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24 days ago
Current It's my birthday! Hooray! I have to work. Boo. But I do have Nutella. So, it's a good day over all.
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26 days ago
I know that not every one on this site is from the USA, but I would like to remind all my fellow USAers that taking a moment to remember what happened 23 years ago wouldn't be bad.
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Same to you.
If you get a post up I can post on Sunday. Maybe. No promises.
I'm glad to know that you are doing okay. It's a relief. It's good to here that you get to do what you love. I'm doing alright. I moved to a day shift which is awesome but it's still retail. So it has been busy as people clean out our shelves. My vacation is in two weeks. I cannot wait.
You've been online more than normal recently. So I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I hope your hands are okay.
Darin considered what Ridahne had said about this mysterious chocolate. If they made it with milk and if they served it here, they might be able to make her spiced milk. She would have to consider coming back when she had coin of her own to spare. She had a little, but it had to be used for necessities like resoling her boots and possibly paying someone to cut her hair short. That was one of the cons of preferring short hair. It had to be trimmed regularly. She had been using her knife from home to hack it short since they left The Farm, but now it was uneven and choppy. That was almost as annoying as wearing it long. She needed to find someone who could even it out.

Darin did reply to Ridahne’s comment about trying apple pie and potatoes, “I’ll have to make you proper potatoes. Those, of course, are mostly butter and milk with some salt and chives, if you can find them. We can have it before apple pie for dessert. Maybe when we finally swing back up towards my home.”

That was a long time off and thinking about that made Darin homesick again. She was tired of feeling that way. She didn’t think the feelings would ever fade. She wasn’t sure she wanted them to fade. Though those thoughts did bring her back to climbing the trees of the city. If she took off her boots, she could probably do it. She was decent at climbing; not the best but decent. She was willing to give it a shot. As such she leaned down to unlace her boots and peal them off.

As she stood, she handed them out to her companion, “Could you get these to the inn as well. I’m going to go see if I can find a place to try my climb.” She smiled slightly as she started to walk away, “I’ll try to be back by night.”

With that Darin was off. It wasn’t that difficult to figure out were to go. She did get to practice her bows as she asked for directions and advice. Most of the Eluri seemed more than happy to help. One claimed they knew that humans shook hands the way that they bowed. Darin happily confirmed that fact and found herself laughing as she helped him practice. He was enthusiastic. Darin enjoyed it as he practically ripped her arm off as he shook it up and down. Eventually he pointed her on her way, and she introduced him to a new human custom, waving. He was enthusiastic about that until she was practically out of sight.

Soon Darin found a spot specifically for tourist to try their luck at climbing the trees. There were several set apart for that use and there were ladders about halfway up. Then the climbing had to do it free hand. There were nets strung about to catch those who fell. There was an undercurrent of challenge to the whole thing. A person had to pay to have a go and then pay double if they fell. If they made it down on their own with out making it to the top, they forfeited their original payment without having to pay more. If they made it to the top and back down, they got their first payment back. There was someone at the top to give people who made it a chit. There were just as many Eluri as there were tourist. Darin supposed that meant very few people actually made it to the top. She had practically no hope.

Still Darin wanted to try and knew she would be able to make it down on her own. So, she paid the small fee and then ignored the ladders. She got a few raised eyebrows for that, but the young human ignored those too. She lost herself in the journey upwards. She looked carefully for groves in the bark were her fingers could get a decent grip. Her trip wasn’t easy, and she almost slipped a couple of times. Darin found herself moving from tree to tree. She passed the sheer trunk and moved into branches. The branches got thinner and thinner. She refused to look down. Then without processing she broke thought the canopy of leaves. She took in a deep breath of surprise as she looked across the sky of Astra. Then she let out a shout of joy as she felt the heat of the setting sun. She braced herself and pushed herself out more fully. She closed her eyes and just enjoyed the heat of the sun. It had been so long.

It was odd in a way. She was human, a Child of the Stone. Yet before this journey she had spent every day under the sky of Astra. She was willing to bet that there were Eluri that had never even seen the sky, yet they were Elves, Children of the Sky. Where had those names come from. There had to be a reason for it. Darin watched the sunset and the countless stars come out. She figured that she should get back to Ridahne. There was an Eluri tied to a tree near her. She carefully went over to him to collect her chit before heading back down. She was feeling so peaceful that she didn’t process the chit-givers shocked look. She felt much better and was now worried about Ridhane coming to look for her.

Back on the ground Yari spoke to his coworker Zeven, “Do you think he’s okay? Night has fallen and he’s still not back.”

Zeven responded, “They might be stuck somewhere. We’ll give it fifteen more minutes and then send someone after them. The crazy human started at the bottom. That takes longer.”

Yari made a noise that was a cross between a scoff and a laugh, “I’m surprised they even made it pass the ladders. I do hope they are okay. I doubt the council will be happy if a human dies while visiting.”

Zeven repeated, “Fifteen minutes. Then we go up.”
I don't know much about D&D, but I think we are going to have a very interesting party.
This time Darin stayed close to Ridahne. She didn’t feel a need to go somewhere specific. She just got the sense that The Seed wanted to see all that It could. Well, see was the wrong word. It was more like know. The Seed wanted to know all that It could. As such The Seed-Bearer followed their traveling companion closely as they went up ladders and across bridges. Darin was shocked into stillness at her first sight of the market. It was busy. She had never seen anything so busy. A few people bumped into her and that got her moving again with a few bows of apology. She got a few odd looks, so she figured she didn’t do it quite right. Still no one look offended so she assumed she hadn’t messed up too badly.

Darin quickly hurried back to Ridhane to listen to the Azurei point out interesting types of food, but she kept getting distracted to stand and just look around. There were so many smells and so many sights and so many sounds. It was more than just a little bit overwhelming. Darin found herself, not for the first time, wishing she could go home. It was much more peaceful there. Then she would shake her head and rush to catch up with Ridahne. She would take her share of the load only for the market to overwhelm her again to lock her back into place. She knew she had to be drawing stares, but she simply didn’t care. Darin just didn’t know how to process everything

Finally, she got to sit down. The human took the small cup that Ridahne pushed into her hands with a small sense of wariness. The air around the whole stall smelled slightly bitter, and bitter had never been one of her favorite flavors. She had a fondness for sweet things though she didn’t get a chance to indulge her sweet tooth often. Still Darin did her best to refrain from wrinkling her nose at the smell of the beverage and even tried a decent sized swallow. That time her nose did wrinkle. This coffee, as Ridahne called it, was not her favorite at all.

She placed the cup back on the table and pushed it towards the Azurei, “You can have the rest of mine if you want it.”

Though the drink had been warm and that was nice. It was slightly chilly underneath the canopy of the trees. Even that small swallow had done something to fight the chill. Suddenly Darin found herself wanting spiced milk, but she had no idea where to get it, or even if she could only get the supplies to make it, where to make it. The human didn’t even know if it was something people in this part of Astra would know about or if she would have to describe it. It didn’t help that spiced milk had no real recipe. It usually depended on what spices were available. Still Darin found herself craving, what to her was, the simple mixture of warm milk, honey, and various spices. Of course, she mainly just wanted to be warm.

She found herself looking up at the canopy above the market and the entire city, “Tell me Ridahne, what would the Eluri of Lihaelen think if I started climbing these trees?”

To be honest Darin wasn’t sure she cared what people thought. She was just suddenly struck by a desire to see the top of the canopy. That desire didn’t come from The Seed. It was all her. That was the only reason why she didn’t just go for it. She wasn’t sure she wanted to cause an upset just yet. She just felt crowded and pressed upon. She hadn’t seen proper sun for a while as they traveled deeper and deeper into the forest. She couldn’t begrudge the journey. She would have had to come here sooner or later. She just wasn’t sure how much long she could take the lack of the sun AND the crowds AND all the newness without any familiar source of comfort. She had always been good at climbing tree. She wasn’t sure how easy it would be to get to the top, but she just desperately wanted to see the sun. She would get Ridahne’s opinion and then she might ignore it anyways. Everything up to this point may had been new, but it also had some sort of familiarity. This was completely new. Darin could feel the tension and panic crawling underneath her skin. She needed to do something quickly or she might wind up try to dig it out with her finger nails.
It's not fancy or anything but here she is!


I have an idea for a character, but I have very little combat role-playing experience. I really want to make sure she's balanced. Do you mind if I drop you a PM to discuss it?

@ReedeThe23rd
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