Luminosity

Cinder Sickness - A DnD style classic RP

Fiona had barely finished covering her legs when an unannounced visitor arrived in their cave, a dwarf woman. This was certainly something she had never seen in her brief travels, and judging by Sana's reaction, not something she had seen either. Immediately it appeared to be heading towards a confrontation; the dwarf woman, Shela as she introduced herself, was incredibly rude and forced herself upon them, expecting hospitality, and Sana seemed inclined to deny it to her, even though she was mostly naked. Derrix as well did not seem eager to part with any of the boar.

She should have expected this. Sana's beacon had succeeded in guiding the group to her, but undoubtedly others had been caught in this storm, and they would be drawn to the light as well. Fiona supposed they were lucky the woman hadn't attacked on sight. Few of them were ready for a fight. For her part, Fiona had no armor, no weapon, and no real energy for action.

"We can work this out," she said, as soon as she thought most of the group would hear her. Tobias was backing her up, so that was good. "It would wrong of us to turn people out into the storm if they mean us no harm. Conversely..." she looked down at the sitting dwarf, "it would be fairly rude of a guest to demand more than is offered to them." She didn't know what sort of customs the dwarf was used to, but where Fiona was from, visitors did not overstay their welcome, or take advantage of given hospitality. Not if they wanted to continue receiving that hospitality.

Of course, then a zombie arrived, introducing itself as Oscar, and Fiona found Tobias directly behind her, yelling in fear and asking her to kill it. Tensing up slightly, she considered getting closer to her horse, where her sword was strapped down, but Mortosh approached the being instead and greeted it. It didn't seem violent, so... that was good.

And then another arrived. How many travelers were in this area? Had the beacon been visible that far away? None of them seemed very cautious about approaching a group that was well armed and obviously dangerous, which was both refreshing and annoying to Fiona at the same time. This one, at least, Kazuo, seemed a little more well-mannered.

"I'm Fiona," she said, waving briefly to the newcomers. "There's some food to spare, but as you can see, there's quite a few of us now. Please take only what you need." They'd probably be on their way come the morning, once the storm broke. Though they'd have to be sure to keep a night watch now (an effective one) in case any of these new arrivals were planning on stealing from them in their sleep.

Cinder Sickness - A DnD style classic RP

Fiona had seen Tobias's scars before; she'd been in a less than ideal condition at the time, having just lost a fight rather soundly, but she remembered them well enough. Most of the group had some sort of scarring, many from battles, making those along the thief's back somewhat unique. Fiona wasn't sure if scars were something to be proud of. She supposed they could be, if gained for a good cause. All of Sana's recent damage had been earned saving the enslaved, and while the scarring would mark her forever, it would hopefully bring back memory of a time when she'd done good. Fiona had only a few, little scars, nothing major as of yet, and for that she had to consider herself lucky.

"Yeah, one moment," she answered, when Sana had climbed up to hang some clothes. She glanced at Mortosh departing to take up a watch, realizing that it would be quite useful to have someone who required no sleep or rest, and did not mind the rain. It was then she noticed that Vaeri had fallen asleep, fatigue having gotten the better of her. Standing, Fiona considered the elven woman for a moment before taking off the blanket wrapped around herself. Fiona folded it up neatly, and carefully slid it under Vaeri's head, so she would not have to rest entirely on the cave floor.

Clad in just her underwear and the tunic Derrix had given her, Fiona made her way over to her discarded jacket and leggings, scooping them up and handing them to Sana to be hung. She then went back to her horse, searching through the saddlebags for something else to cover herself with, settling for a second, smaller blanket, which she tied loosely around her waist.

Cinder Sickness - A DnD style classic RP

Fiona was quickly realizing that she didn't have to deal with this sort of thing while traveling alone. Even in the week or so she'd spent with Tobias they hadn't been caught in any rainstorms, and always found a place that allowed her some privacy to change when she needed to. A tree, if nothing else. Here there was just the cave, warm and dry, and the storm outside. Apparently Vaeri wasn't bothered by the company.

Derrix must have noticed her shivering, as he brought her a fresh tunic, of a light green color. "Thank you," she said quietly to him, smiling as he nodded and went over to Vaeri. Fiona had spare clothes of her own in her saddlebags, but thought that the heat of the fire and the lack of rain in the cave would dry her off quickly enough. Not in the habit of refusing generosity, though, she took the tunic, and laid it where she could easily reach.

"I'm alright, Drizzak. Thank you for asking." She smiled encouragingly at the goblin. In all honesty, she'd expected a much more unpleasant experience from traveling with him, but he seemed to be making an effort to be quite well mannered around them. It was surprising, and not at all in a bad way. Keeping the blanket around her, Fiona methodically unlaced her drenched tunic and slipped out of it, the garment emerging from underneath the blanket and dropping to the ground, where Fiona grabbed the fresh one and pulled it in. It was a little big for her, naturally, but it was dry, and that was the important part.

When she was done, there was the lower half to deal with. Her boots she untied quickly enough, tossing them off to the side. The cave floor was soft enough for her bare feet, thankfully. After that she stood and pulled off the blanket, setting it down neatly. There was no real effective way to do this, so she decided it was best to just get it over with. She unbuckled her belt and let set it down, then tugged off her soaked leggings, which clung to her skin. Her smallclothes at least prevented her from being entirely nude for the brief moment. That done, she laid them out with the rest of her clothes, and threw the blanket back on for warmth. Bare legs protruding from beneath it, Fiona made her way over to the fireside, and sat down, enjoying the warmth.

Cinder Sickness - A DnD style classic RP

Fiona was no stranger to the cold or the rain, but she enjoyed neither, and soon found herself completely soaked, her red hair darkened and dripping down onto her. It wasn't too long, though, before Sana's impressive beacon of light, created from her song, guided them to their resting point for the night. A useful power, to be sure; Fiona had been worried that they might lose their scouts, with how terrible the visibility became at one point. Seeing Sana, she waved in greeting.

She smiled as Sana and Hugh reunited, seemingly with more success than they split up with that morning. Fiona had been about to compliment Sana on her new found magical talent, but decided it was best not to interrupt the moment she seemed to be having with Hugh. Trying to catch Tobias's gaze, she gestured with her head down the path they were supposed to take the wagon.

"Come on, let's get out of the rain," she suggested, leading the way for the wagon. It would be a tight fit in places, but if Tobias was an adequate driver he could avoid getting stuck on anything. At the mouth of the cave, she greeted Derrix with a wave, walking her horse until she no longer felt drops of rain hitting her head, at which point she dismounted. It was an excellent shelter, as far as she could see. A good find on the part of their scouts.

Untying her bedroll from the saddle, she picked a suitable spot and laid it out so that it could dry. It wasn't entirely soaked through, but would need some time. The blankets in her saddlebags were entirely dry, thankfully. Fiona's hands were shaking slightly from the cold as they fumbled with the straps holding her armor to her. In short order she had it off and laid out neatly next to her bed roll. Her jacket was next to be unlaced and laid aside; the shirt underneath was drenched, but she kept that on, pulling a blanket from her bags and wrapping it around herself.

Cinder Sickness - A DnD style classic RP

Fiona had struggled to hide a cringe when Tobias chose to butt in on her attempt at speaking with Hugh. She had no idea how that would go over with him, and here she'd been trying to do her best at being gentle and avoiding anything that might be a touchy subject. As it turned out, she didn't need to be worried, as Hugh seemed to brush it off easily enough. That was good.

However, he didn't seem very interested in hearing anything she had to say. She thought she caught him checking out mentally for most of what she said, which left her feeling a little awkward. The effort had been made to help, at least. If he didn't care for her opinion, that was his choice. She supposed it was foolish of her to expect otherwise. She was still too young, or something along those lines. At least he was going to talk with Sana, now that she'd taken the time to hopefully clear her head. It wasn't Fiona's problem, and she had no intention of making it her problem.

Moving back alongside Tobias and the cart, she caught the end of Vaeri's question and prepared to roll her eyes at Tobias's response. The actual answer wasn't so bad, though she doubted Tobias would provide it.

"We should pick up the pace a little, I think," Fiona suggested, looking out at the looming clouds. "If we want to find shelter before we get drenched, that is."

Cinder Sickness - A DnD style classic RP

Fiona let a short "uh" escape her upon being offered the pipe, before she found herself reaching out to accept it, feeling for whatever reason that it would be rude to not accept. It was a habit of hers, really, being unable to politely refuse people that were trying to be kind. Taking the pipe, she puffed on it briefly, immediately revealing that she didn't make a habit of smoking by the way she coughed lightly, and then handed it back, a bit of an embarrassed smile in place on her lips.

"Thank you," she managed, taking a moment to collect herself, and give his response some thought. This was difficult ground to be treading on, unsure what would be too far to assume, too far to say. But it was obvious enough to her that he was in some kind of pain, and Sana clearly was, too. Fiona didn't have much experience with relationships; none of hers thus far had lasted all that long, nor did they have much adventure involved, given the lack of it in village life. She didn't know if she could help, but she could try.

"Well... she went through a lot yesterday. She told you, didn't she? After the fight with the Anti-Paladin?" Fiona didn't remember it perfectly, but she thought she'd seen the two of them converse after the fight. And they were together through the night, so surely he learned at some point what had happened to her. "I think it's understandable, given all that occurred, for her to be more preoccupied with other things than showing affection." Fiona had to figure that by now, however long they'd been together, that both knew that the other cared deeply, and didn't need constant acknowledgement and attention to prove that.

"On top of everything, she's had leading this group dumped in her lap, and she's doing her best with that. Most people would've quit after what happened yesterday, but obviously Sana's not most people." Fiona gazed out ahead a moment, clearing a few strands of red hair from her face when the wind pushed them in the way. "My guess... she needed some time to think about things. And if it's not too bold to suggest, I think it would be wise for you to have a conversation with her when you two get a chance."

She sighed softly. Discussing relationships wasn't really something she thought she'd be doing when she woke up that morning, but she did want to help. "You know... make sure she's okay. Talk about what you want to be doing. I'm just pretty sure that acting like everything's alright isn't going to make everything alright." Frankly, Fiona thought it was a bit selfish for him to be expecting acknowledgement and attention from Sana right now, when it was her world turned upside down yesterday. But she expected she didn't really have to say that.

Cinder Sickness - A DnD style classic RP

"Oh, please don't ask him to tell a story," Fiona groaned from the front, glancing back at the little thing, the Petal as she called herself, on Tobias. "You have no idea what you're in for." She didn't think she would be at first, but Fiona had actually gotten used to the thief's near constant talking on the road. Only the first few days did Fiona feel like she was required to say something in return. At some point, she began to figure it was just a mechanism of his, a reflex that kicked in when traveling, and many other times. Somehow, it had stopped bothering her.

"We'll be camping for the nights, so no wagon driving in the dark. Safer that way, and even if some of us don't need rest, the horses do." Hopefully Sana and Derrix would find a decent place for them, before they reached the next village.

Glancing over at Hugh, off to the side and keeping to himself, Fiona opened one of her packs and retrieved the best-looking apple she could find, of the few she'd grabbed. Trotting her horse slowly over to arm's reach of Hugh, she pulled up alongside him, holding out the apple in her hand.

"Hungry?" She'd noticed his... gloomy, perhaps it could be called, demeanor, and since the others seemed to be making conversation well enough on the wagon, she thought it would be prudent to check on him. "You know, if you're worried about Sana, I'm sure she'll be fine. You two have good horses, and she's very capable, as is Derrix." The invitation to speak his mind to her was left unsaid, but there all the same. Again Fiona had no desire to pry where she wasn't wanted, but she was nothing if not a friend and listener, especially to those she suspected needed one.

Cinder Sickness - A DnD style classic RP

Fiona nodded to confirm she understood Sana, then watched as she and Derrix rode off to scout ahead. She would have volunteered herself, but Derrix had beaten her to it. Regardless, she imagined they would need to trade off duties regularly; she'd take up scouting duties when she needed to. For now, the rest of the group needed to get moving. Gently she urged her horse forward to the front, glancing back at Tobias, who had the reins of the horses pulling the wagon.

"We'd best get moving. I'll take the lead." Coming into all of this Fiona hadn't imagined herself as much of a leader, and while she still didn't, she was becoming at least a little more comfortable with the group. It was a rather great departure from working alone as she was more accustomed to, but so far she didn't mind.

Fiona led them at a steady pace out of the village and along the road, keeping a speed that wasn't exactly rushed, but still making good time all the same. The wind was cold and biting at times, but Fiona had dressed warmly enough to tolerate it, and she was a northern girl besides, used to conditions such as this. She occupied herself mostly by absently sharpening her blade with a whetstone, the motion nearly subconscious for her as her eyes stayed up, watching their surroundings. Her newly acquired blade, from the Anti-Paladin, required no sharpening as far as she could tell, and it stayed strapped to her saddlebags in a makeshift sheathe, but her lighter sword had seen a fair amount of use, and wore down like any other common blade. Considering the amount of danger she'd faced the day before, it seemed wise to be as prepared as possible.

Arena Chat Thread

Hi everyone *waves*

At the risk of appearing like a total newbie (which I suppose I am), I was hoping to try this out. I've done a fair bit of combat in RP, but never really in a competitive sense. I was hoping someone might be willing to show me the ropes? Through like a practice match or something, I guess. I like that there's a bit more structure to Arena RP on this site, from what I can tell, but it's still a bit confusing (and maybe a little daunting?) as to where and how to jump in.

I don't know if there's like an official character sheet or something we're supposed to fill out here, but I haven't really settled on a character to use just yet anyway. I do think, however, that I'd prefer to stick to unpowered characters, if I'm understanding the term correctly.

So... yeah, hello, here's my spectacular entrance.

Cinder Sickness - A DnD style classic RP

Fiona smiled to herself while she continued to look over the map, the expression brought on by Tobias's arrival at the wagon. He certainly didn't need any more encouragement from her to keep acting that way. Honestly, she felt a little juvenile from finding some of the things he did funny, but then, he seemed to have that effect on her.

Her attention was pulled away when Sana came up beside her on her own horse, pointing at what Fiona had in her hands. "Oh, it's a map the slavers made. Found it under the bench. Some useful markings here about dangerous areas we might want to avoid. Here, have a look." She turned her horse slightly, before holding out the map for Sana to take. She noticed that the woman's demeanor was still a little sluggish. Before, she'd seemed refreshed, maybe even a little upbeat, despite all that had happened.

"Everything all right?" she asked, gently. They'd only known each other a very short time, after all, and while fighting together tended to bond people quickly, it was difficult to call them close just yet. "If it's none of my business, just say the word. I don't intend to pry."