#springvaletales

[songandshield]

[ cont from here with @springvaletales ]

"Either way, you're not getting him without a fight."

Orym gave a half shrug, not letting his defenses down for a moment. He was quick, but he wasn't about to make the first move if Michael had a mind to do it himself. He was here to protect his friend.

"What are you?"

[natures-lost-warden]

Places like this weren't his scene at all, too many people, too few exits, and not enough alcohol to make the situation easier.

The tavern was fairly busy, though Tobi was managing to scare off any unwanted guests at his table. He hated having to meet people in places like this, but understood why folks were hesitant to go meet in a forest.

He sat, he waited, and he wondered why his old friend had asked him to go meet one of hers. Details were fuzzy, but he agreed anyways.

"One more drink, then I'll leave." The half-orc sighed to himself "I'll kick her ass if this friend doesn't show."

@springvaletales

[bookofvesper]

@springvaletales sent from Haaruma

“Should I leave a light on for you?”

"No... I don't think that's a good idea. I might... get up and knock the candle over in the middle of the night..." Vesper chewed at her lip, confessing to one half of the couple that had taken her in for the night.

"I sleepwalk. That is why I asked you to lock the door from the outside. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Did I wake your wife, too?" Vesper was still young, not yet 30, but looked more of a child than ever when she was in her bedclothes and recently woken and worried over a nightmare she could hardly remember.

[stcrmborne]

Continued from here for @springvaletales

“You can sleep when you’re dead, eh?” she quipped, only to blanch the moment the words left her. Lips pulled into a grimace and she held up both hands placatingly between them. “Wait, no, do not tell her I said that.” Venting the tension with a sharp exhale, she jerked her head slightly, turned, and began to walk. With no destination in mind, she ensured that her steps were slow and ambling enough that if her companion wished to go a certain way she could easily adjust her pathing to match him. After several moments of calm silence had passed and she found herself wanting to break the dead air around them, she voiced the first question that surfaced. “So is it a more recent issue, or something you’ve been dealing with a while?” Her words were tentative, her body language even moreso. She was almost compelled to hold her breath once the inquiry left her but she refrained. Great care was taken to keep her expression placid, though in the darkness her eyes glinted as they shifted to watch him from her peripheral, watchful for too negative a reaction. Belatedly she realized it was such a vague topic switch that perhaps he wouldn’t pick up on what she was referring to, but she imagined he might. There had been an edge of carefulness when he’d mentioned being unable to sleep and, while she was exceptionally curious as to why, she was also aware that prying too far could prove to be a detriment to their growing friendship. If he showed an unwillingness to share, she would back off gladly and without question – something she hoped was communicated in how ambiguously open-ended she had left the question.

[stcrmborne-a]

@springvaletales continued from here.       “Mm...” Rhaya nodded, the sudden rush of empathy betrayed by the look on her face. She didn’t know the details but she was familiar enough with the tone used to catch at least the general message the Yuan-Ti was trying to convey, and it wasn’t great.      “Shame...” she mumbled, less that the other had never fully branched off into the more questionable career choice and more that there was someone else out there she wished to avoid so greatly that she would never risk feeling the freedom and the rush of sailing.      “Mind me asking what they look like...?” she questioned, idly messing with the lock of braided hair draped over her own shoulder. The inquiry was voiced innocently enough, and there was a genuine part of her that hoped she wasn’t overstepping any lines or pushing too far on an uncomfortable subject that would cause the other anxiety -- but her true intentions for asking held much more malice than what was outwardly portrayed, aside from a fleeting sharpness in her gaze as she averted her stare downwards.

[bookofvesper]

@springvaletales​

“ What made you choose your mask?” 

“Oh, I don’t know...” Vesper spoke lightly, giving a shrug as she looked over the mask in her hands. She would have never attended such a party before. Too many people she was expected to talk to, maybe. Not that she remembered parties. But large gatherings gave her anxiety anyway.

But a Masked ball was different. She could pretend to know who she was. Or be no one really. A mysterious charming stranger. Well, to everyone but Michael, of course.

“I am glad we get to attend instead of serve guests.” Vesper spoke more optimistically for Michael’s benefit. She thought he must thrive in such social situations. He was so friendly.

Her mask was gold (though surely not real gold for the modest price) with a sun motif, the rays guided upwards. She thought of the nice green and blue dress she had.

“I suppose I thought my face could be the sun and my dress the Earth.” She gave a shrug. Clearly there was more to it than that. She just happened to have that nice dress. It was the mask that drew her to it first. “That ring I have, the one I showed you... It has a rather sun looking design, don’t you think?”

She’d never thought of it before. But one plus one eventually would equal two... Once you knew you even needed them to be added. The ring she’d had been wearing when wandering into town, little else with her at all. Several towns later she’d met Michael and became friends. Gotten a job. It was too grand a ring to wear in the service industry. She wore it around a chain around her neck, tucked away.

[bookofvesper]

@springvaletales​ LIKED for a bad ass Vesper starter...

“Michael... Something’s out there...” Vesper reached in her back, taking out her spyglass, she picked it up on a whim in a shop that had fascinated her, reminded her of ...something. It was dead useful on the road. She never thought of herself as an adventurer, and perhaps she still wasn’t, but being far enough between towns and sleeping off the road was fairly adventurous. She looked out towards the treeline, but all she could see was the tall grass moving. Without her spyglass it would have been seen as just the breeze... but she could see the lines being made in the grass.

“At least seven. I can’t see what...”

[thelxstdrow]

The Forest

|| @springvaletales ||

ᒥ⚔ᒧ—        He scoured the forest, looking around carefully for something. Nissi, his companion dog, trotted along beside him as he walked along the forest path. Finally, peridot green eyes landed on violet flowers growing in a thick bush. "Awright, fuck yah..." He grins, leaning down to begin collecting the flowers.

However, as he was preoccupied, Nissi turned to look into the woods behind the elf. Her ears twitched and her nose sniffed the air. She growls lowly, ears pinning back as she takes a protective stance placing herself between the perceived danger and her master. Nissi barked, finally Azkaas snapped to attention.

The brunet spins around, looking at the thicket of shrubs and bushes to see what he dog had spotted. The flowers are dropped and Azkaas draws his two shortswords, now taking his own defensive stance. "Nissi, lor tel'quiet!" He snarls out the order in Elvish and the dog moves to stand by his side.