the half-breed dwarf. It seemed off that she claimed herself as of a a dwarf clan, as if the black skin that marked her out as a drow meant very little to her at all. The act of naming a clan meant that either this being - Yvonne - had either been adopted into the clan in its entirety, by her half kin, or had assumed the responsibilities of such herself. Was she an accepted member, truly, of this 'Mythrilmantle' family, or was instead she simply stating her ancestry? If Vixen were to go to the seat of the Mythrilmantles and speak Yvonne's name, would the dwarves there treat her with joy, or with looks of downcast shame?

    There was much Vixen knew of this world, seeing as she had naught but books and stories to keep her fully entertained for nigh on three millennia. However, her knowledge of the Mythrilmantle dwarves was limited. She knew that Teria had been a great stronghold in the past, and perhaps was still. By the way that Yvonne spoke, however (for her register was limited in enthusiasm to say the least) Vixen considered that there was some larger story. Perhaps the Mythrilmantles had fallen in glory, hence perhaps why one of them had taken a drow as a mate. Vixen knew herself that when one falls they will do anything to find happiness - including, in her case, seduce a slave.

    Slowly she breathed in, straightening a little, as her eyes went from the horse to the half dwarf-drow. Rolling back her shoulders she accepted what was before her, and what Abel had given her, despite the lack of full blood breeding. Not that Vixen had any right to speak on the matter, as she was a half-breed herself. Though half-deity was perhaps a better claim than half-drow or half-dwarf ...

    "Vixen Crowsfoot," Vixen said, as she stuck out her hand before Yvonne, hoping that the girl knew the gesture. "Hailing from nowhere that you would know of."

    Well, perhaps the dwarf would have heard of Hernsford - that island city thriving on a powerful slave trade. The one that Vixen had been present at the very first founding of. But Yvonne would not have heard of Vixen's homeworld, that was for sure. Unless, by some weird circumstance she had come across Ventrua, Vitruvion or some other half-sibling of Vixen's ... it was unlikely.

    "I will pay. And well. There is a people I must go and seek. I also have no mount, so if you could provide me with one, that would also be good."

  2. #12
    Senior Member

    EXP: 8,121, Level: 3
    Level completed: 79%, EXP required for next Level: 879
    Level completed: 79%,
    EXP required for next Level: 879


    Yvonne's Avatar

    GP
    2,109

    Name
    Yvonne Mythrilmantle
    Age
    21
    Race
    Grey Dwarf
    Gender
    Female
    Location
    Alerar

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    The distinguished lady before her offered - somewhat lowered, even though she wasn't a tall woman herself - a handshake. It could be a simple gesture of greeting, certainly, but underlying the gesture was a wealth of symbolism. A handshake had the power to unite together or break apart - to seal a deal or to make peace between rivals. The act of a handshake could say more than any grand speech. Did the whimpering girl know of the gesture? She had spent months listening, learning and enacting the intricacies of etiquette with her tutor, who had thought - for someone such as Yvonne especially - the lessons would serve well. Those lessons were many years ago now but she had absorbed every detail like a thirsty sponge. Anything to make people like her.

    Yvonne clasped Vixen Crowfoot's hand with her own - not too tightly, not too lightly. She made certain to avoid dominating the shake - she did not twist their hands so her own rose to the top. No. She'd already discovered she felt respect for this woman and shook her hand as an equal, completely unaware she was shaking the graceful hand of a half-goddess. In truth they were anything but equals. One had arisen from the race-hate squalor of her homeland on the coattails of a wealthy world-traversing caravan merchant. The other was lowering herself for the sake of these pitiful mewling mortals and forcing herself to deal with them, reluctantly at best. All the same, it was a handshake that equals would make.

    A handshake to remember.

    "Oh, if yer willing ta pay well then say no more. Me services be at yer disposal! We'll be looking for yer people right away," Yvonne stated approvingly, giving the alabaster maiden a decisive nod. That was a curious thing about the merchant's neophyte. When faced with a cause she was uncertain about she could be a wee bit evasive, but once she was committed to that cause she was loyal and steadfast.

    Ye had me at 'pay'.

    Yvonne considered how to provide Vixen with the mount she required. Her gaze drifted instinctively to Mead. He stopped chewing his oats, looking back at her with one alert eye.

    "Yes, I do believe it would be best. Ye should ride Mead here. He be a bit irritable with me today, but... no, I can feel he will be steady and reliable for ye. He likes ye," the half-dwarf assured the white lady. "Besides, if he tries anything brazen while yer in tha saddle I can scold him. He be tha most likely horse ta listen ta me from a distance," Yvonne explained, her line of thinking sound.

    "I can make do with another horse for a time. Have ye ever ridden a mount before, or shall this be yer first day?" Yvonne asked, interested.

    "Are ye ready? Shall we begin?"
    Last edited by Yvonne; 05-05-2018 at 04:56 AM.
    So I’m cutting that branch off the cherry tree.
    Singing this will be my victory.
    Then I, I see them coming after me.
    And they’re following me across the sea.
    And now they’re stinging my friends and my family.
    And I, I don’t know why this is happening.
    ~ Thrice, Black Honey.

  3. #13
    Member

    EXP: 1,754, Level: 1
    Level completed: 88%, EXP required for next Level: 246
    Level completed: 88%,
    EXP required for next Level: 246


    Vixen Crowsfoot's Avatar

    GP
    257

    Name
    Vixen Crowsfoot Quansaldo
    Age
    Around 3500
    Race
    Half-goddess, half-uniano
    Gender
    Female
    Location
    Corone
    Vixen was all ready to be offended and rude when she actually considered it.

    The last time she rode a horse was a very long time ago. In fact, she was sure, it was more than three thousand years ago, when she had just come to this hulk of a planet. Then, she had been a fresh young goddess, ready to take on the responsibilities of raising a nation and guiding her race into enlightenment. Then, she had proudly rode upon the back of a black stallion, head held high and her eye staring into the horizon - the future.

    But that had been so long ago. So long, before the spirits who had deceived her, and in fact never wanted to help her but rather sold her to those disgusting Sorcerors of Hern. The same men who had made her a slave and ruined her life and forced her to walk behind their wagons, or have sex inside them, again and again and-

    Oh yes, well she had galloped a lot recently. But that was personal, in the form of Unicorn when she had fled recent dangers or run just to have the feeling of that breeze fluttering through your mane. So beautiful and natural - lungs could truly breathe then as they took in the air and ...

    She huffed out a breath, straightening as she looked the beast before her up and down.

    "I have ridden before," she said slowly, "But not ... Not recently."

    At least that was true. Vixen deliberately forgot to mention how long 'not recently' actually meant. She did not want to be judged by this strange hybrid that should not really exist. Drow and dwarves got on, but really ... Fornicate together?!

    "I will be fine," she said proudly, nodding to the girl. "Now, how much do you charge, protoge Yvonne?"

  4. #14
    Senior Member

    EXP: 8,121, Level: 3
    Level completed: 79%, EXP required for next Level: 879
    Level completed: 79%,
    EXP required for next Level: 879


    Yvonne's Avatar

    GP
    2,109

    Name
    Yvonne Mythrilmantle
    Age
    21
    Race
    Grey Dwarf
    Gender
    Female
    Location
    Alerar

    View Profile
    “A steady pace in tha beginning ought ta serve us well then,” Yvonne decided, delighted with Vixen Crowsfoot’s admittance, finishing her sentence with, “until ye find yer feet. Once ye feel comfortable in tha saddle we can have some real fun.” There was an honesty to Vixen’s tone that pleased Yvonne, a reluctant honesty - the difficult kind. Nothing won her loyalty like honesty from another. She was all too familiar with travellers seeking safety in numbers alongside Abel’s caravan, people who were born in the saddle. Why they’d galloped across the morning countryside just yesterday, a lovely sprint.

    Those people won Yvonne’s derogatory remark award and the grand prize of her respect for them at an all-time low.

    “Speaking of saddles …” the half-and-halfling collected Mead’s from the hay-strewn stable floor, placing a soft padding over him firstly before laying the saddle across his back, fastening it underneath his belly. She tended to his bit and bridling - thankfully he had settled down as Yvonne had settled too. Those headbutts must have been working their magic. His reins the handler offered to Vixen with fond smile.

    “I be worth two Coronay gold pieces per hour, but we both know this be a rite of passage Abel expects of me. Yer as much ta look after me as I be of ye,” Yvonne stated, considering their circumstances, continuing, “so let’s agree on one piece per hour, unless ye fancy tha fine art of haggling me down further?” Her silver eyes held her pink stare, lifting her chin slightly and raising her brows. The offer was there.

    “Yer people be worth every silver and copper ye have, I be sure,” the wily trader supposed, softly stroking the depression below her lower lip, feeling centered and secure in herself now that she’d had a good cry.

    “Do we have an agreement, Lady Vixen?” Yvonne raised the question, prepared to shake on it once again.
    So I’m cutting that branch off the cherry tree.
    Singing this will be my victory.
    Then I, I see them coming after me.
    And they’re following me across the sea.
    And now they’re stinging my friends and my family.
    And I, I don’t know why this is happening.
    ~ Thrice, Black Honey.

  5. #15
    Member

    EXP: 1,754, Level: 1
    Level completed: 88%, EXP required for next Level: 246
    Level completed: 88%,
    EXP required for next Level: 246


    Vixen Crowsfoot's Avatar

    GP
    257

    Name
    Vixen Crowsfoot Quansaldo
    Age
    Around 3500
    Race
    Half-goddess, half-uniano
    Gender
    Female
    Location
    Corone
    They left little over an hour later, riding northwards out of the ramshackle streets of the Radasanth outskirts - where the town became single storey houses and gained a garden each, spreading out around them like glorious items on a banqueting table. It as truly residential here, with each of the people owning some form of ground on which they grew their own vegetables, fruit or both. It was a haven for those who wanted the city life but still yearned for the rural, for those who needed the promise of work an urban environment held, yet still could not tear themselves away from their tenant farming lives.

    Steadily the horse beneath her plodded, her large hooves making marks in the earth as she carried Vixen away from the iron demon that was her house mate. He would return home soon, and find her pitiful note, but be able to do nothing about it. Unless he decided to chase after her - but even then she would already be on her way. Ahead of him, she was determined, saying a single step before all along the way. Vixen was so adamant about this that she had insisted they leave very early. They had needed to buy supplies on the way out of the city, claiming what they could with the lighter bag of coins Vixen now bore.

    Twisting her head up she watched the half-dwarf, half-drow awkwardly rising and falling on the back of a sable, muscled pony. It was a kindly creature, but nowhere near as elegant as Mead whom Vixen rode. Vixen had thought of offering to swap beasts of burden because of the fact she had seen the love towards Mead in Yvonne's eyes, but it had been a thought only. Nothing had come of it and by the time that now they were leaving the city Vixen had decided it was too late.

    The landscape opened up around them, revealing a broad world of green pastures. It was a sweet picture, with the idea of nourishment dressing it delightfully. There was a soft smell of farmer's skill, that filled her nostrils delightfully and the demi-goddess found herself smiling a little. Here they were, going towards another world and a past that Vixen wanted desperately to know once more.

    "There are a people," she explained slowly as they rode into the fields, and the silhouettes of trees began to rise at the horizon,"Who live near the city of Akashima, I have been told. They are a people who are like humanoid crows. I seek them."

    And that was it, her first confession of what she truly wanted.

    "If you get me to them, I will give you a gift you will never have seen the like of before."

  6. #16
    Senior Member

    EXP: 8,121, Level: 3
    Level completed: 79%, EXP required for next Level: 879
    Level completed: 79%,
    EXP required for next Level: 879


    Yvonne's Avatar

    GP
    2,109

    Name
    Yvonne Mythrilmantle
    Age
    21
    Race
    Grey Dwarf
    Gender
    Female
    Location
    Alerar

    View Profile
    Relief washed over Yvonne like a cleansing rain. Departing Radasanth and leaving its hectic activity behind felt liberating. The deep dwarf was still acclimating to her profession - a merchant trader - and to be successful meant basing one’s centre of operations in the busiest of cities. She would be travelling to and from Radasanth often in future, but stress pervaded the day-to-day affairs there and being free of the rat race every now and again was more than welcome. Her mental health seemed to require equal parts business and pleasure.

    Not that their journey wasn’t about business; it was, but riding through rural gardens and flourishing farmland was all too easy to enjoy nonetheless. The black pony beneath her maintained Mead’s pace despite his smaller stature, though she assumed considerable difference at a gallop. There was little need for strenuous endeavours of that sort however. Even though both riders felt urgency to be on the move, unless a threat arose better to set a pace both animals could cope with over a long duration.

    The irony that Yvonne was a wee woman in the saddle of a little mount had not been lost on her.

    The half drow, half dwarf missed the added height and feeling of dominance which Mead afforded her. Sometimes she thought she could take on the world if only she had the chestnut palfrey to lift her up and support her diminutive figure. Without, the realization that she was a very small person in a very large world came to the fore of her mind. That said, much as the half-and-halfling couldn’t change her size neither could the sable pony which supported her now, and she couldn’t hold it against him. His eager attitude and kindly spirit more than made up for his stature. The beast and the rider weren’t so different.

    Yvonne listened carefully to Vixen’s words, her gradual explanation lending importance and weight to them. The steady treading of her mount rocked her gently in the saddle, but she balanced herself with his movements, remained stable where she was. Shifting her weight in the saddle the dark-skinned dwarf steered the pony around a puddle ahead of them, without need of pulling reins.

    “Reuniting ye with tha crows ye wish ta find will be its own reward, but far be it from me ta turn down a present,” she replied, a smirk of contentment alighting her dusky features. Vixen hadn’t given much away, as was her way, so the hybrid mind filled in the blanks with assumptions for now. Her thoughts drifted to gifts she had never received before, ruling out monetary sums and other valuables. She supposed it could be something sentimental, to remember the white lady by, or perhaps it wasn’t a material object at all.

    “What do ye know of Akashima, Vixen? I only heard of a rumour or two about the nation while in Corone,” Yvonne confessed, amending, “and tha way ta tha border of course.”

    The ride through the countryside, with the beginnings of a forest on the horizon, relaxed the dainty guide completely - her mind examined deeper thoughts and philosophy. As she stroked her pony’s raven mane she asked Vixen another question, one less practical and more theoretical. Her questioning had a tendency to pry into sensitive matters and could cause offense, but there was no derision to her tone. Only respect for the white woman and honest-to-goodness craving for understanding.

    “If we seek them, which of us be lost? We or they?”
    Last edited by Yvonne; 06-09-2018 at 06:56 AM.
    So I’m cutting that branch off the cherry tree.
    Singing this will be my victory.
    Then I, I see them coming after me.
    And they’re following me across the sea.
    And now they’re stinging my friends and my family.
    And I, I don’t know why this is happening.
    ~ Thrice, Black Honey.

  7. #17
    Member

    EXP: 1,754, Level: 1
    Level completed: 88%, EXP required for next Level: 246
    Level completed: 88%,
    EXP required for next Level: 246


    Vixen Crowsfoot's Avatar

    GP
    257

    Name
    Vixen Crowsfoot Quansaldo
    Age
    Around 3500
    Race
    Half-goddess, half-uniano
    Gender
    Female
    Location
    Corone
    Vixen pressed her lips together as the questions seemed to flood out of the strange drow-dwarf person. Her platinum blonde brow that was barely visible against her already pale skin rose with an elegance born in divinty, and she tilted her head to the side. Hands curling around the reigns of the gentle steed beneath her she paused for a long moment, letting the silence settle like the breeze that surrounded them. Beautiful and serene they rode through the hills, leaving the city of Radasanth behind them and surrendering to the rural landscape. The widn quietened, peace fell but not in the mind of the half goddess.

    Because she had to consider how to answer.

    No oath bade her to keep silent about her true identity. Indeed, there was nothing really that made her not need to keep herself secret, aside from the fact it might have her caught and shipped back to Hernsford at any moment. Yet, she was determined that that life was behind her now, and from here she would have a good one with kenkus to takecare off. Indeed, if she came to the kenkus and they invited her back into their lives then perhaps she would never return back to Radasanth and Mikhail, and that gorgeous view out onto the urban life ... it made the note she had left seem incredibly arbitrary.

    Idiotic in fact. 'Do not worry about me ...' Well, perhaps the iron demon did not care for her at all. Not even as a friend. All would be fine.

    So should she tell this girl the truth? Vixen had only known her a short while, and they could be together for some time. Giving the reality of the situation could land her in particular danger. Who knew what secret agendas this protoge had ?

    Thus ...

    "I know little of Akashima," she began honest, "I have never been there, but I have heard much. Tradition mixed with industry, religion combined with revelry." She nodded to herself - it sounded quite right, and rather poetic. The next part was difficult to answer.

    "I seek them because they have connections with me. Or I do with them. They are a race quite unlike all others, living within the borders of a land that was never theirs in the first place, but has become so. They have a separate world and system to Akashima, yet somehow still abide by their laws. I do not know how they are, but I have a deep interest in their culture. I have met some ... once."

    And she sat taller on her horse. "This beast is odd. Tell me where you come from."

  8. #18
    Senior Member

    EXP: 8,121, Level: 3
    Level completed: 79%, EXP required for next Level: 879
    Level completed: 79%,
    EXP required for next Level: 879


    Yvonne's Avatar

    GP
    2,109

    Name
    Yvonne Mythrilmantle
    Age
    21
    Race
    Grey Dwarf
    Gender
    Female
    Location
    Alerar

    View Profile
    The white lady in Mead’s saddle uttered many words and expertly conveyed very little. Her answers to Yvonne’s questions only stirred the foggy swirls of mystery, mystery ever circulating around the peculiar woman. Posing questions in her perplexing presence only begat more questions than the Alerian mongrel started with, her answers beguiling. Vixen’s knowledge of Akashima only enticed the inquisitive listener, to desire a visit to such a foreign land all the more.

    “I don’t need ta imagine what that would be like - a people holding fiercely ta their traditions and values, tha wheels of progress turning and separating them,” Yvonne spoke solemnly. Reminded of the dwarves she’d been raised with - how the after-effects of a dark elven imperium imposing on their culture still lingered, she contemplated who or what sought to bring about industrial change to Akashima. Would it be as severe there as her own home?

    The half-and-halfling wondered what her travelling companion truly meant when she said they have a separate world to Akashima. The thought kept her quiet in philosophical deliberation with herself for many minutes.

    Another world? Does she mean ta tell me her people come from another world altogether? That not be possible. Would it be a separate community isolated from tha nation that surrounds it? That be her meaning? A commune which looks out for their own and doesn’t get involved in tha matters of neighbours? What would it be like, ta settle in a foreign land which needs ta make room for yer kin? Do Akashimans and Kenku co-exist happily or do they tolerate each other out of necessity? What would it be like ta have a people ye be meant ta keep an eye on, but ye somehow managed ta misplace them?

    She felt confident that last question would acquire a certain wrath from her albino companion, and so she didn’t dare ask it. They still had a ways to go on their journey yet and she wanted to preserve Vixen’s willingness to have a conversation with her. A very silent ride awaited them otherwise. Yvonne reminded herself that a conversation needed to be a back-and-forth exchange and she’d been offered much to think on. The least she could do was respond to the mystifying lady’s command.

    “I would hesitate ta say Alerar be me home, but Kachuck does lie within its borders…” the slate-skinned dwarf began, “…albeit barely. Sometimes I wonder how me life might be different if only me ancestors burrowed into tha Salvaran side of our mountain range. Our mine be tha most elaborate excavation of precious gems, stone and metals in tha known world, but me own clan--”

    Yvonne paused, blinked a few times. A rush of grief rose in her breast and caught her somewhat unprepared. She did not cry. Her tears had been shed this morning, but nevertheless she could not keep the sadness from her voice.

    “Tha Mythrilmantle clan was pushed aside by stronger clans. They could not keep their hold on tha mine or their share of tha wealth. This be long ago, before me own time of course,” the hybrid explained. “We turned ta other means ta make a living. Me Ma owns an alehouse that doubles as a brothel and I feel no shame in saying so. She be tha most caring mother a dwarf could hope ta have.”
    So I’m cutting that branch off the cherry tree.
    Singing this will be my victory.
    Then I, I see them coming after me.
    And they’re following me across the sea.
    And now they’re stinging my friends and my family.
    And I, I don’t know why this is happening.
    ~ Thrice, Black Honey.

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