Post by Lira Fry on Oct 11, 2006 10:34:42 GMT -5
The caravan picked its way north of the Griffon’s Nest, finally coming out of the rougher terrain just south of the Lurkwood. Soon they would be on the trade road south, towards Longsaddle. Lira fanned her face in the summer’s heat, sitting with her legs protruding out of the back of the wagon as it rolled along.
A horse trotted up, and Lira smiled at Kat as she drew rein to walk, pacing the horse to the wagon. “Hello, oh guardian! Here’s reward for your vigilance!” Lira poured a cup full of water and used a minor charm to cool it, then held it out to Kat. The tall redhead, dusty but plainly enjoying the duty she was performing, took the cup and smiled at Lira.
“Heh. And here I thought that you showing off your legs was the reward for us sweltering guards.” Kat smirked then drained the cup, as Lira blushed and tucked her skirts more tightly under her. “Things are quieter now – but that was an enjoyable little exercise against those brigands.” Kat grinned, then handed the cup back to Lira. “We’ll be in Longsaddle by nightfall – a real bed, if we’re lucky!”
Lira nodded, her eyes turning misty grey as her gaze grew distant and unfocused. “Aye…a real bed. Wonder what that promises for…sleep. And dreams. And memories…” She knew that Kat had been having issues with her memories too, since they had appeared in Rivermoot with years missing from their lives, in more ways than one. And dreams…Lira had been remembering her distant past, and Kat…Kat was receiving some sort of guidance. Hence their journey - to Cormyr. Although why was still an open issue. Still, anyplace that might have decent cities…and shopping…and as long as Kat seemed to know where they should be going, if not necessarily the reason…that was good enough for Lira, at present.
She remembered the conversation later that night, as she lay in bed. The Inn had been full, but Kat had found them a room in the brothel across the alleyway – there was one maid who was going to have a paid night off at least. Given their venue, it was no surprise that her dreams drifted back, back in years…to a night when a priestess of Tymora had first met a caravan guard sworn to Tempus…
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Her steps dragging, Lira followed her brothers down the dark alleyway. Q’arq, her large “little brother” rumbled something, waved his hand, and peeled off towards the Moonstone Mask. Lira returned the wave fondly, and looked down at her other brother, Bram. He shrugged and stated “I need ta see Truluck down ta the temple Lira…ye’ll be a’right getting’ home?”
Lira rolled her eyes as her mood darkened some more. “Yes, Bram, I’ve only lived in Neverwinter for twenty and five summers…I think I can manage a few more blocks to the Blade.” Gods…she was older than him, and she was quite good at healing…he could give her a little credit for being able to handle the basics in life, couldn’t he?
Her brother peered up at her frowning, and snorted. “Well, ‘scuse me for caring. I figured ye’d wander off dress shopping, or bird-feeding, or something clever like tha’. But do what ye want, ye always do anyway…”
He slipped off another direction, blending into the shadows almost instantly. But Lira caught a wave…or was that another kind of gesture? She grimaced, and turned smartly on her heel and stumped off towards the Naked Blade, the “house” they called a home. She caught her toe on a cobblestone, though, and pitched forward. She was saved a nasty fall on the street by a pair of hands that reached out of a shadow and caught her arm at the last second, catching her weight with seeming ease, and steadying her until she caught her balance.
Eyes wide, Lira peered up at the person with such strength and timing…she saw a tall, slender human maid, clad in a chain shirt, fiery red hair caught in a pony tail, distant lantern light catching a gleam of a smile. Lira smiled tentatively, brushing her short locks back behind her slightly pointed ears, and breathed a hasty word of thanks, followed by a brief, less-than-graceful curtsey. The lady chuckled, plainly amused by the situation, and lit a torch.
“Here…let me light your way miss. Or is that not necessary for one who has lived over a score of summers in Neverwinter?” In the light of the torch her eyes glittered a warm hazel, which somewhat offset the teasing tone of her voice. Lira felt herself go pink in the face anyway – oh, how she despised her own tangle-footed ways! Still, she owed this woman something…
“Err…I guess I can use all the help I can get, miss. My brothers make me prideful, but I can admit my own failings to a stranger.” She grinned at the redhead. “I’m Sylira Fry…but seeing as how you’ve saved me from skinned hands or a bloody nose, please call me Lira, eh?” Her rescuer smiled back, and gave a half-bow in return. “Well met Lira – I’m Kathelia Rift. But you – you should call me Kat.”
Lira laughed. “All right Kat – seeing as how you’ve given me one of your nine lives, least I can do is offer you a drink, all right?” The lady in the chain shirt (Lira noticed in the torch light that her armor seemed to stop around mid-thigh, and based on how she looked below, she wondered at the wisdom of taking her to the Blade) considered, then nodded. “Anyplace I can get some decent red wine…I would appreciate it, Lira.”
It was truly only a few steps to the Naked Blade, which prided itself on being the best brothel on the Neverwinter docks…such a distinction, thought Lira. Kat insisted in walking a pace ahead of Lira with the torch held high…it was amusing, but she noticed that this tall maid kept her other hand on the hilts of a longsword and that her head swiveled about constantly. Lira directed her to the entrance to the Blade, and as they approached Kat turned and asked “A bordello? I poked my head in here the other day…you don’t happen to, ah…” she paused, groping for words, and Lira was sure her face showed pink yet again. “No…no, not me. My brothers and I just live here” she stammered.
Kat raised a brow, but just dowsed her torch and opened the door, striding through briskly. Lira hurried in her wake…and winced as she saw that the usual collection of drunken and leering males was supplemented this eve by an exceptionally obnoxious party of dwarves, one of whom was busily emptying the contents of his stomach on the floor as they entered. She saw Kat veer around the puking dwarf, but she didn’t look fast enough to avoid the hands of another, reaching for her posterior…
Lira blinked as she saw one of Kat’s hands strike, almost like a snake, and grasp the hairy gnarled wrist of the would-be groper. The redhead looked down and nodded pleasantly, but Lira caught the sudden twist and pressure that caused the dwarf to gasp, and he spun away from the girls when Kat let his arm go quickly. Kat’s smile turned sharp, and she strode through the rest of the dwarves contemptuously, almost daring another attempt. Lira followed swiftly, and they reached the relative calm of the bar. Lira nodded to Olaf, the barkeep and her long-time almost father. Kat leaned against a chair and gazed around, taking in Brandy dancing on the stage as the dwarves threw crowns up at her; the three or hour hopeless drunks leaning against the bar and muttering to each other or themselves; and Candy, trolling through the crowd in her almost-nothing black dress, doing nothing to discourage the hands that were directed towards her personal areas.
“So Lira…where’s this red wine?” Kat’s voice was expressionless, but her face looked at Lira with some sympathy. Lira waved Olaf away, reaching behind the bar for a bottle and an opener. “Any decent glasses? Something with a long stem and a deep bowl?” Lira grinned at the slouching redhead – ah, she was one of those kind of wine drinkers, eh? She nodded, handed the bottle to Kat, and found a pair of crystal stems lower down and farther back. The noise level seemed to be rising minute by minute…Kat had had to shout to make her request for glasses heard. Lira pondered, then gestured to Kat and wended her way towards a room in the very back of the place, down a long hallway.
Kat followed, and raised an eyebrow when the door opened to…one of the places of business of the house. “Hrm…I’m not about to be charged for something, am I?” she asked with a chuckle, even as she smoothly uncorked the bottle of red. Lira closed the door, shutting out the last of the sounds of debauchery, and laughed, still a little red. “Err…believe it or not…this is my…my mother’s room. She’s away tonight” Lira hurried on as Kat’s other eyebrow climbed to join the first “this is the best place to just sit and chat…without danger of a dwarf being sick on you, that is.” Kat smiled a bit and poured Lira a half-glass of the wine, then duplicated it for herself. She left the subject of Lira’s mother and her obvious occupation alone, lifted the glass towards Lira, and intoned “To chance-met maidens with access to wine!” then sniffed the wine, nodded and sipped.
Lira laughed, took a healthy shot of her own glass, and collapsed on a rug beside the bed. This Kat was – intimidating, but at least she hadn’t turned and left when assaulted by the patrons of Lira’s “home”. The tall woman asked some of the obvious biographical questions, and Lira explained how she, the half-elf, had one brother with orcish blood and another with that of the hins. How she had become a priestess of Tymora after an ill-advised trip to find her father…how she had become devoted to books…and what it was like growing up in a whorehouse.
In return Kat talked of growing up in the slums of Baldur’s Gate, her father’s gradual fall from distinguished warrior to drunken smith, and how Kat had left town to become a caravan guard with a clan of brothers named Brinsbane. Lira noted how Kat breezed by the subject of her mother…there was a shadow of pain there, and Lira thought it best not to pry. Kat laughed expansively, though, of working with the brothers even though she started at the tender age of fourteen.
“Gods…they were such a bunch! Tharen taught me the sword…hells, he taught me quite a lot!” Kat winked roguishly, and held out her glass for a refill. She chuckled as Lira tipped some more liquid in. “They called themselves guards…but really, anything not nailed down was subject to ‘liberation’. We became quite good at that, actually…better us than some fat merchant, we thought!” Kat’s eyes gleamed fiercely, and her grin grew slightly predatory. Lira felt a tingle of unease…she was actually carrying a fair amount of coin, and this woman seemed both very confident and rather loose with the definition of ownership. And that sword looked really long…Lira began to wonder if she could make an excuse to go somewhere, and slip away from potential trouble…
No! she thought to herself…I can’t run anymore. I can’t hide behind my brothers, or worry about something bad happening. Tymora rewards risks…why can’t I be bold for a change? She looked down at her half-unfastened armor, glanced up at Kat, who was puzzled by her silence and looking at her curiously, then set her glass down and rose to her feet. “Excuse me a moment Kat? I want to show you something…” The other woman nodded and returned to sniffing her wine, and Lira picked up a something she had bought that afternoon, and slipped into an alcove behind the tapestry that covered the wall by the bed.
A few moments later she returned, swishing the yellow gown around her ankles, and tightening the laces of her bodice. “I just got this today…what do you think, Kat?” Lira turned around slowly – if this woman was going to rob her, then let her. When she completed the circle, Kat was smiling, tilting her head to one side.
“That’s really nice Lira. But – you know what? I was shopping myself a little earlier…would you believe this?” Kat took out a package similar to the one Lira had just opening, and withdrew another dress, in a similar but slightly more ornate style, and colored in a deep crimson. And Kat was…blushing? “Erm, I’ve never had a dress like this before.” The tall redhead ducked slightly and looked at her feet. “Would you help me get it on, and tell me what you think?”
From there the conversation got immensely easier for Lira, and she began to truly enjoy Kat’s company – they were a pair of maidens, sharing thoughts, feelings, and secrets, bolstered by wine, dresses, and a common longing to have a friend. Lira even confessed the most disturbing part of her life…that song.
“What song, Lira?” Kat took another sip, noticed Lira’s empty glass, and emptied the last of the wine. Lira’s face fell, and she detailed her sad tale…multiple shocks of having fallen to undead in the city crypts, and the death of a man who had admired her…having far too many drinks in the tavern…a sympathetic man who she poured her story out to…
“And – he was a bard! A bloody bard, Kat! Now he sings a song…’Love Lost’. And it’s all about me, and how these things happened…and now people will know how foolish I am!”
Kat smiled sympathetically. “What’s the song like, Lira?”
She shrugged, still upset – and ashamed that she was upset. “Oh, I don’t really know Kat. I heard part of it, understood it was about me, then ran out. I just couldn’t…” she shook her head.
The redhead nodded, finished her wine, and then stood with a grin. “Well, I shall go find this bard…Korelendor, you said his name was? And he will play this song for me. And Lira – if it is in any way offensive, not in good taste, puts you down…or even if he looks at me wrong…well, then we’ll see how well he plays with his fingers all pointing in different directions, eh?” Kat chuckled and cracked her knuckles, her eyes getting that fierce gleam again. Lira laughed a little and smiled warmly…this was rather nice. Having a friend stick up for you…that was a bright pleasure indeed!
She waved to Kat as she exited, and sat swirling the dregs of her own glass. Ah, how fortunes change, she thought. Going from mad and forlorn to glad and looking forward to life – surely the Lady of Luck smiled on me this day!
A horse trotted up, and Lira smiled at Kat as she drew rein to walk, pacing the horse to the wagon. “Hello, oh guardian! Here’s reward for your vigilance!” Lira poured a cup full of water and used a minor charm to cool it, then held it out to Kat. The tall redhead, dusty but plainly enjoying the duty she was performing, took the cup and smiled at Lira.
“Heh. And here I thought that you showing off your legs was the reward for us sweltering guards.” Kat smirked then drained the cup, as Lira blushed and tucked her skirts more tightly under her. “Things are quieter now – but that was an enjoyable little exercise against those brigands.” Kat grinned, then handed the cup back to Lira. “We’ll be in Longsaddle by nightfall – a real bed, if we’re lucky!”
Lira nodded, her eyes turning misty grey as her gaze grew distant and unfocused. “Aye…a real bed. Wonder what that promises for…sleep. And dreams. And memories…” She knew that Kat had been having issues with her memories too, since they had appeared in Rivermoot with years missing from their lives, in more ways than one. And dreams…Lira had been remembering her distant past, and Kat…Kat was receiving some sort of guidance. Hence their journey - to Cormyr. Although why was still an open issue. Still, anyplace that might have decent cities…and shopping…and as long as Kat seemed to know where they should be going, if not necessarily the reason…that was good enough for Lira, at present.
She remembered the conversation later that night, as she lay in bed. The Inn had been full, but Kat had found them a room in the brothel across the alleyway – there was one maid who was going to have a paid night off at least. Given their venue, it was no surprise that her dreams drifted back, back in years…to a night when a priestess of Tymora had first met a caravan guard sworn to Tempus…
**************************************************************
Her steps dragging, Lira followed her brothers down the dark alleyway. Q’arq, her large “little brother” rumbled something, waved his hand, and peeled off towards the Moonstone Mask. Lira returned the wave fondly, and looked down at her other brother, Bram. He shrugged and stated “I need ta see Truluck down ta the temple Lira…ye’ll be a’right getting’ home?”
Lira rolled her eyes as her mood darkened some more. “Yes, Bram, I’ve only lived in Neverwinter for twenty and five summers…I think I can manage a few more blocks to the Blade.” Gods…she was older than him, and she was quite good at healing…he could give her a little credit for being able to handle the basics in life, couldn’t he?
Her brother peered up at her frowning, and snorted. “Well, ‘scuse me for caring. I figured ye’d wander off dress shopping, or bird-feeding, or something clever like tha’. But do what ye want, ye always do anyway…”
He slipped off another direction, blending into the shadows almost instantly. But Lira caught a wave…or was that another kind of gesture? She grimaced, and turned smartly on her heel and stumped off towards the Naked Blade, the “house” they called a home. She caught her toe on a cobblestone, though, and pitched forward. She was saved a nasty fall on the street by a pair of hands that reached out of a shadow and caught her arm at the last second, catching her weight with seeming ease, and steadying her until she caught her balance.
Eyes wide, Lira peered up at the person with such strength and timing…she saw a tall, slender human maid, clad in a chain shirt, fiery red hair caught in a pony tail, distant lantern light catching a gleam of a smile. Lira smiled tentatively, brushing her short locks back behind her slightly pointed ears, and breathed a hasty word of thanks, followed by a brief, less-than-graceful curtsey. The lady chuckled, plainly amused by the situation, and lit a torch.
“Here…let me light your way miss. Or is that not necessary for one who has lived over a score of summers in Neverwinter?” In the light of the torch her eyes glittered a warm hazel, which somewhat offset the teasing tone of her voice. Lira felt herself go pink in the face anyway – oh, how she despised her own tangle-footed ways! Still, she owed this woman something…
“Err…I guess I can use all the help I can get, miss. My brothers make me prideful, but I can admit my own failings to a stranger.” She grinned at the redhead. “I’m Sylira Fry…but seeing as how you’ve saved me from skinned hands or a bloody nose, please call me Lira, eh?” Her rescuer smiled back, and gave a half-bow in return. “Well met Lira – I’m Kathelia Rift. But you – you should call me Kat.”
Lira laughed. “All right Kat – seeing as how you’ve given me one of your nine lives, least I can do is offer you a drink, all right?” The lady in the chain shirt (Lira noticed in the torch light that her armor seemed to stop around mid-thigh, and based on how she looked below, she wondered at the wisdom of taking her to the Blade) considered, then nodded. “Anyplace I can get some decent red wine…I would appreciate it, Lira.”
It was truly only a few steps to the Naked Blade, which prided itself on being the best brothel on the Neverwinter docks…such a distinction, thought Lira. Kat insisted in walking a pace ahead of Lira with the torch held high…it was amusing, but she noticed that this tall maid kept her other hand on the hilts of a longsword and that her head swiveled about constantly. Lira directed her to the entrance to the Blade, and as they approached Kat turned and asked “A bordello? I poked my head in here the other day…you don’t happen to, ah…” she paused, groping for words, and Lira was sure her face showed pink yet again. “No…no, not me. My brothers and I just live here” she stammered.
Kat raised a brow, but just dowsed her torch and opened the door, striding through briskly. Lira hurried in her wake…and winced as she saw that the usual collection of drunken and leering males was supplemented this eve by an exceptionally obnoxious party of dwarves, one of whom was busily emptying the contents of his stomach on the floor as they entered. She saw Kat veer around the puking dwarf, but she didn’t look fast enough to avoid the hands of another, reaching for her posterior…
Lira blinked as she saw one of Kat’s hands strike, almost like a snake, and grasp the hairy gnarled wrist of the would-be groper. The redhead looked down and nodded pleasantly, but Lira caught the sudden twist and pressure that caused the dwarf to gasp, and he spun away from the girls when Kat let his arm go quickly. Kat’s smile turned sharp, and she strode through the rest of the dwarves contemptuously, almost daring another attempt. Lira followed swiftly, and they reached the relative calm of the bar. Lira nodded to Olaf, the barkeep and her long-time almost father. Kat leaned against a chair and gazed around, taking in Brandy dancing on the stage as the dwarves threw crowns up at her; the three or hour hopeless drunks leaning against the bar and muttering to each other or themselves; and Candy, trolling through the crowd in her almost-nothing black dress, doing nothing to discourage the hands that were directed towards her personal areas.
“So Lira…where’s this red wine?” Kat’s voice was expressionless, but her face looked at Lira with some sympathy. Lira waved Olaf away, reaching behind the bar for a bottle and an opener. “Any decent glasses? Something with a long stem and a deep bowl?” Lira grinned at the slouching redhead – ah, she was one of those kind of wine drinkers, eh? She nodded, handed the bottle to Kat, and found a pair of crystal stems lower down and farther back. The noise level seemed to be rising minute by minute…Kat had had to shout to make her request for glasses heard. Lira pondered, then gestured to Kat and wended her way towards a room in the very back of the place, down a long hallway.
Kat followed, and raised an eyebrow when the door opened to…one of the places of business of the house. “Hrm…I’m not about to be charged for something, am I?” she asked with a chuckle, even as she smoothly uncorked the bottle of red. Lira closed the door, shutting out the last of the sounds of debauchery, and laughed, still a little red. “Err…believe it or not…this is my…my mother’s room. She’s away tonight” Lira hurried on as Kat’s other eyebrow climbed to join the first “this is the best place to just sit and chat…without danger of a dwarf being sick on you, that is.” Kat smiled a bit and poured Lira a half-glass of the wine, then duplicated it for herself. She left the subject of Lira’s mother and her obvious occupation alone, lifted the glass towards Lira, and intoned “To chance-met maidens with access to wine!” then sniffed the wine, nodded and sipped.
Lira laughed, took a healthy shot of her own glass, and collapsed on a rug beside the bed. This Kat was – intimidating, but at least she hadn’t turned and left when assaulted by the patrons of Lira’s “home”. The tall woman asked some of the obvious biographical questions, and Lira explained how she, the half-elf, had one brother with orcish blood and another with that of the hins. How she had become a priestess of Tymora after an ill-advised trip to find her father…how she had become devoted to books…and what it was like growing up in a whorehouse.
In return Kat talked of growing up in the slums of Baldur’s Gate, her father’s gradual fall from distinguished warrior to drunken smith, and how Kat had left town to become a caravan guard with a clan of brothers named Brinsbane. Lira noted how Kat breezed by the subject of her mother…there was a shadow of pain there, and Lira thought it best not to pry. Kat laughed expansively, though, of working with the brothers even though she started at the tender age of fourteen.
“Gods…they were such a bunch! Tharen taught me the sword…hells, he taught me quite a lot!” Kat winked roguishly, and held out her glass for a refill. She chuckled as Lira tipped some more liquid in. “They called themselves guards…but really, anything not nailed down was subject to ‘liberation’. We became quite good at that, actually…better us than some fat merchant, we thought!” Kat’s eyes gleamed fiercely, and her grin grew slightly predatory. Lira felt a tingle of unease…she was actually carrying a fair amount of coin, and this woman seemed both very confident and rather loose with the definition of ownership. And that sword looked really long…Lira began to wonder if she could make an excuse to go somewhere, and slip away from potential trouble…
No! she thought to herself…I can’t run anymore. I can’t hide behind my brothers, or worry about something bad happening. Tymora rewards risks…why can’t I be bold for a change? She looked down at her half-unfastened armor, glanced up at Kat, who was puzzled by her silence and looking at her curiously, then set her glass down and rose to her feet. “Excuse me a moment Kat? I want to show you something…” The other woman nodded and returned to sniffing her wine, and Lira picked up a something she had bought that afternoon, and slipped into an alcove behind the tapestry that covered the wall by the bed.
A few moments later she returned, swishing the yellow gown around her ankles, and tightening the laces of her bodice. “I just got this today…what do you think, Kat?” Lira turned around slowly – if this woman was going to rob her, then let her. When she completed the circle, Kat was smiling, tilting her head to one side.
“That’s really nice Lira. But – you know what? I was shopping myself a little earlier…would you believe this?” Kat took out a package similar to the one Lira had just opening, and withdrew another dress, in a similar but slightly more ornate style, and colored in a deep crimson. And Kat was…blushing? “Erm, I’ve never had a dress like this before.” The tall redhead ducked slightly and looked at her feet. “Would you help me get it on, and tell me what you think?”
From there the conversation got immensely easier for Lira, and she began to truly enjoy Kat’s company – they were a pair of maidens, sharing thoughts, feelings, and secrets, bolstered by wine, dresses, and a common longing to have a friend. Lira even confessed the most disturbing part of her life…that song.
“What song, Lira?” Kat took another sip, noticed Lira’s empty glass, and emptied the last of the wine. Lira’s face fell, and she detailed her sad tale…multiple shocks of having fallen to undead in the city crypts, and the death of a man who had admired her…having far too many drinks in the tavern…a sympathetic man who she poured her story out to…
“And – he was a bard! A bloody bard, Kat! Now he sings a song…’Love Lost’. And it’s all about me, and how these things happened…and now people will know how foolish I am!”
Kat smiled sympathetically. “What’s the song like, Lira?”
She shrugged, still upset – and ashamed that she was upset. “Oh, I don’t really know Kat. I heard part of it, understood it was about me, then ran out. I just couldn’t…” she shook her head.
The redhead nodded, finished her wine, and then stood with a grin. “Well, I shall go find this bard…Korelendor, you said his name was? And he will play this song for me. And Lira – if it is in any way offensive, not in good taste, puts you down…or even if he looks at me wrong…well, then we’ll see how well he plays with his fingers all pointing in different directions, eh?” Kat chuckled and cracked her knuckles, her eyes getting that fierce gleam again. Lira laughed a little and smiled warmly…this was rather nice. Having a friend stick up for you…that was a bright pleasure indeed!
She waved to Kat as she exited, and sat swirling the dregs of her own glass. Ah, how fortunes change, she thought. Going from mad and forlorn to glad and looking forward to life – surely the Lady of Luck smiled on me this day!