Astarael42

Abandoned Souls (Full for now)

I sympathize. It's been toasty here too so that sleeping at night was tough; today was downright chilly and I slept half the day. It was wonderful!

Abandoned Souls (Full for now)

Sara listened from the most unobtrusive spot she could find and when she was offered a drink she just mutely shook her head. She didn't drink. Or do drugs. It was uncommon in her walk of life; such things helped one forget...if only for a time. But she had seen the results of such and while it might be nice to simply be...shiny...you often came out of it much worse than you went in. She had a hard enough time of it without shooting herself in the foot.

Instead she asked for just a glass of water and selected the most filling deserts she could. Caramelized bananas, custard tartlets, and some sort of chocolate dipped cheesecake filled strawberries made their way onto her plate. She hated eating so much sweet food, it made her teeth itch, but she knew she needed to eat something offered and she didn't want to look like a ravenous bugblatter beast of Traal.

So she ate as calmly as she could, sipped her lemon infused water, and listened at Nina spoke. She didn't believe any of it of course. Or maybe she believed all of it. She had once believed in the impossible. And griffins were clearly impossible. Now, however, she had a much firmer grounding in reality. This company was, however, willing to pay well. And contrary to what Nina had said she wasn't so much intent on surviving as she was in not making it easy for death to take her. Then again maybe that was the same thing. She didn't mind if she died in any case, just wasn't ready to give up yet. She wondered if they would be provided with suicide pills just in case something happened. Aaaand now her imagination was running off with her. The price for standing under a “griffin” head she supposed.

She gave herself a mental shake to ground her back in the reality that was her life now and watched as the musician rampaged around the room. She thought for a short while that he was on the verge of throwing a truly impressive temper tantrum like a spoiled child. Instead he seemed to gather himself into some sort of control before he continued in his demands for answers.

Sara herself didn't particularly care one way or another. She was mostly certain she would go ahead and do it; why not? It's not like she had some other pressing engagement. She did have one stipulation she would make, at least so far, and that was the death benefits not go to a charity. Charities were run by rich people with too much time and money and not enough wisdom and common sense.

Rites Of Passage (a High Fantasy/Forgotten Realms Adventure)

Brisa shook her head slowly at the words. Few wizards had the magic to heal; that was mostly the domain of priests and religious spell-casters. And she wasn't even a wizard yet, just a couple spells and some knowledge of how magic worked.

“I'm sorry” she said softly “my teacher could do a few things to help heal, like put people to healing rest or remove poison, but I was just beginning training. All my spells do is make a little fire, change a little color, or make a person run a little faster. There was so much to learn, and now I guess I never will.”

Brisa sat down next to the girl, carefully so as not to disrupt her in any way, she knew that an improper jostle could cause problems. She was no healer herself but she had been the assistant of the only thing close to a healer the village had, she at least knew what NOT to do.

“If it is ok with you I will sit with her. I may not be able to do anything but at least she won't be alone.”

Rites Of Passage (a High Fantasy/Forgotten Realms Adventure)

we are here. waiting on orcpunx but I see he posted. I'll have something up shortly.

Abandoned Souls (Full for now)

@inda that works much better now. Thank you so much!

Abandoned Souls (Full for now)

sorry for the delay on my part. I only get online a couple times a week on reliable internet (my personal is slow as cold molasses and it invites much swearing and threatening of computers). I shall endevour to get a post up in a reasonably short time.

I don't know if you would consider this or not but I am an old fart and reading the spoken parts of the narration (a sort of deep fuchsia/purple color) is impossible for me unless I highlight it. Is there any chance I could encourage you to change it to a different color...something lighter that stands out against the black? Don't want to be a bother so I can just keep highlighting it if changes make it difficult for others.

Abandoned Souls (Full for now)

image

Sara winced as she slumped down against the crumbling brick wall behind her. Her whole body ached and she felt like she had been awake for days. That wasn't too far from the truth; she had been sleeping fitfully the past few days. It had gotten so bad she had even gone to the shelter for a night; while it was warm and comfortable it was generally more dangerous there then on the streets. People didn't take too kindly to her automatically getting a spot whenever she would show up. But she was young and female and those two things gave her a priority edge for last available bed or last available meal.

Today had been a bad one, she was coated in filth and worn out. Food and work had been scarce and even begging had only brought her a whopping sixty seven cents today. She knew she couldn't sleep where she was but she was tired and needed to find a place soon. The building behind her had a quasi-usable fire escape she could climb and some of the upper windows looked manageable. With luck this abandoned warehouse would give her at least some measure of safety and comfort for the night.

Just as she was about to stand up she heard the sounds of footsteps. Looking up she saw another girl, only a little older than her, headed straight towards her. Sara wasn't sure what to do but the issue was resolved when the other girl handed her a bulky manila type envelope.

“Sign here” she said without any preamble and Sara goggled at her. She plainly saw her name on the package. No one here knew her and no one who knew her knew she was here. At least that's what she thought.

Sara quickly signed and the other girl disappeared without any further words.

She turned the package over in her hands very puzzled. Finally, with a look at the darkening sky, she quickly opened it and tilted it. The key to a motel room dropped out, the number of the room clearly printed on the key, along with a sheet of paper.

Greetings Miss Sara Mackenzie,

You have been selected to participate in an interview with Silent Wheel, Inc.....

Sara tried to remember if she had ever heard of this organization before and came up blank. But the motel room key was heavy in her hand and she looked at it again. She knew the motel. It was only a couple blocks away. One of those extended stay type places, super cheap and super basic. And better than any abandoned warehouse or homeless shelter could ever be.

She quickly made up her mind. Gift horses could not be looked in the mouth. She stuffed the envelop and letter into her pack, shouldered it, and headed off in the direction of the motel. Along the way she popped into a 7-11 to see what the little bit of money she had from the day could buy her. Two Slim-Jim's. Good enough for her dinner.

She walked into the motel office, a dirt covered young girl with an equally dirty and worn back pack. Most would have shooed her out immediately but the guy at the desk didn't even look up.

“Um” she said softly “I have this key...”

The guy looked up then, looked at the key, and nodded.

“The room has been paid for one night, checkout is noon tomorrow. I'll get you some coffee for your room.” He spoke without inflection or enthusiasm, as if he was super bored with everything and disappeared into the back room of the office moving as if on autopilot.

Sara just stared as he left then looked around the tiny office. A dish of tiny snickers bars caught her eye, complimentary candy for the guests was almost too upscale for this place but she didn't quibble. Instead she grabbed a handful and quickly stuffed them in her pocket. She was about to grab a second handful but she heard the guy returning.

He caught her startled movement but didn't say anything. Just handed her three single serving coffee pods and a McDonalds bag.

“What?” she asked but before she could say anything further the guy just shrugged sheepishly.

“I got too much food and you looked like you might be able to use it.”

There was a time when Sara would have gotten indignant or huffy. No longer, she knew what starving was now and didn't turn down anything that might help. She just smiled shyly, thanked the man, and headed to her room.

It was the most luxurious thing she had seen in ages. It had a rather dated but working baseboard heater, a single serving coffee maker, a hard bed with threadbare sheets and blankets, a TV with about 8 channels, 2 rough small towels, and a tiny bathroom with a shower. To most others it would have been awful. To Sara it was wonderful.

Several hours later found Sara wrapped in the bed sheet and sitting cross legged on the bed evaluating her belongings with a steaming cup of black coffee beside her. Her first order of business had been to shower and scrub herself over and over till she was quite literally squeaky clean. Next had come dinner. She had made short work of the contents of the McDonalds bag, a cheeseburger and some cold fries. There had been a second burger which she had eaten the filling out of and painstakingly re wrapped the bun for later. She also had 12 tiny snickers bars which she had taken from the office, two slim-jim's, and a bruised apple she had found that day. All of her clothes, what few she had, had been washed vigorously and hung to dry around the room along with her pack which she had cleaned up as best she could. The tattered John Grisham novel she had found in the nightstand drawer had joined her pile of belongings and the three cents she had left over from the day sat carefully on the nightstand. The old tin can she used as a drinking cup and the battered set of fork and spoon she had also had been washed and lay beside the bathroom sink to dry. The letter and it's envelope also lay carefully in the pile, Sara had taken the time to reread it several times to be sure she had all the details clear.

She finished her coffee, savoring the extreme bitterness and warmth it brought her, carefully piled her belongings next to her on the bed, and went to sleep. She was exhausted but for the first time in days felt comfortable and relieved she wouldn't have to be up and out with the dawn. She had enough for breakfast and a little extra and the promise of more food, desert at least, tomorrow. She would definitely show up for the interview if only to thank them.

***

The next morning she savored sleeping in, watched TV, and had a breakfast of apple, coffee, and the burger bun. She was actually happy and comfortable and even the damp clothing she had to wear the next day didn't discourage her.

She set about to panhandling, given she was supposed to be at some sort of interview she figured she should try and have a newish shirt plus she needed bus fare; the address was a long way away. She managed enough to buy a decent second hand shirt and decided to be radical and get a green one. It was a good day and she got the money she needed earlier than expected so with nothing else to do she headed out.

The bus stop was a ways away from the house, even then, but she was used to travel by foot. Shouldering her pack with everything she owned she started the long walk. Due to the late hour of the meeting she knew she would need to have a place to crash so she walked slowly, looking along carefully on either side for anything that would do.

Her walk was slow enough, with enough detours off the road to check out possible night crash sites, that she ended up almost late. She stood at the gates, watching the others walk in, hesitating. She hadn't realized there would be others, if there was any sort of competition she might as well write herself out right now. Still she owed the folks a thank-you at least.

She jogged up the path, keeping to the grass to muffle her steps, and slipped inside following the others like shadow. The building was almost scary, she was terrified to touch anything even the carpet. As she followed the others she was very careful to watch her steps, keep her pack close to her body, and did everything she could to minimize her impact on the furnishings and such.

Abandoned Souls (Full for now)

image

so sorry. Had not realized we were under way. Here is my pic of Sara I was unable to upload before. Had to use a crappy host site but whatever.

Abandoned Souls - Enter The Benefactor

Character sheet cleaned up and edited. If you have further questions I may need to edit it further. I also have an image but am having trouble uploading it. I shall try that again later.

Name: Sara Mackenzie

Age: 16

Occupation: Panhandling. Along with whatever honest work comes her way.

Brief history : Up until eight months ago Sara's life was pretty average, except that she loved to read which was rare among teenagers these days. She woke up, went to school, did all the usual teenager things, came home, went to bed. Repeat ad nauseam. If she had known what her future held she wouldn't have detested the boring routine days so much. As it was she was the typical teenage girl fed up with life and school and everything that was constantly the end of the world. Unfortunately at that eight months ago mark her world, at least as she knew it, truly did end. Her mother was killed in a hit-and-run accident and Sara was suddenly very much alone in the world. She never knew her father and had no relatives left alive, that she knew of, and she would soon be a ward of the state if she didn't do something.

She started selling off all their possessions to make money for rent and food, took a part time job at Walmart, and struggled to keep herself in school hoping that she would go unnoticed by well meaning social service agents. She soon learned that she needed a nearly full time job to keep up expenses like their apartment and started missing school. That brought about what she had feared; social services found out she was living on her own, not attending school as she should, and planned to take her into custody and send her to a foster home.

Sara was desperate, she had no desire to go to foster care, she had known too many at school who were in such and she feared what she would find there. Instead she packed up what few things she had left, took all the money she had, and slipped away. She took a 12 hour bus ride with no idea where she was going, just away. She ended up in Leyden City. Of course she had little money, nothing of value, no job, and no place to stay. She quickly learned that living on the streets was much harder than her books and imagination had made it seem.

She stayed in shelters occasionally, but shelters were harsh unfriendly places. She felt safer crashing under bridges, in abandoned buildings, and in the homeless camps with the rest of folk like her. She made money any way she could, short of selling her body. That was a line she wasn't willing to cross. It was a harsh life, but she usually made enough begging to eat something each day and the plethora of abandoned buildings gave her shelter. She was surviving but not living.

How did your letter arrive and with what item: Sara was slumped against a wall down a mostly abandoned street. Her body was sore, she was tired, and caked with dirt. It had been a long time since she had slept in a bed or had a proper shower and that night it was looking like it was going to be one of those chilled ones that made it so hard to sleep. She was working up the energy to climb a nearby fire escape and check out the warehouse like building she was slumped against when the messenger found her and along with the letter he delivered there was also a key to a motel room. The motel wasn't far off, and while it wasn't some great fancy hotel it was serviceable, with a shower, bed, clean water to drink and a heater. One night of comfort and a chance to get clean was worth a lot to the worn out girl.

Portrait/Character description: Sara is tall for her age, just a couple inches shy of 6'. It was a feature that earned her much mocking at school as well as the ubiquitous “you should play basketball” comments. She usually ignored it and tried to blend in as best she could, excelling at making herself as plain and unnoticeable as she could manage. Her dirty blond hair was long and wavy and she rarely did anything fancy with it. She dressed as drably as she could as well, preferring jeans and solid color t-shirts that never advertised anything, announced where she had been, or told anything about her. All in all she was quite unremarkable except for her height. Of late she has lost a bit of weight becoming a bit bonier than is really healthy and her ablutions generally consist of spit-baths in public washrooms or fountains. She tries to remain clean, but its hard and her clothing, body, and hair all show the signs of her current harsh lifestyle.

Abandoned Souls - Enter The Benefactor

Preliminary character submitted for approval. History and appearance will be much elaborated upon if approved.

Name: Sara Mackenzie

Age: 16

Occupation: whatever, anything but prostitution. She scrimps to make money wherever she can, supplementing with panhandling, fishing food from the trash, scooping coins off the street, and squatting in whatever abandoned building she doesn't get kicked out of. Occasionally she manages a bed or meal at a shelter but the competition is fierce. She flaunts her age and gender as an advantage whenever she can to push to the head of shelter lines but that doesn't win her any friends.

Brief history : Sara's mother died about 8 months ago. She tried to hold onto their apartment by quitting school and getting a job as a cashier at the Walmart. But she could only manage that for so long before social services learned she was living on her own and decided to intervene. Sara, fearing she would get shuttled into foster care, pawned whatever had value in the house, packed up a few things, and took off.

How did your letter arrive and with what item: Sara was slumped against a wall down a mostly abandoned street. Her body was sore, she was tired, and caked with dirt. It had been a long time since she had slept in a bed or had a proper shower and that night it was looking like it was going to be one of those chilled ones that made it so hard to sleep. She was working up the energy to climb a nearby fire escape and check out the warehouse like building she was slumped against when the messenger found her and along with the letter he delivered there was also a key to a motel room. The motel wasn't far off, and while it wasn't some great fancy hotel it was serviceable, with a shower and a bed and a heater. One night of comfort and a chance to get clean was worth a lot to the worn out girl.

Portrait/Character description: TBD