Shoe Thief

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Kathryn Pyke Human, Fighter (Rune Knight), Level 05 HP: 39 / 49 Armor Class: 19 Conditions: N/A Location: Vineyard Couch House, Master Bedroom --> Sleep --> Morning workout at Vineyard Couch House Action: N/A Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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The cleanup was short and easy. The detailed work would be handled by staff in the morning thankfully, as Kathryn's skill in the cleaning department were lacking. But she was happy to lend a hand! "Sleep well!" Kathryn would pass off to everyone one by one as they ran off to bed. Once Lizbeth was done with her work, Kathryn had walked outside with the young woman, but instead of going strait up to the bedroom like Lizbeth, she spent a moment in the little courtyard looking up at the stars. Now wrapped up in her blanket, her belt that held the sheath for her Family's sword wrapped over her shoulder, she felt at peace. It was a nice change of pace, but it wasn't sitting well with her. She felt like a deep water fish, used to being under constant stress and pressure, and then suddenly, things are better, normal feeling almost. It almost felt like she could explode from the extreme lack of pressure and stress! And in a way, she did. She seemed to have dealt with it by trying to smother herself with enough booze to kill a horse. Good to know she could out drink such a creature though. She was struggling to find out where to fit in this lifestyle. She never relaxed well. She was either in work mode, or she would explode. Generally coming off as totally carefree, reckless, fearless in all the worst ways. Looking up into the night sky, it felt so open and free. Taking in a deep breath, letting it all out, she repeated the process a few times before she straitened up. She needed to maintain herself better. But she also had to maintain her guard and social standing. She was a professional, and she needed to act like one.

Confidence reassured, Kathryn felt she could return to bed without overthinking herself into her dreams. She stepped far heavier than she meant too, but picked up her bags, and set them into what would be her room for the time being. Maybe even the whole winter? That would be nice. A large comfortable bed, nice quality chairs, a fire place, and even a nice looking dresser. It felt rather homely to the tall woman. Kathryn finally unwrapped the sword belt and blanket from her person, setting the sword by her bedside near the hammer, and the blanket onto the bed to be cocooned into later. All to reveal a rather moderately dressed Kathryn in the common comfortable clothes she had just purchased to sleep in. Kathryn still being used to being encased in steel, and still very self conscious of her own person, still felt the thick blanket was needed. BUT!!! Now she had her own room!!! After spending several agonizing minutes attempting to use a tinderbox to start the fireplace, it sprung up with a little spruce to get it going, and another wood type Kathryn was too tired to care about identifying to continue the flame. She would be warm tonight on this chilly evening.

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Kathryn slept like a pile of potatoes tossed into a cellar to be stored away over the winter. She not only slept good, she slept likely better than she had in a rather long time! She felt super well rested, and judging by the barely dim light the sun hadn't quite poked its head out. What a perfect time to get a start on her day! Kathryn neatened up her bed, and laid out a few outfits across it. She would for sure be taking the hammer and her family sword to breakfast. One as its ceremonial piece, and the other as her personal defense weapon. That, and she didn't want to risk losing either. So wearing her armor made sense. Buuuuut... she also had a rather pretty dress she wouldn't mind wearing. Yes she had grown a few inches in the upwards category since she had acquired it, but she was confident in her ability to make it work. And, a chance to dress nicely to impress their hosts? Even better! But the more she thought on it, the more she had doubts. Firstly, the dress really drew a lot of attention to her chest, something that while she wore armor wasn't a concern. But she was not a small woman by any definition, and that area was included. She worried it would give the wrong impression if she went from extreme professional and modesty, to "HEY LOOK HERE ARE MY TIDDIES" overnight. On top of that, the L'Rose family had been won over with her strength and skill with a weapon. Not by her social charm and her looks. Trying to lean into that when she was at best rusty in such life skills, could easily end in disaster. Another reason against the pretty dress, is she wanted to get some training in before breakfast. Primarily strength training and cardio. Sure, old magic helped and gave her an advantage, but if she ever came up against someone who could also leverage an advantage of that kind or similar, she wanted to stay ahead as much as she could. Armor it would be. Plus, it was a new set. It was surprisingly comfortable, it was well made, and she liked how she looked in it too.

Using some rope, a wooden pole she found, and a couple full barrels of wine from the cellar, Kathryn set herself up in the courtyard using the wooden pole as a lever, but primarily holding the two barrels of wine via ropes she tied around and under them. With the leverage the pole provided, she lifted with her knees, and began walking in full kit down the roadway. It was not a fast walk, but a few times she found herself able to speed walk it a bit, before having to slow down to prevent herself from falling over. She could keep a decent marching pace at her slowest as she walked, only stopping occasionally to make sure her grip on the rope and pole were solid. Carrying the barrels full of liquid proved much more of a challenge than much of her other work out habits, but she was enjoying the feeling of her muscles being pushed to their raw limit. She wished she kept track of how many times she walked back and forth before her leg began to give out. Thankfully when it began to show signs of quitting, she was on the return trip of her lap. She was sure she would fine better routes as winter went on. But the cool air today made it easier for Kathryn to fight off the pain. The ice particles reminded her she was a force of nature, as not even snow or ice could slow her down. Only her own will as her leg began to lose strength. She let out deep guttural grunts through her helmet as she brought the barrels back towards the couch house. Soon her other leg would join the first, ready to call it quits, her back and one of her arms soon began to protest the closer they got back to the former inn. She let out the labored breaths through the rim and sockets of the metal dome as she walked, her body and mind knowing she was almost done, but wanting to badly to quit now. Apart of her wanted to cheat, use her magic and make the home stretch that much easier. But she knew if she did that she couldn't claim this victory for herself.

While her body felt ready to contort into the quickest position that would bring it to the floor, Kathryn realized, she had made it. The front door to the couch house was right infront of her. She wanted to badly to drop to her knees and celebrate, but she was also carrying an ungodly amount of wine. If she dropped too fast, the courtyard would be drenched in a sweet summer wine. Bending her knees to let the barrels gently rest a few feet from the front door, she felt as all of the pressure began to release. And as if the moment the barrels were released from her, her body felt like it had done enough, and she collapsed to the ground, landing on her knees, her arms now resting in the same mash of ropes while using the same pole she used to leverage the wine, to support herself. She let out an almost maniacal chuckle suppressed by the metal casing surrounding her head. And all before breakfast! Which now, she felt she could eat every fucking chicken on this fucking vineyard.

She freed her arms from the makeshift lift, and attempted to stand, only to find her arms and legs unresponsive. With a disappointed grunt, she slowly regained control of her arms, and undid her helm. Enjoying some nice cool water as she let her body catch up to her mind. With another grunt, she then stood up, legs weak, but recovering, and soon she finished off the water. Placing the helm on her belt, she stumbled into the inn, ready to see who else had gotten up in this time. She vaguely heard the sounds of conversations, but it wasn't until she stepped in that she took note of Kosara and Lizbeth.

What she did not expect when she got inside was Lizbeth already preparing a morning tea for everyone! How sweet! Then... she saw Kosara. "Oh uhm.... wow okay...." Kathryn said trying to avoid staring at what she assumed was her friend naked in a barrel in the middle of their kitchen area. Realizing she wasn't the only witness, she took her gloved and mildly shaking hand to block Lizbeth's line of sight. "Kosara, is this the best place to be taking a bath? Its kind of... in the middle of everything." She was sure Kosara meant nothing nefarious by it, but the woman clearly held no shame for herself. Something Kathryn wished she could say the same, but not quite to that extent.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Kathryn Pyke Human, Fighter (Rune Knight), Level 05 HP: 39 / 49 Armor Class: 19 Conditions: N/A Location: Vineyard Couch House Action: N/A Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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Kathryn felt rightfully shameful for her actions. She had made a fool of herself, her party, had about done some actions she would have regretted, and her crude humor had taken a mean turn through her own shenanigans. It was an ugly mess to say the least. She struggled to maintain eye contact with Blackberry as he rightfully glared at her. He lightened up soon, though she felt like she deserved any scolding she got at the moment. She was ready to throw hands. Ironically enough with the one member of their group who was a rather decent expert at throwing hands. Being as wasted as she was, he could probably send her to the floor without much effort. But there's no telling what sort of harm could have been caused had she started something. Blackberry forgiving her was both a blessing and a curse. She chuckled a bit when Blackberry suggested Kathryn would out drink their supply. "I'll slow down a little... what did I have like... a bottle of wine and a drink of ale? Maybe a glass?" Though she thought about it, and that didn't seem like enough to get her Thaaaat shitfaced. Maybe she didn't eat enough at lunch? Or with dinner? Or she drank more than she thought... or some combination of all of those things. How much time had passed? Clearly not enough. She would be smarter from here. If she was going to drink to relax, she needed to at least be able to have better control of her own actions.

Blackberry had brought up an interesting idea of the two of them having a go at each other. Kathryn was always game to spare. Years ago she could spare with Ser Lucas, but the size and strength difference was so much that even though he would tend to win more often her strikes did considerably more harm. Blackberry was closest to her size of the whole party, and wasn't at a late stage of age. So that sounded like a rather fun time to her! "A chance you say? I get you into a good hold or on your back and you're pretty fucked mate." Kathryn said with a smile and and a chuckle. Not out of boasting, but because she was excited to see what the monk had to throw at her. Hell, maybe he would be doing the same. Putting her into a hold, or sending her to the floor. She was good at utilizing her size and strength, but that didn't matter if she was flat on her back unable to strike back effectively. She did however burst out with a singular loud laugh when Blackberry brought up the idea of Knights vs Dragons and how overdone it was. "In Arcanaple, the classic ending is the knight gets the princess, and slays the dragon. Though the old clans have a version where the dragon defeats the knight, and keeps the princess. Though one version of that story, the princess went to the dragon as either a fugitive, or as a woman trying to escape a dire situation." Kathryn spoke with a mysterious narrator voice, but wasn't able to hold it long before letting off a shrug. "And countless variations of those." She did note that they didn't have a princess for this scenario. But she figured if she mentioned it out loud Kosara may volunteer for another chance to have Kathryn pick her up again. Who was now wrapped around her acting as a giant buckle holding the blanket wrapped around Kathryn's body.

Kathryn couldn't help but be fascinated by how Urmdrus described working with the chitin. It was rather fascinating to hear as he gave a very short and brief explanation how the plates could be used to make armor and other apparel. A skill Kathryn wouldn't mind having, but it seemed rather situation, and unlikely to use often if ever again. She still had to learn a bit more on silver work. But the way things were going, that would get held off until the turn of spring. By then she hoped to have her family sword remade and repaired. Let it become the ceremonial piece it deserved to be, and to not use it shy of defending her home. When... she had one again. What kept catching her off guard, was that Urmdrus needed a bucket of... their piss? Fucking hell that seemed odd as hell. But the way he kept emphasizing it, it seemed weird. She couldn't help but note how unsettled he seemed to be. She didn't want to think what else could have been in that bucket...

Kathryn watched as the dwarven fellow collected the materials to do his work, and loaded it up into his cart. "It was good meeting you Master Urmdrus!" Kathryn said in an excited tone. This whole place was like its own whole world! Something to speculate, wonder, and explore! She would be doing all of those things this winter! She struggled to follow his talks of Alchemy, but overall he seemed like a smart and wise man who knew his trades rather well. Hell, maybe Kathryn would be at that level of expertise with her own skills at some point too! For now, her main employable skill was her strength, and her skill with a weapon. She was a decent enough smith too, but her skills were pretty standard. Nothing to stand out there. And her cooking skills left much room to be desired. She would get better though!

Kathryn felt her posture shift slightly as Kosara climbed off her. For a moment Kathryn forgot Kosara was still on her, but now the better range of movement was noticeable. And so was the need to keep the blanket wrapped around herself. Once adjusted again, Kathryn looked about the group as everyone took to deciding bedding. "Clearly as the person of highest noble birth the master room shall be thy own." Kathryn said in a mock noble voice. After a brief chuckle at her own what she thought was a great joke she spoke up again in her usual tone. "I'm just hoping to get a bigger bed if at all possible. It would be nice to sleep strait for once." She saw two of the rooms had such larger beds, and she figured V would probably try and go for the actual master bedroom. To her surprise though, V went for the other room with the fire place. And it seemed Kosara was going to end up bunking with her as well! "Lizbeth? Blackberry? Do either of you have a preference of where you shall be sleeping?" Kathryn wondered if she would get a room to herself. That would be a rather nice change of pace. She couldn't remember when she last had her own room that wasn't a storage closet or some hidden compartment in a floor. But a real bed, somewhere to sleep where she could sleep safely. It was something special to enjoy.

The knighted woman found herself a little unsure how to respond to V's comment about how many knights were rather brutally slain by the dragons they faced off against. Kathryn couldn't be sure if the comment was a jab or joke, so she figured she would offer a jest of her own for the bard before she left for bed. "I've heard many a version of the same story, though instead of a knight, they would be a bard. With a rather different form of fightin' going on there." Kathryn said with an amused grin on her face. Not that she took Victoria as the kind of person to bed a dragon, but she also figured V didn't think Kathryn intended to get herself killed fighting a dragon. Though, she wondered if V may have been implying BB in this case... Maybe BB could kick her ass rather well, but it would be a great experience! "Sleep well V, see ya in the 'morrow!" Kathryn exclaimed towards the bard. It was nice to have friends again.

Kathryn saw Lizbeth beginning to put their evening party mess away, and decided she couldn't let the young woman do it all herself. Taking what was left of her own stew, she brought the bowl to her lips and downed what was left. She went a little light on her meals today which firstly hurt her alcohol tolerance, and secondly made it harder for her to get stronger. She wasn't sure how much stronger she could physically get, but her strength was one of her best abilities, and she wanted to be as good as she could get it. Tomorrow would be a working out sort of day if she had anything to say on it.

Taking her now empty bowl, she began collecting bowls, cups, and empty bottles from around the pub. "Here Lizbeth, let me get that." Kathryn insisted as she gracefully took what dishware she could, and attempted to clean up a bit as well. "We're your guests, least we can do is clean up our own mess." She said wanted to help the small woman as best as she could. Though clearly not as well practiced in the ways of cleaning and such. Despite not growing up in nobility in her teen years, she still stayed with nobles on and off, at inns, public houses, and at a couple points a barracks or war camp. There were workers for these sorts of tasks, and Kathryn even though she understood them, she was clearly under prepared for such tasks. She would quickly hit the conclusion that maybe Lizbeth was better suited to such tasks. But she would still help remove the meal implements and empty bottles and put them away as best she could. Even if that was off to the side to be cleaned later... "If we wanna rearrange some of the beds we can do that too if it would make sleeping arrangements a bit better?" Kathryn offered. The beds were heavier than Kosara, but still not too much of a challenge for the tall woman. At least the twin beds. The double wide beds, king or queen beds? Their size along was tricky to manage. But definitely doable.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Kathryn Pyke Human, Fighter (Rune Knight), Level 05 HP: 39 / 49 Armor Class: 19 Conditions: N/A Location: Vineyard Couch House Action: Lots of Drinkin' an' Dealin', Persuasion help action Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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Kathryn struggled to follow along with the nature of business conversations. At her best times she was more doable. But she was rather easily tricked up with word play. This was when she was sober however. Drunk Kathryn cared little for the art of negotiating. Drunk Kathryn had the power to take whatever she wanted and fight anyone in her path! Not that she would. But the confidence was easy for any bystander to see. Drunk Kathryn generally only wanted two things, people's approval, and more alcohol. The problem is drunk Kathryn could not read the room to save her self. SO! She was winning obviously. Sure she almost dropped Kosara a couple times, knocked over a table or two, and the direction up was beginning to be optional. But! Clearly winning. The whole time, Kathryn found herself struggling to stop her uncontrollable giggling. Like a small child who was having the time of their life while the parents did their best to keep them from the lion's den.

With Kosara over her shoulder, and Blackberry approaching her, Kathryn figured the real fun would begin. Weirdly enough he seemed to keep teleporting around the place. One moment he was infront of her, and the next he was gone. THEN! He would be back in a totally different spot!!! "Oh yeah? are you going to make me? Think ya can take me down?" She said spinning about trying to make eye contact. Passing over him twice before her eyes were finally able to find him. "Why such a party pooper, we're all having fun yeah?" Kathryn said with a smile before the giggling returned. Kathryn returned to her dance as Kosara continued to cheer along. "Seeeee? Kosara is having fun!" Kathryn Exclaimed. At one point attempting to get up on a chair to sing and dance, but her foot couldn't seem to catch a grip. "I'll deal with you later you fuckin' arse hole." Kathryn said with a scorn and a disapproving finger towards the chair. Before continuing her dance as Blackberry kept trying to catch up to her. It was like a fun game of catch! Only that if BB got too close he may get accidentally clobbered by either Kosara's limbs, or Kathryn's sheer uncoordinated size.

Blackberry then had the audacity to suggest Kathryn put down her friend. Kathryn taking another attempt (Or three) to get her sights back onto the dragonborn she smiled taking a big sip of her ale, leaving a foamy mustache on her face as she did her best accent to resemble a pirate like voice. "Argh Neva'. I have claimed this treasure, she be mine now!" Kathryn said holding her accent, grin, and and a challenging expression on her face. In this moment, she was very much like a dog begging her human for a fellow participant in this game she was playing. To drunk Kathryn's pleasant surprise, Blackberry accepted the challenge! He bum rushed her with speed that she couldn't even process. Kathryn being a fan of sparing herself felt ready to take this challenge on head first. Blackberry being an expert at hand to hand combat, Kathryn was super excited to face off against such a foe! She would either get her ass handed to her! Or she would hand out the asses! She tried to bend down to meet BB with the biggest of smiles on her face and leaned in arm out stretched in an attempt to use his momentum to close line him on her arm against the force of her size. What drunk Kathryn didn't realize, is BB was charging at her with all his speed. He was being tactical, and wasn't going for her. The out stretched arm that she attempted to use to close line him also held her ale, the true target. Kathryn felt a confusing and surprising pain briefly before she felt the booze go flying, and watched as BB appeared to teleport and grab the drink from mid air.

Kathryn fell back a bit trying to process what was going on and to have full proper control of her person again as Blackberry also stepped back. "I am making the bestest impressions..." Kathryn said in an almost defeated tone. Still convinced everyone else was having as much fun as she was. Then, the atrocities began. Blackberry had poured the ale into the plant. The horror that crossed Kathryn's face was one of heart break, and betrayal as her very replaceable drink was poured out. "Noooooooo!" She trailed off as she stumbled into a table again to see about saving the drink from the plant. But it was too late. The greedy bastard had already drank it all. Kathryn nearly falling to her knees, turned sharply to Blackberry. The expression of hate and betrayal on her face spoke of nothing but vengence. She pointed an accusatory finger towards the monk and began to speak. "You... you... MOTHER FU-" And it was that moment that the world changed. She briefly felt hungover, dizzy, but even then that passed as well! She also noted Kosara had been speaking as well.

The night came in like a slide show for Kathryn as she turned about looking through the room. As she turned about she noted Blackberry just out of arms reach, and Kosara's ass right next to her head. "Yeah uh... I'm... I'm sober now..." She said wanting to hide her face for the rest of existence. The longer she took to think what happened, the more that returned to her. And it was a clusterfuck and a half from the start. "Sorry Baronfjørd. I got... carried away there. Thanks for uh... addressing it." She said embarrassed.

She then turned to the rest of the room giving the negotiating table a polite curtsy. "I'm so sorry you had to see that everyone. I got carried away, and continued getting carried away. It wont happen again." Kathryn said her face beat red from embarrassment. She stood back up strait and realized Kosara was still over her shoulder. The woman was small enough Kathryn barely noticed at times. She attempted to set the smaller woman down, but with skill and speed that Kathryn wasn't sure how the small woman did it, she had crawled her way to Kathryn's back and wrapped herself around her torso. "Okay..." After the show Kathryn put on, she wasn't really sure what to do with this.

Kathryn passed BB on her way to the bar again, and paused as she looked like she wanted to say something but froze up on the words. Taking another break, she spoke up again. "Sorry... Thank you. It wont happen again." Kathryn said, feeling like a dolt for letting herself lose so much control. Being as sober as she was with how embarrassed she was, she did pour herself a mug of ale. Though not particularly full. Just enough to dull her embarrassment. She walked back over to the table, taking a small careful sip of her drink as she tried to catch herself up with the conversation, but realized she was probably far too removed to do much now. "Lizbeth, Master Urmdrus. I must apologize to you both for this. I normally don't get this carried away with my drinking. It was rather unprofessional, and probably not the best sight." Kathryn said with an awkward smile. Realizing she couldn't easily sit with Kosara on her back, she did another bow. "Master Urmdrus, now that I am a little more coherent, allow me to introduce myself." Kathryn said with a gentle bow. "My name is Ser or Lady Kathryn Pyke. Depending on preference or occasion. Knight and noble woman of Arcanaple, and practicing smith, and amateur adventurer. It is a pleasure to meet you, and I look forward to this arrangement you have proposed." She then took another nervous, though small sip of her drink.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Kathryn Pyke Human, Fighter (Rune Knight), Level 05 HP: 39 / 49 Armor Class: 19 Conditions: N/A Location: Vineyard Couch House Action: Lots of Drinkin' an' Dealin', Persuasion help action Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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"Like Blackberry Pie suggests, we got all sorts of skills. We can start ya with some of the basics of the defensive stuffs. Never hurts to know how to use a blade to keep would be attackers at bay, no matta who be doing the..." She paused party way through the sentence. A little unsure if she was saying the right words. Then broke her attention from Lizbeth and looked upwards as if trying to read her own thoughts. Then appeared to be mouthing a string of random words and sentences as she got her attention span back in order. "Bad assholes will be bad assholes, you should know how to keep them away no matter how you go about your training. A good blade skill can do wonders there." Perfect. And Drunk Kathryn seemed to agree as a dorkish smile crossed Kathryn face as she brought her attention back to Lizbeth. Blackberry continued to be rather sweet to Kathryn despite drunk Kathryn attempting to reign control over the situation. Though at this point the internal battle seemed to end at a draw. Leaving a mildly Dizzy Kathryn to take charge. "No no no... I think I can get it just..." She pondered again. Thought very hard. Nodded in affirmation, before turning her attention back to her dragonborn friend. "You might be right... I keep getting the tune to Wonderall stuck in it's place..." Kathryn said defeated. She would sober up some more before she attempted to sing more. Unless the booze had their way. By that point the only person who may recognize that the noise coming out of her mouth as music, would be Drunk Kathryn.

Kathryn looked flabbergasted when BB said Victoria practiced Necromancy! "Wait wait wait wait... like dead people?" Then she stopped, looked at Morty, considered the other recently delicious Morty, and it made more sense then. "wait... no now I remember... please forgive me. Imma go and make brain work again." She said confidently. The question that BB asked seemed to not be answered as of yet, so Kathryn did what Kathryn did when she was trying to stay up right. Relaxed in her chair, ate her food, and debated what to drink next.

What did confuse Kathryn even more, was not being able to find Blackberry again! One moment he was there, the next he was gone! Right around the time the dwarf gentleman came in... She could have sworn she heard his voice... But even Kosara seemed to be looking around for their lost dragon friend. "My dude?" Kathryn asked standing up looking for Blackberry. Finding that Kosara had found the man first, and he seemed... not dead. So, well? Possibly so. Kathryn stumbled over to assist Blackberry, but Kosara already seemed to be well on the case! But surely she could help right?

All the while Victoria attempted to make a deal with their new dwarven friend, and things seemed to go poorly. SURELY! Kathryn could help here. "V V V V. Victoria." Kathryn said as if explaining something to a child. But the drunken smile showed she had no ill will, or even an ounce of scolding in her voice. But Master Urmdrus was one of Kathryn's people. Not by culture. But by their way of class and lifestyle. "Master Urmdrus here is a master of his trade. And maybe he's getting a little excited about things, but who wouldn't be? Hells, I can work a forge rather well meself if I do say so myself." Kathryn said confidently. "But this is clearly an area of this very handsome man's expertise." Kathryn said before walking surprisingly strait towards the ale, and pouring a pint for herself, drinking it half way, and pouring another one for Master Urmdrus. "As one fellow trades master to another, we would love to work something out with you. Alas, we have some drinks to enjoy tonight. Mind helping us out yeah?" Kathryn said in a relaxed tone. A tone of someone who was here to celebrate a great win, and who was ready to build good relations with this new man. "Victoria is a little harsh on the edges sometimes, but she's a rather lovely lady if I do say so myself. She's also probably the best to sort out a good deal between us so we can all walk away happy and shit faced." Kathryn joked as she gave a pint to Master Urmdrus, before returning to her section of bar walking backwards and giving a cheers motion towards the dwarf. Them having some more of her ale as she returned to check on Blackberry who at the very least seemed alive and as well as someone flat on the floor could be.

Kathryn who was no where near sobering up, decided she really wanted to help and get involved. SO! Setting her drink down on the counter she stumbled closer to Blackberry and Little K. "Here, let me. You're small and adorable and I don't want you hurting yourself. And I? Am big and strong! Less adorable but that is not what's important right now." Drunk Kathryn lacking the coordination to work around Kosara she wrapped both of her arms around the small woman and lifted her up over her shoulder. Upon doing so, Kathryn found herself spinning in circles with a small tiefling woman over her shoulder laughing and giggling as she did so. Too continue with the shenanigans Kathryn began speaking in a deep mock gruff voice. "Hardy har har look at me! I am a cuckholded ass fart who tries to beat on people I am supposed to protect to make myself feel stronger! I try to lure woman into alleyways so I can stab them in the back! I am sooo unlikable all of my goons with nowhere to go ran away the first chance they got!" Kathryn then let out a high pitched giggle as she continued spinning, now knocking over a table as she did so. At that point the spinning stopped, but the laughing did not. "Oh whatever low life could I be?" Kathryn continued as she confirmed she was infact not falling over with her really good friend over her shoulder.

"Oh! Wait! Wait wait wait I got more!" Kathryn teased. First stumbling to the bar to grab her ale, take a few more sips, and adjust as she was trying to do too much with not enough hands and too much alcohol in her system. "Oops. Almost lost my blanket..." Kathryn chuckled before turning to the rest of the room, holding Kosara firmly on her shoulder. "Okay okay." She cleared her throat. "Oh look at me! I am gonna attack a bunch of heroes in broad day light! And be a dick to the one who tried to be hospitable! And be soooo surprised when she gets fed up with my shit and teaches me that I can in fact, sniff my own ass." She said in her best withery squeaky voice. Not that she could hold it as in Kathryn's mind, she was the funniest person in the world at that moment. And the giggles and laughs continued. She paused thinking of more she could do. "I have for you lot, a serious mission that is totally bogus, but we're gonna call it real for another totally serious mission. You're gonna hunt goblins but look into my corrupt stooge of a cousin and find proof that he is a disappointment to the whole family!" Kathryn said in her most authoritative soldiering voice. Even standing up strait suddenly so she could do a mock solute. It was clear Sober Kathryn had lost the battle. Would she win the war by the end of the night? only time could tell. "Thank you, thank you. I take requests." Kathryn bowed, holding onto Kosara so she wouldn't fall to the floor, and using her to keep the blanket firmly wrapped on herself.

Finishing the ale she poured for herself she spun herself into the middle of the room still giggling as she went. "wait wait wait I got another! See if y'all can guess this one." She limbered up, shook her arms, stretched her legs, and did a little hop. "I don't trust you adventuring types. All y'all do is cause problems with your money and harassing my customers. Those be almost adequately paying customers you be scaring into comas at my doors there!" Kathryn said in her best old man voice before the giggles took over and she needed a break. "Stop throwing me patrons around and under tables! Stop drinking so much! But keep spending! By the way watch out for suspicious curses, but don't tell anyone I told ya yeah?" Kathryn said with a hint of optimism. "By the way, can y'all get me a silver knife for self defense, some shackles so I can get the job done myself. OH! And by the way, I will help you, but I won't actively help you. Also, no talky until daylight. There's a ton of weird shite that is gonna surprise you in a couple hours-" Kathryn stopped suddenly almost dropping Kosara as the realization hit her like a brick. "Holy shit was Robert a were rat?" Kathryn asked in a surprisingly clean sentence, as if she had sobered up all at once.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Kathryn Pyke Human, Fighter (Rune Knight), Level 05 HP: 39 / 49 Armor Class: 19 Conditions: N/A Location: Vineyard Couch House Action: Lots of Drinking Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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Should Kathryn have slowed down on the drinking? Probably. Would that stop her? No. Spending much of the time on her own since Ser Lucas passed drinking she felt rather invincible when it came to drinking. And to be fair, to a degree she was better off than most. The problems started to arise when some fun party drinking turned into downing two whole bottles and a sample of another in a rather short period of time. Kathryn at this point, was a couple drinks off from kissing the floor. BUT! Not as of yet! She was however, giddy as one could be. Up for shenanigans, challenges, and best of all, ADVENTURE! The current adventure? Stay standing while not kissing the floor! And she was kicking that adventure's ass! She thought so at least. Though she had some help.

She did however, get her approval for the bakery! Though there seems to have been confusion on what was considered in her past. "No no no, it was all arranged, though both our parents already built up plans for us. To the point where they already had a castle being built for us out in the frontiers. But no marriage completed. Our parents kept putting us together in a desperate hope to get us to like each other. And sure, it eventually worked, but there was a lot of fighting before then." Kathryn giggled for a moment, as if laughing at a joke only she could hear, before snapping back to things. "I punched him in the face. He said I fight dirty, and I told him he's a pompous and sore loser." The giggles soon turned into light laughter before she calmed herself a bit. "Shy of the real ceremony, we were all but married. He pretended to speak like a confident lord, convinced he's get a son or two out of me, and I told him he'd have to beat me with a sword first." Kathryn let out a big toothy grin. "I always won. Father said I shouldn't be so hard on him. For once mom agreed. My uncle only finally agreed when my husband to be lied to his father about how his nose got broken. But he grew on me eventually. Trevor was kind, put up with my bullshite, and when you got past him pretending to be fancier than he was he was a rather sweet boy. Plus, he got better at fighting over time."

Kathryn did however let out a bow when Blackberry offered to buy some goodies when Kathryn finally got around to baking. "It would be my hono-" She was suddenly cut off when bending over so far her body forgot which direction up had been. With a quick correction and sudden correction, nearly losing the blanket she wrapped around herself, she successfully held her position. Eyes wide like she just cheated death. Before the giggling began again. "Did you see that? Almost took a bite of the floor yeah?" She joked as she stood back up strait correcting how the blanket wrapped on her person.

How Lizbeth described the boy was so cute! Down to the destruction of things and stuff to get his attention and buy his time. Maybe literally too now that she thought about it. But it was cute. "He sounds so good for you dude! We should arrange some time for ya or somethin'" Kathryn commented before about to lose balance again. "Maybe I can request some stuffs be fixed to buy ya time yeah? Or something then." In Kathryn's mind, it sounded like a great plan. But she was also not perfectly aligned in terms of thought process. The moment Lizbeth handed her food Kathryn's whole wagon of thought went out the door. "Hey, we can start training whenever you want. I got time. Plus, much of that soldiering training isn't even for fighting for a while. Much of that training be for marchin' in formation, and taking orders from their boss dudes. They don't even get access to weapons in many cases until the last bit of their training. Unless ya wanna learn to march and get yelled at we can focus pretty much just on discipline and fighten' ya know?" Kathryn said completely unironically, as her own lack of self discipline dragged her deeper into a drunken stooper. "We'll gotta figure out the best way for ya to fight, and what ya wanna get out of fightin' yeah? Then we can teach ya the good shite. You're kinda small so you should know how to fight the people bigger then ya yeah?" Kathryn said as she shoved a rather big chunk of bread into her mouth. "You'll have the whole world to make your choices with my dude." Kathryn said proudly as she made herself comfortable at the bar.

Kathryn did however listen intently as Victoria explained a bit of lore on her family, Kathryn hoped she would remember it all by morning as she found herself intrigued by the whole thing. She thought the bit about humans thinking elves were nobility by default sounded off, but then again, common folk believed all sorts of weird things. Likely just getting their information through rumors and campfire stories. Kathryn found herself staring intently as the image of the half elf with rather deep fascination. "Weird..." Kathryn said in regard to how comparable V was to the image before her. Kathryn listened more intently as V continued talking. It seemed rather sad, how much the small woman and her family pushed to be like nobility and yet kept being denied. "Sounds like they were hoping for a family like mine was. One with titles and land, but not enough to make a major difference." Kathryn said thinking. Then the alcohol in her brain finally lubricated the cogs in her mind, and a few thoughts were allowed to trickle again. "Well, if I ever get my seat of power back, I could totally bring ya up as a vassal or somethin', advisor, knight some people, get ya jump started ya know? The drawback, is I lack lands, power, influence, and the people who give noble houses power ya know?" Kathryn smiled as if she told a joke, and was waiting for the punchline herself. Then seemed to trail off a bit as she leaned against the counter, attempting to not fall over.

Kathryn listened intently as Victoria continued to explain not only how her family lineage compared to humans and nobility, but how her understanding of wines compared to that of people who worked on them. Kathryn did find herself struggling for a moment trying to process so much information at once. But she did her best! And her best, needed some work. But she was deeply invested into what Victoria had to say. "That is pretty cool not gonna lie. Knowing a bit of everything like that yeah?" Kathryn said still a little dizzy, and definitely very drunken at the moment. "So why did you decide to do bardy stuff? Was it a push from family? Or did you do it because your family said not too? Or was there like... some kind of cool inspiration there?" Kathryn said wondering so much more about the small woman she was going to spend the next few months with. "I wonder if I'd make a good bard... I know like... so many songs." Kathryn said confidently as she sat up in her chair. For a moment, she seemed like she would stand, but either there was an inability too, or apart of her reminded her that she was not 100% in it at the moment, and needed to take a break. Still, she began a tune.

"The island, it is silent now
But the ghosts still haunt the waves
And the torch lights up a famished man
Who fortune could not save."

Though the tune came out okay, she soon trailed off, as if forgetting the words, or just unsure if she should continue. Either way, after some mumbling she would stop singing. Kathryn did find herself ready for a fight yet again, as if sober the whole time the moment the door was crashed open Kathryn was on her feet dagger in hand ready to toss. Blanket gripped with her other hand to not only hold in place, but to either toss as a distraction or to act as a make shift net as her eyes locked with the figure in the door way. She eased up rather quickly when it became apparent that new person was friend. Once the adrenaline began to fade the giggling returned. "More of the soldiering type? Fucking dope dude." Kathryn said much more relaxed as she set the blade back down on the bar, the alcohol taking back over as she fell back onto the seat.

The dwarven man seemed like Kathryn's type of person. Soldiering type, worker type, drinking type. "I don't think I've seen a dwarf since I was a wee lass, younger than Lizbeth by a few years yeah?" Kathryn asked, then realized no one else could possibly be able to confirm such an answer. "But I like the things ya say my dude." Kathryn said giving an approving nod and finger point towards the dwarf. "Sounds like a good deal to me yeah? We can sort details when I be less silly then." Kathryn giggled out before taking the soup and began downing it as if her body deep down knew she would need it to survive the night. "Imma be good for drink moment I can stand again yeah? Then! I'll show all y'all some real drinking." Drunk Kathryn said confidently.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Kathryn Pyke Human, Fighter (Rune Knight), Level 05 HP: 39 / 49 Armor Class: 19 Conditions: N/A Location: Vineyard Couch House Action: Lots of Drinking Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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Lizbeth seemed to get that Kathryn was in fact, not trying to imply anything between them. And seemed to understand Kathryn had a lapse of word choices. With a prompt "Ew" the worst of things had passed, and overall was patient with her while she got her words working right again. Kathryn needed to let out a very drunken giggle, soon erupting into laughter as Kathryn's brain caught up to her physical actions. "Ew indeed dude. You can do so much better." Kathryn spoke out when she finally got her giggling under control. She did however perk up an ear at the mention of Lizbeth's own crush! But it seemed Lizbeth had her own troubles in that regard. Much like her own. Which, brought on a world of pain Lizbeth wasn't ready to deal with just yet. Kathryn despite starting to feel buzzed, was determined to help the small child who was now supplying her with more confidence juice. So with another cork ripped off the bottle, Kathryn began downing the next one. This time only getting about a quarter of it before stopping. "Difficulties aside, tell us about this tinker boy huh?" The poor girl needed something positive to focus on, and Kathryn was determined to give her an out from her dark thoughts. "Is he cute? Kind? Come on, spill the beans dude!" Kathryn spoke up excitedly. Okay, so she wanted the gossip too. But if Kathryn was able to help Lizbeth and get to have these fun conversations? Win win!

Kathryn wasn't sure how to explain her situation better to Kosara. So drunk Kathryn took another sip from her bottle of wine, and set it down as she prepared the easiest explanation she could. "Well Kosara, a noble family name is a right of power and responsibility. How much varies so much its hard to quantify." she paused considering her words further, then taking another sip. Trying to not chug it as to enjoy the taste more. She may have to take V up on her offer of something for a proper drinking drink. "They essentially removed it's worth, and it's responsibility. As much as they could at least. There is only so much that can be done while I am still around ya know?" Kathryn chuckled, aware that as long as she was still alive she did technically have a claim to her old homeland, even if she lacked the means to back it up. But it meant it was something that would loom over those murderous dicks heads forever. "The drawback to it is I can't use my family name now." Kathryn said with an indifferent shrug, before taking yet another sip of wine. It was at that moment she realized she was getting tipsy for sure. Maaaaaybe she should slow down. Maybe. But also she was finally relaxing for the first time in gods knows how long! So! She was ready to drink away her fears!

Kathryn found herself trying to think of the best way to describe her marriage culture to Kosara. It was a hard one none the less, but it was sort of fun to talk about home. "Kind of. You're really close. For most households that would be the case, but being apart of nobility I have to make sure a proper bond was forged between families. Marriage, and a child between the couple. So for me to be in a relationship with another woman, my family would require that the first bond was more than secured. And on top of that, my husband would have to also approve of such relationship. And that other person would need to be open to also marrying my husband as well, and then all of our families would need to approve the marriage. It's a complicated process that gets more complicated the more people you add in. To add to the complication, many noble families didn't practice those sorts of relationships. Especially the higher echelons of nobility. So Trevor, the boy I was likely to marry, likely would not have been for such an arrangement." Kathryn took another sip of her wine, a smile on her lips as she did so. "Not that I would have minded, he was a sweet boy, and at the time I loved him. And if that isn't what he wanted, I wouldn't have pushed otherwise." Kathryn said almost dreamily. Before her expression returned to indifference, and she took a rather long sip this time, bringing the bottle down to it's last third, maybe less. "I don't think that marriage is valid anymore so I guess that means I am sort of free to do what I want then huh?" Kathryn spoke with a drunken smile across her face. "You're right Kosara! I am an adventurer now! I get to see the world! Slay evil beasts! Punch douches in the face!" Kathryn taking her arm that was holding the wine bottle, used it to hold the blanket closed on her still, and used her free hand to draw her family sword into the air, still in the sheath. "I'm me own woman! Restrained only by public decency and the laws of man!" She shouted holding her protected weapon in the air, poking the ceiling at an awkward angle before setting the small great sword down on the counter again. "I'm gonna open a bakery." She said giddy like a small child. "Not, right now obviously. But like, as soon as I can get meself sorted a bit more, maybe come the spring, I wanna make baked goods for people ya know?" She said to no one in particular, but was definitely looking around the bar for a reassurance from anyone else present that it was a good idea.

Kathryn found the conversation taking an assortment of weird yet interesting turns. In this case, the camel in the room. Kathryn in her case did know what a camel was, though she had never seen one. "Kosara may know better, most of what I know of them is from my uncle's tales of his time in the campaign. He said they were better suited to handle the sands then our beasts of burden back home. He also... said some rather less than nice things about camel riders from the lands he helped conquered. Some very, less than nice things." Kathryn said emphasizing the less than great for dinner topics. Kosara, had a much better explanation about the strange creatures. Even Kathryn who had heard of such beasts found herself surprised to hear about them. "They Eat Cacti?!" Kathryn exclaimed, not believing it much herself. Ser Lucas had mentioned how one man from his company had tried to do such a thing, only to have pins and pricks stuck in his mouth for the rest of the campaign until he could see a proper doctor to remove the last of them. "YOU'VE EATEN CACTI?!" Kathryn said even more surprised at hearing the notion! She had heard stories of men drinking cactus juice, and going totally mad. Losing their sense of sanity, and worsening paranoia as the cactus juice drove them mad. She then paused, looking at Kosara, and wondered if maybe it wasn't trauma, but in fact the regular doses of said juices that had driven her mad?! But then again, most of those men died, and slowly and painfully at that. Kosara was still here. Maybe tieflings were better suited to drink the stuff? Kathryn wasn't too sure what to expect from the woman at this point, but drinking poison juice wasn't amongst those things.

Then, it had arrived. One of Kathryn's beverages of choice. ALE! A rather hefty barrel of the stuff. The tall woman sat up, one arm holding her blanket to her person, the other holding the mostly empty bottle of wine. Though one of the laborers seemed rather apprehensive about the work, young Lizbeth took control of the situation, and kept things under control rather well. "Thank you lads very much! Your efforts are much appreciated!" There was also talk of their weapons, gear, supplies, bug bits, and other pieces and bobs set aside or put away. As a whole, they were here only one night so far and were already pretty settled in. God Kathryn wished she could live like this forever. Drinking, fighting, a seat of power! And overall just feeling comfortable with herself again! Hell! Maybe she'd even teach herself how to swim! Then she remembered, winter. Snow and ice don't mix too well with swimming. MAYBE! She could learn to bake! She could do a moderately okay camp bread, but that was about it. She could make cakes! Cookies! Pies! And other treats! She would make good sue of this winter. And if possible, she would work on getting stronger too. Sure, she was unlikely to face a foe stronger than herself, but she would rather keep if that way.

Finishing the bottle off, Kathryn walked out from behind the bar mug in hand. Leaving her family sword resting on the countertop not too far from the makeshift armory on the counter. It was only then did Kathryn notice the blade on Lizbeth's side. "Preparing yourself for a fight aye?" Kathryn asked as she poured herself a mug of ale. "If ya really wanna learn how to fight we should absolutely work on it then. There be lots of ways to fight, hand to hand, sword, hammer, daggers, defensively, offensively, we got all sorts of fun options!" Kathryn then lifted up her foot so a boot that wasn't there would be easier to reach. Then, it clicked she was infact not wearing a knife on her ankle. So setting her ale on the counter she then picked up one of the daggers and stepped back a pace or two. Doing a few fancy twirls and spins with it before tossing it up, catching it by the handle, and doing a rapid back and forth slash, slash, step twist all within a single motion. And all while holding the blanket close to her person. She then turned back to face Lizbeth and attempted to sheath said dagger, drunk Kathryn forgetting she was in fact not wearing a belt with her blanket, and fumbling for a bit before putting it back on the counter with the other weapons. "When I am a little more sober, let's get some training weapons sorted yeah? Either blunting the blades on a couple of these, or making something you can use to practice with from scratch. That way when we train we don't accidentally gut each other ya know?" Kathryn said jokingly. Though she did see that happen once some years ago. A pair of knights in a melee with a bunch of other men had began to duel each other, only for the bloke with the great sword to find a gap within the armor of the other knight and cleave half way through his person. The violent removal of said weapon had done it in for the victim. Not that Kathryn would ever get that careless with Lizbeth. Nor be that brutal with her. But training with weapons wasn't something she thought was good in unpracticed hands. She didn't want to actually hurt Lizbeth.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Kathryn Pyke Human, Fighter (Rune Knight), Level 05 HP: 39 / 49 Armor Class: 19 Conditions: N/A Location: Vineyard Couch House Action: Drinking Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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So far Kathryn's time at the Couch House was everything she could dream of and more! Shy of some misgivings on her own part on not thinking before she spoke. Otherwise, this place was something special and AMAZING! Plenty to drink, plenty to do, and it felt so... homely. What else could a woman ask for? She was with people she respected, liked, and welcomed. People she was beginning to trust. For the winter at least, she felt at home. And considering Kathryn had no plan for winter a couple weeks ago other then drown her worries and sorrows in cheap tavern beer, she figured it was a pretty good start to her life on her own. Even if she drank some of the wine a little faster than she was supposed too. To help improve the evening, Kosara had even gotten her a gift! So she had received a gift from her friend, and they now had a set of matching friendship rings! Kathryn couldn't get much happier than she was right now.

Kathryn took her little hammer trinket in her free hand, while her other hand held closed the heavy bedding around herself. "Oh my gods Kosara! This is so thoughtful! Thank you so much!" Kathryn said excitedly before placing the necklace around her neck. Tucking it into the bedding she was wrapping up in so she wouldn't accidentally tug it off. Despite finally being comfortable enough to not wear her armor in a social environment, she still found herself wrapped up tightly with her sleeping bag turned makeshift robe. Not that it was a good robe, but it made her feel safer. "I love it so much Kosara! Thank you." Kathryn said with the warmest smile on her face.

With her hand free again, she turned it back to the bottle of wine. Which after another good few swigs found itself nearly empty. Something that V, did not seem to appreciate the taller woman doing. It almost through Kathryn off hearing herself being called Daughter of Arcanaple. It almost felt as if V was a lot more familiar with her past then she was letting on? Though, the bard did offer Kathryn some local Ale. "I may take you up on that V, but I am intrigued where you are going with this." Kathryn said leaning over her seat and watching Victoria closely. Kathryn listened closely as the bard listed off the extraordinary details of the wine. Details Kathryn herself never would have been able to guess, let alone discern from the taste alone. She was rather wide eyed in amazement listening to the smaller woman explain not only the likely ingredients, but the season it was made, even going to far as to determine what barrel it was aged in. "Wow. Uh... Wow." Kathryn said amazed listening to V talk. It sounded so familiar to her. She almost had to take a moment to decipher why. But a moment of thought, and it clicked. "Just then, right now, you sounded so much like my father. The way you were able to pull up those details and explain them? I swear if your voice was a few octaves deeper I would have mistaken you for him." Kathryn smiled thinking just how much more of a noble woman Victoria appeared to be than Kathryn herself was. "Are you sure you're not from nobility? You'd pass pretty well yeah?" She asked curiously.

Kathryn's face went red when Kosara started asking about the baker woman from her home she had a crush on. Even redder when Kosara began talking about how it related to her siblings, and details that led Kathryn to believe that Kosara's home had a little more going on than just a way point in the desert. Funny enough, had Ser Lucas decided to take a different way to flee Arcanaple, and took another one of his more extended stops, Kathryn wondered if she and Kosara would have met sooner than they did. As Kosara's home sounded very much like the sort of place that Ser Lucas would like to call home for a few jobs at a time. The awkward part, came when Kathryn was put on the spot by Kosara about the details of her crush on the baker woman, and the reasons it was forbade. She didn't want to outright refuse an answer, as Kosara had always been rather kind to her. But also she wasn't sure the best way to give the most appropriate answer with Lizbeth in the room, and with how Kosara seemed to be stuck in an even younger mindset, with Kosara in the room too. "Well uh... there were a lot of reasons." Kathryn eventually spoke up.

Looking at the remaining wine in the bottle, she gave V an apologetically look, before downing the rest. Needed the emotional strength to pick her next words carefully. "So yes, it was one of those... Kissing crushes. And being too young for those relationships was definitely one reason. Another reason being my parents were in charge of her. There's no way a relationship like that would be appropriate. But related to that, my family was a relatively young noble household. We could not afford to marry below our station, for fear of our noble name being lost to obscurity. And she was a common woman. On top of that, I was to be betrothed with someone I could one day produce an heir to. If not for my household, then for another that would form close ties to us. I was forbidden to even think of a relationship with another woman until that matter was settled. And she'd still have to be of equal or greater station than myself." Kathryn went to take another sip of the wine, realizing part of the motion in she had already finished the bottle. She would need more booze. Like now. "Not that it matters much now anyways huh? I went from heir to a frontier castle, with strong ties to the homeland, with the chance to have children with comparable ranks to Barons with the connections we made, to not having anything but the clothes on me back. In terms of home culture my homeland views me as less valuable than a sell sword knight." Kathryn chuckled, though there was a spiteful undertone to it. "On the plus side, means I can pretty much marry whoever I want now huh? Titles don't mean much when you don't have the funds or connections to back them up." Though Kathryn tensed for a moment, she quickly relaxed. Some of those emotions were more raw than she thought, likely having to face them for real since Ser Lucas passed. "Oh well, I get to travel the world and meet some of the coolest people yeah?!" Kathryn said excitedly as she looked upon her party and company.

She'd be lying if she said she didn't miss home. Which, made her want to drink more. Looking at the empty bottle she downed like a lite beer, she paused looking at the label. It was... vaguely familiar. She mumbled some elvish as she squinted looking at the label, even though it was printed in common. "I wonder..." Kathryn stood up in a hurry making her way around and behind the bar. "'Scuse me lizbeth. Gotta find something real fast." Kathryn began looking through some of the bottles of wine all about behind the bar. She paused when she pulled out a white wine from behind several other bottles. "No fucking way!" Kathryn exclaimed as she lifted the bottle. And again, she began speaking in elvish, despite the bottle being in common. Rather fluid elvish. "Traditional Mountain Elk Malvasia" Kathryn grinned like a child who had found their long lost toy. Quickly grabbing the bottle with the hand that was originally holding the blanket robe closed, and grabbing the sealed cork with her hand before ripping it off with her bare hand. She then took a few drinking glasses for herself, Victoria, and anyone else who wanted some, placing them in front of V. "I don't know if the label changes language in shipping or if it is originally printed in elvish, but by the time it makes it to Arcanaple, the print is in Elvish. Likely due to the number of high lords who are elvish. But my father would go out of his way to get a couple glasses of this whenever we visited a major city." She then began pouring the wine. Trying for the one third glass like V did, but getting closer to half.

"Father said he loved this wine, and he would sometimes let me have a sip. But that he could never justify the cost to have it shipped home. So we only had some when we visited port towns or major cities. And sometimes he would take some home with us when we were done with business." She didn't have a ton of great memories of her father. Much of her time with his was about the duty she had to fulfill as the eldest daughter. And much about being the tough parent to make sure she was ready to take on the world when her time came. She wished she listened more, and wished she had more time to learn. She wished she could remember more of the happier memories. "Come on, lets give it a try. The high ladies of the party." Kathryn said setting down the bottle and picking up her glass. She imagined she didn't look too classy dressed in a glorified blanket, a bit of helmet hair, and being so unnaturally tall that she always struggled with being lady like.

Kathryn then took a small sip, much like the one Victoria took moments ago, and repeated the intake of breath. She had to admit, it did taste far better like this. She guessed she could see why V was so disappointed in her for how she downed the last bottle. "Yeah it's definitely better like this." Kathryn smiled while sighing in defeat. She did take another sip in an attempt to try what V did, but the more she thought on it, the harder it became to describe. "I can tell you it's a white wine, and that it is mildly sweet. But not as much as other wines I have tasted." Kathryn said before shrugging her shoulders. "Otherwise, I got nothing." She chuckled, maybe beginning to feel tipsy. She'd have to find that beer though. Sometimes a large quantity of alcohol was what a girl needed to get comfortable.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Kathryn Pyke Human, Fighter (Rune Knight), Level 05 HP: 39 / 49 Armor Class: 19 Conditions: N/A Location: Vineyard Couch House Action: N/A Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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Kathryn listened as Blackberry talked on about the former town guard. And, he was right on his points. "I keep trying to go for a peaceful way out there, but I worry that not dealing with those goons then and there is going to bite us, or some other innocent in the ass. I hope they either disappear forever, or someone catches them sooner rather then later." But she couldn't dwell on this too much now. If they turned up, she or the new law in town would deal with them. If they never turned up again? Well, no loss really. Then she remembered, she had folded one of them into a barrel in town... and now wasn't too sure if she had brought it up to the Sheriff... Another mistake of hers really. More things to account for. Blackberry on the other hand, had tasks to attend to now that someone else had returned. SO! Kathryn took over watching the mule. "So, how's it going?" She turned and spoke to the creature. Getting little more than a stare back from them. "Cool... Cool cool cool..." She trailed off looking around for anything else to hold her attention.

Thankfully, the rest of the trip was rather nice and relaxing. Kathryn spent most of it in the party's wagon, taking in the sights and enjoying every moment of it. For a while she began to walk about again, making sure her legs got plenty of exercise. But again would ride once the sun began to set Not dark, but she'd feel like a fool if she twisted her ankle in the dark. Deciding that she had been pretty active today. Tomorrow she would get a proper work out of some kind. Move some stones, split some logs, lift the wagon again, something. She did find herself rather excited seeing the sign stating they were getting close. The lands of the vineyard were something that Kathryn couldn't comprehend at first. To Kathryn, they reminded her of the more wealthy nobles from back home. Hell, if you removed the castle walls, made the lands appear more prosperous, and replaces the keep with a manor, this could have been her own home! Well, her home had a lot more mud. And there wasn't much open space inside the walls. Everything was pretty on top of one another. Looking at the lands in front of her, this seemed like something from the heartland of Arconaple, not the frontiers and fringes like her own home. Something you would see in the country side of major cities and ultra wealthy lords. And it felt so... homely. It was beautiful in ways Kathryn couldn't bring to words. "wow..." Kathryn mumbled as she gazed on the vineyard in amazement. Still trying to process everything.

Even approaching the big house of the land things felt like the keeps of old. The mass of servants and workers coming to quickly unload the wagons, and attend to the family's every need. Even in her Father's keep Kathryn didn't get this sort of attention. At least not immediately. Generally the keeps Castellan would have to muster up enough staff from other jobs to assist while key things were taken care of by his assistant and squire. This however? Was probably what lords of higher keeps experienced. Barons or Dukes maybe? Either way, it was shocking, and kind of exciting to be experiencing this sort of thing yet again. It was like reliving apart of her life that was long gone.

Kathryn listened closely about the talk of the remaining harvests. But had trouble imagining such a thing. Ice Grapes?! That was a thing? Insane to think about. AND! Another festival?! Kathryn would either have to exercise a lot more or really watch what she treated herself too. Veggies, proteins, and beer would allow her to keep working on her strength. Cake? Pies? Wine? Less so. Buuuuut.... for her first few months on her own? She was doing pretty good. Sure, there was the less than pretty few weeks after Ser Lucas passed. Where she almost drank herself into a coma and would have likely been robbed if not for the fact the only pick pocket daring enough to try it took a trip through a wall with her when he tried. Kathryn almost seemed giddy, but tried her best to seem like a mature adult when responding to Lizbeth. Though she struggled. "Oh? is that so? I guess I will have to try for myself and see now won't I?" Kathryn said humoring the small child. Though, she did actually really want to try this legendary wine. Honigblume Icewine. That had a nice zing to it.

Kathryn didn't know a ton on agriculture. She knew bits as it was apart of her responsibility as a lady of her father's lands, and she needed to have a fair understanding of many areas. Not that she did that well in her few years of education. But she knew an insane number of a yield when she heard one. "Ninty Five Percent?!" Kathryn asked in surprise. Clearly shocked at such a revelation. Clearly an exaggeration, but it was clear that the L'Rose family was very well off. Maybe that successful yield rate had something to do with it? She didn't know for sure, but holy shite if it was true, the family lucked out on some of the best lands in the realms. She thought at least. She tried to remember what the statistics of her Father's lands were... but she couldn't recall that. She realized, she was forgetting more and more of her homeland every day. She wondered when the day would come when it would be little more than a distant memory, comparable to lucid dreams.

They were going to have their own inn. A full inn to themselves full stocked and prepped shy of in house staff for them. This was a life Kathryn never figured she would live. She wondered if there were any beds big enough for her?! Most beds were too short, but a double bed or anything bigger she could make due rather comfortably. A proper comfortable bed... without any strangers in the whole inn... Maybe she could relax for a night? Get comfortable? And just... stop worrying for a night... or a whole winter? No traders passing through, no mercenaries, no scummy opportunists. She wondered if the place was big enough for her own room? For a whole winter. Having her own safe space. "This is... So much. Thank you so much Cecily! I don't think words can describe how thankful we are for such accommodations. While we're here, please do let us know if we can assist with anything. It feels weird to not have work or plans for the winter." Not that the L'Rose family had much use for a hired sword in the winter. But she could handle smithing tools rather well, and if needed she was strong enough that there wasn't much in terms of manual labor she wasn't able to excel at. Sure being here was thanks for their help, but this was so much more then that. And... A Bath. A real and true proper bath. Kathryn wasn't sure when the last time she had a decent bath was. She got extraordinarily uneasy near strangers, had a lingering fear of being attacked when she relaxed, and was extremely self conscious about her self. Be it worrying about her own looks, or some pervert barging in while she cleaned up. She had to rely a lot on buckets being dumped over her, and isolated rivers. But a nice and true bath... in what was the equivalent to her own home? She had no idea how she would ever return to the road life after this winter. "I can't wait to see the rest of this place Cecily. It's just... Something special." Kathryn said giddy with excitement. And a good brunch with it?! It was the high life. If loyalty could be bribed with food, booze, and housing, Kathryn could now consider herself a corrupt noble woman.

Kathryn was able to take pretty much all her gear. She did not own much of her own things. But she did thank the laborers for their efforts as they passed by. It was jarring in a way to receive so much attention, but it was also rather exciting! "I think we can definitely accommodate young Lizbeth is she wants to spend some time with us. We still gotta figure out sleeping arrangements, but I'd be surprised if we couldn't figure something out." Kathryn said with a big smile on her face. Lizbeth was like a little sister that Kathryn didn't have. Well... not anymore at least. Apart of Kathryn found herself rather excited to have Lizbeth around. In a way, it would be like a sleep over! Well... as far as she knew. She didn't really get to do sleepovers while she grew up. Her father forbade it with commoner families, and her family didn't venture enough for Kathryn to get to know other girls her age. And when she did travel, she'd get her own room, and then be cleared out the next day.

Kathryn took her gear and bags and set them in the hall upstairs. She didn't want to claim a room until the party had a chance to talk it over. Though she did take a moment to explore some of the rooms. She guessed they would have to decide if the party would bunk up together, or each get their own rooms. And if they did, where would Lizbeth sleep? What caught Kathryn's attention, was the fact that two of the rooms had beds that had to be at least double sized. The bed in the master room being considerably bigger. That was the bed she wanted... the fire place too? God what else could a woman want! But... it felt selfish to just claim the biggest and the best room. Though she did take a moment to change into more comfortable clothes. She felt... almost weightless without wearing her armor. Almost like she would float off any moment now... Not that she wasn't used to not wearing armor. But she wasn't used to being still active in her day. It was rare her armor ever came off outside of bed rest, and when she cleaned up. But things were finally... okay. It felt so good to not worry for once. She was... safe.

Still being a little paranoid, and self conscious about her own person, she wrapped herself in her sleeping bag, completely opened up so it more resembled a blanket then a sleeping bag, and carried down the new gambeson material she wanted to attach to the bag, and the belt that contained her family sword. She never felt safe leaving her sword about. It was a family heirloom that frankly needed a lot of love. Plus, it was supposed to be more of a ceremonial piece than a weapon of war. Used for events, and if things got dire, a weapon to defend one's home. Small for a great sword, big for a long sword, perfect decorative piece. Kathryn arrived into the main tap room to find Lizbeth piecing together their meals for the night. Something, Kathryn would never turn down. "Oh look at you? Lady of the kitchen aye?" Kathryn amused as she made her way over towards the bar to sit. Setting her family sword down on the counter and grabbing a plate. "You know, my first crush was the baker in my parent's kitchen? I thought they were the coolest person ever. My parents forbade such a relationship, but I thought she was cool." Kathryn chuckled at the memory. Then stopped, cold faced. "Not that I am attracted to you. You're not my type. You're uh... young..." She paused again, worried her damage control may have made things worse in other ways. "Not that you aren't a pretty young lady, but like... uh... please forgive me. My main source of a social life was a 160 year old halfing man and the rather nice ladies he met up with from time to time." She paused again, unsure if she made things better or worse. "I'm sorry I'm sober. I'll shut up now." Kathryn spoke up embarrassed as she reached over the counter, grabbed the first bottle of wine she could reach, yanked off the cork with her bare hands, and began downing it as if it were a lite beer.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Kathryn Pyke Human, Fighter (Rune Knight), Level 05 HP: 39 / 49 Armor Class: 19 Conditions: N/A Location: Southmoor Village Action: N/A Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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Kathryn returned to the wagons without much incident. A few children gave her looks of curiosity but that was something she was used too. She simply gave them a wave and a friendly smile as she walked her way back to the wagons. Children were rarely nefarious in that regard. Blunt, maybe. But almost never malicious. Kathryn was tall, powerfully built, and something that stuck out in many cultures, she was a woman in heavy armor. A noble woman at that. Though that last point wouldn't be obvious. And for those who did know, her legitimacy was very questionable at this time. But Kathryn had long ago accepted that she would never return to power, or to the life of nobility. Not for a lack of trying though.

At the age of nine, she had to plea her family's case amongst the noble courts. Though her uncle was present for a short bit there, he wasn't much help. No one in court liked him. He fought with the old clans, up jumped into nobility. He was crude and violent. And he scared those in the court to such a degree that whenever he spoke, guards would level their weapons. After seeing what had happened to young Arthur, how even though he had survived the fighting, his body so ruined that the claims of "Monster" traveled through the court with little resistance. That didn't even address the lineage problem. Her uncle was her mom's brother. Her mom came from a landless clan, that had been up jumped into landless knights of the realm. Attempting to squeeze their way as household knights for generations. And it wasn't until they joined into her Father's family that things began to look up for them. To add to it, he was a child born out of marriage. Making any legitimate claim to a family name, especially Kathryn's family name, that much harder to defend. So it had to be Kathryn, at the age of nine, defending her family name. For all the good it did.

During that period, several attempts on her life had been taken. Twice with an assassin, both of whom her uncle dealt with. Once with poison, also dealt with by her uncle. Though this time not through violence. Once she had almost been pushed out a window, saved by Ser Lucas in the process. And another time she had been challenged to a duel. To everyone's surprise, including her own, she had come out on top. By the end of it all, her family were still declared unnatural monsters, and were deemed guilty of all crimes. Her lands to be forfeited to the Codswealth family. The days after that declaration were a blur, but there was a lot of running. A lot of panicking. That was when open season was declared on herself and her uncle. Though she made it out, he was far from as lucky. The next few years were spent in hiding. Sometimes with other noble families, sometimes common inns. In some cases mercenaries and household guards would come after her and Ser Lucas. Other times they could go year without any sign of them. Now she wasn't even in the same continent anymore. And it had been years.

Apart of her wondered if she should change her name? Out this far few would know what Pyke meant. And chances are those who did, would want to know more on why she was using the name, or what family she was apart of. Surface level answers could buy time, but as a whole she would need to think of something long term. Maybe changing her name or adopting a new formal name would be best? All her legals papers had her old family name on there. So she would need new papers... But that would mean completely giving up her linage. Something she struggled with the idea of. Even accepting it was a life she would never get back, she couldn't help but still cling to it. She had no supporters back home, no family to go back too, and yet, she still clung to a life that did not want her. Plus, it wasn't like she had citizenship in another land. She'd hold a comparable status to a serf of a peasant. Not that is was a bad thing, but it was harder to go back from that then the life of an outcast noble. She decided that she would make a decision over the winter. She wasn't totally sure what her plan was, but she was going to be sheltered up all winter, and have time to think a lot of things over. Maybe someone could help her with that while they waited out the snow? That would be helpful for sure.

Kathryn took a seat in the wagon. Deciding that she should ride the rest of the way instead of walk. Should she come to regret this, she would likely never ride in a wagon again. But she was ready to slow down for a bit. Ready to stop worrying. Ready to not be a total panic and a wreck waiting to happen. She was ready to relax, and get comfortable. She did listen with intrigue as BB listed of his theories on what caused the abnormal activities of their new bug foes. "I have doubts on it being out ever so pleasant town guards. Though we should keep an eye and an ear out for them. Best guess, they got cast out and desperate. Maybe a new pack leader didn't like them, or their next got too cramped. Or, maybe a tiefling came into their nest shaking the earth telling them all in a booming voice that she was going to cook and eat them all?" Kathryn joked with a sweet grin on her face. But she could 100% see Kosara doing that now. Especially since she's already seen her doing it! "Oh most this stuff will keep just fine with a little bit of salt, maybe we could also smoke it or turn it into stew. We have plenty of preservation options when it comes to meat products. The shells should last far longer then that too. But maybe selling would be a good idea. I am not in a huge rush for coin myself, but it could be nice to have some extra cash on hand yeah?" Kathryn asked inquisitively.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Kathryn Pyke Human, Fighter (Rune Knight), Level 05 HP: 39 / 49 Armor Class: 19 Conditions: N/A Location: Southmoor Village Action: N/A Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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Lizbeth handled the weapon like a complete amateur. But, she also handled it like someone who wanted to use it well, and who was ready to learn more. For someone who had never taken a weapon into combat? This was the best case scenario. This made kathryn giddy like she was an older sister learning of all the cute crushes her younger sister had. If crushes were in this case "Hey what's your favorite weapon of war!" Not that Kathryn would actually ask Lizbeth that. Yet. She needed to make sure the young child could practice with an assortment of things so she had an idea what she liked to fight with. What also helped was Blackberry's words of encouragement to the small warrior. She had a long way to go before she would be good. And even if she decided that fighting wasn't for her, Kathryn wanted her to have that option. Even if not to go into the practice, just so she could defend herself should that need ever arrive.

But the small child listened well, and followed Kathryn's steps to the best of her abilities. When Kathryn accepted the return of the weapon she smiled at the young woman with pride in her eyes. "You're doing wonderful. You're already handling it better than I handled my first weapon. Good job Lizbeth." Kathryn spoke in a reassuring gesture before calmly taking the hammer back. Amateur? Yes. But she had some potential if she wanted to put into it. Plus, she looked like she was having a grand ol' time. How could Kathryn take that away from her? The answer? Kathryn was going to get more weapons up to par for the small child to practice with. To say she was excited was an understatement. But she had to prepare herself for the fact that this may not be what Lizbeth wanted to do in life. Even as a side hobby or backup skill. But this little moment? Was something special to her. And that meant the world to Kathryn. The tall woman turned to Blackberry to reply to his comment towards Lizbeth. "She has a real natural knack for it. As long as she stays smart about it yeah?" Kathryn said giving Lizbeth a warm, but stern look. Attempting to give the message, of don't do anything too stupid. But, Kathryn also wanted to have fun.

Kathryn found it interesting learning about Family Kosara had other than her sisters, who seemed in many ways like coworkers more than sisters, and her Grandpa Horny. Granted, Kathryn had heard of brothers in arms and how close those people got. Maybe Kosara had a relationship like that with her sisters? She didn't understand it all too much. But was this like a grandpa grandpa? Like one related to her by blood? She wasn't sure she heard Kosara mention anything of that nature before... The tail on the other hand? Sounded about right for Kosara. She had a lot of skills, but the lack of a tail seemed to be her own mistakes trying something challenging without the prior know how. Thankfully she recovered. Just missing a single appendage.

On their way out, Kathryn made sure to wave at the Mosswater's and wish them well on their trip to town. She was sure things would be jarring for a while without the constable, and now with the Sheriff taking over his roll for the time being. But as far as she could tell, things were begining to improve for the small town despite the recent chaos. Not only from wererats, but now from giant bugs too? What a strange world indeed. Kathryn kept pace with the wagons with a brisk walk. Wanting to be prepared in case there was another ambush. But thankfully that seemed unlikely. Though the talks of soldiers and queens made Kathryn uneasy. There could easily be more, and these ones were being far more aggressive than expected of them. She wondered if they would see more before long. If they did, she hoped it was on favorable terms again. Open ground and the chance to unleash a hell of a punishment early into the fight.

Kathryn listened on as Cecily explained that they were approaching Southmoor, the last town before the vineyard. Sure, Kathryn had ton a fair bit of spending. But there were a few things she was on the fence about for the last few weeks that she had been holding out on. But with the assurance that things would be taken care of materially for the next few months, she figured that she could afford to chance a few on the fence items. Especially clothes. "Hey uh, I am gonna go see if I can find a couple things before we get going. I won't be too long. Just a couple clothing items mostly yeah?" She ran off soon afterwards. Dumping her pack and much of her gear into the wagon with the giant bug bits to free up her person a bit. She still kept much of her weapons on her belt, though she didn't expect to need them.

V definitely made a grand entrance herself. Summoning a rather grand magical... glass looking horse. It was a sight that Kathryn had not expected to see, but a sight that she found herself rather entrenched with. A beast that normally could be seen as a common every day endurance, now summoned and formed with magic well beyond Kathryn's own understanding and ability. Kathryn took note of the crowd gathering, and wondered if they would react in awe as much as she did. As a whole, they didn't seem particularly upset, so she assumed all was good. Kathryn would have to ask V how she did such a trick, and if it was possible for someone like Kathryn to learn such a trick. The tall woman knew a couple tricks and abilities, but as a whole her abilities were limited to physical might, and old runic magic. Once Kathryn mastered her own abilities, she wanted to go back and learn more arcane or... some other types of magic. "It sure is a sight yeah." Kathryn spoke up, replying to V, but staring at the horse for a moment. But she had tasks she wanted to get done today. And if there was to be another bug attack today, she wanted it to be while they still had daylight. So she would get moving for now, but soon, someday soon, Kathryn would ask her bardy friend how such magic is learned.

The first person to buy clothes from was pretty easy. She decided to buy some simple gambeson material to pad up her sleeping bag. She had been struggling with sleep a bit due to her own fears, and she was hoping armoring up her bag a bit would help with that. She wasn't totally sure it would, but worst case, it could also make the thing far more comfortable. Simple, spend money, get product, move on. The next vendor was a little trickier. This time Kathryn was going for more strait forward clothes, but found herself looking at a cute shirt she thought she would look nice in. Not really something Kathryn was always concerned with, but she found herself wanting from time to time to be a prettier version of herself. But she decided against it for now. She had a dress packed away into her kit. And assuming she still fit it she had no intentions of replacing it. Plus, there's no way this dress would fit. Kathryn then grabbed a set of traveler's clothes folded off to the side that surprisingly looked like they may fit her. She wondered if there was someone else in town who regularly bought clothes in her size, or she was just somehow barely in a one size fits most range. "What's a young lady like you need clothes like that for?" Kathryn brought the clothes to the elderly woman who likely made them, and then quickly grabbed a simple, yet more common and comfortable looking set of clothes also about her size. "Just want to be prepared for the coming winter yeah? Fire wood work and something comfortable to wear in the night." Kathryn said with a smile. The woman, didn't return it in kind. But easily enough took Kathryn's money, and let Kathryn leave without another word.

Kathryn found the whole shopping experience odd, but not hostile. Kathryn figured she probably confused the woman at some point and she was trying to keep a calm and controlled expression around her. Or, she was old, had seen it all, and wasn't phased by anything or anyone. Or maybe something else that Kathryn couldn't even begin to guess. The world may never know. Kathryn did however catch up to the wagons rather quickly, dropping off her new wares with her pack with her own giddy expression on her face. The vineyard was going to be the closest Kathryn has had to a vacation in her life. And shy of some easy guard work her and Ser Lucas picked up, her most relaxing time since she left home. She wanted nothing to go wrong with it.