Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lady Clare Windariete 12-12-03, 10:17 PM	Clare shivers as the wind nipped at her bare skin on her arms, she knew she should have asked Aravilar for a cloak. Sighing she continued on, as she went along she felt the eyes of the night animals watching her. She smiled to each one and says something to them that no other, unless having the ability or skill, would know. The animals would then return to their normal nightly routines and her feet continued to guide her through the mass of trees. There was no path in the area so she had to make do with using her own. As she walked along every once in a while she would look around her and frown, but seeing the animals that would change. After walking for 4 hours she decided to rest under a tree. Before resting she summoned an earth elemental to stand guard while she sleeped. She told it to not attack anyone who looked like Thog, Aravilar, or Agudo (she figured she would add Aravilar and Agudo just in case).
Lady Clare Windariete 12-14-03, 02:52 AM	As morning approaches she wakes, sending the elemental away with a smile. She stands, stretching out any kinks from sleeping oddly against a tree. She finds some berries to eat then goes on her way again. She repeats this for another day of traveling. On the third day she enters the area that her and Agudo camped last, and the last place Clare had seen Thog. She looks around calling out, "Thog! Thog! I need to speak with you!"
Lady Clare Windariete 12-15-03, 12:40 AM	She sighs, looking around for a stump to sit on. Finding one she knows she needs to get back to the school. Thinking to herself, "I hope he isn't mad at me...Thog were can you have gone off to?" Sighing she sees a dove, she smiles and calls it over to her. Whispering to it, the dove flies off. She looks around her and calls out to Thog again, "Thog... Thog!"
Thog 12-15-03, 10:13 AM	The wind blows an awful stench to Claire, as of rotting meat. Following the smells, she comes to a scene of destruction, the corpses for 17 hobgoblins, 8 men, and 6 horses are scattered around a clearing that would be beautiful except for the carnage and the flurry of scavengers feasting. Safely back in the trees, Claire looks the scene over, but sees no sign of the mightly orc among the dead.
Lady Clare Windariete 12-15-03, 02:41 PM	After she gets done looking at the bodies she quickly moves away from the site, the smell was to much for her. She tries to move upwind of the stench. Again she calls out, "Thog!" while her other arm tries to protect her nose from the smell.
Thog 12-15-03, 02:49 PM	A gruff gutteral croak sounds from a patch of trees near the grisly scene.
Lady Clare Windariete 12-15-03, 02:53 PM	n/m
Lady Clare Windariete 12-16-03, 03:13 AM	She hears the noise and slowly walks over to the source of it, "H..hello? Thog is that you?" Her body slightly begins shaking for fear of she might see or find.
Thog 12-16-03, 12:25 PM	The sounds lead you to where the big orc is laying proped against a tree, heavily wounded and bleeding. his axe near to one hand, and scattered pieces of scavengers laying in a roungh semi-circle around him. "Hi Claire" he groaned through a bloody face. "I see you learned to talk."
Lady Clare Windariete 12-16-03, 08:04 PM	She kneels beside him with a worried look. She slightly smiles as he mentions her speaking, "Yes, a nice man up at the school cured my curse. Oh, Thog!" She lightly hugs him, her weight feeling like air pressing against him. "I should have come to look for you before we left, I'm so sorry! Are you alright? Do you need me to heal you?"
Thog 12-16-03, 08:27 PM	"Nah, I'll be fine. Jest need sum sleep." He replied with a grnt and a painful stretch. "Everytime I doze off, something trys to eat me." He grinned wolfishly at her as he continued. "But, at least my food is coming to me!" Looking around, Claire noticed that several of the dead scavengers nearby were mostly missing - pieces. "You didn't have to come looking for me, but thanks. It means a lot to me. I'm not such goo..." his words trailed off into a mumble as the exhausted orc fell into a deep sleep.
Lady Clare Windariete 12-16-03, 09:08 PM	She softly smiles, then stands up. As she whispered a few words, the wind breezed by blowing her hair behind her, and an elemental stands on one side of Thog. The wind then slowly died back down. Clare looks to the elemental, "Guard him while I go off for a minute." It nods in reply and she heads to the pond nearby. Kneeling down beside it she tears a strip of material from her dress. Then she soaks it in the pond's water and walks back to Thog. The elemental seeing her back disappears and a soft wind could be felt as it disappeared. She knelt besides Thog and used the soaked strip of dress to gently clean the blood from his face.
Thog 12-16-03, 09:31 PM	Tending to his wounds, Claire sees that a lot of the blood is his own. He's cut and bruised all over, several time seriously, one gash into his ribs looks like it should have killed him. That he is alive is amazing, that he was conscience when she got there fantastic, and that he was able to fight off the scavangers, was frankly unbelevable. Maybe he was personally repsonsible for all the men and hobgiblins dead in the meadow. He was certaintanly tough enough for it, to have lived this long. All four blades of his double axe had seen use, and one face looked to have been worked on - an attempt made to clean it with the hide of a fox - all his cloth was ripped and used to bandage wounds that she couldn't believe. At the cool touch of the cloth on his face, Thog opened his red eyes, grunted, and turned, falling back into a healing sleep.
Lady Clare Windariete 12-16-03, 09:37 PM	She looked at all the bruises, cuts, and blood on his body. She sighs and says softly, "You are one tough orc Thog." Clare puts the cloth down on her lap, dampening her own dress and even getting some of the blood on it. She didn't seem to mind this. She placed a cool hand on his forehead and one on his chest. As she does so, the wind begins blowing violently and Thog's body begins to grow quite warm inside. His skin feels like it could be set on fire any minute. The place where the deep gash is grows especially warm. The wind grows bitterly cold around them. As she finishes healing him, the wind dies down and quickly she takes off for the pond. When Thog looks at himself he could see his wounds were healed, all the blood was gone, and even the deep gash had been healed.
aravilar_holistacia 12-17-03, 09:09 AM	The umbral orb traveled quickly, accelerating to its full speed. It opened a small aperture on its side and a small gen was extended; a diamond, glowing a bright yellow, pulsating with light. There! a voice was heard inside the orb's artificial intelligence. The electrum-plated spell changed direction and dove into a forest of old duskwood trees. The sentient spell traveled quickly... It stopped short of a thicket of trees, however, and a blue and white beam fired from its front. The trees shook and gave way, opening a hole just wide enough for the orb. Said orb moved through the opening, sweeping the area with a diffused green light. It stopped on a silver piece, and it changed its color to a deep red. The orb moved closer to one tree, which was splattered with blood. Suddenly, upon Clare's neck, the amulet emitted a bright pulse of yellow light. The orb glowed a similar yellow, and it moved in close. "Glad to see you again, Clare," the orb said. "Your angeldove was telling me you were off to find a friend?" The orb opened another aperture, and a projected image appeared. An elven mage, a High Mage by the red and gold of his robes, appeared. "I miss you, milady! When shalt you return to our home? Each moment you are away pains my heart." The elven mage, who appeared about twenty-five summers old but who was actually many times that, blinked his mismatched, gold-flecked eyes at his fiancée. He smiled as he saw the electrum and diamond ring upon Clare's finger. "Agudo and Lady Aerie are making preparations for the wedding, my dear!" he said, still beaming. He looked around, his red robes sweeping around the forest glen. "Why greetings, good sir. I do not believe we have been properly introduced? I am Aravilar Holistacia, a teacher at the School of Light and Magic. It is an honor to meet you," he said, his insubstantial, projected form holding out a friendly hand. He quickly retreived that hand, though, when he saw that the man was an orc. "What business do you have as such, with milady?" the elf said, defensively. The diamond upon the orb glowed a light blue, and it began to pile abjurations upon itself and Clare. And there was Aravilar. The projected image was dispelled by the orb, and there was the mage, flesh and blood. "I suggest you explain, orqu. I am not known for my patience when it comes to deception," Aravilar said. He turned to Clare, not fearing attack from the wounded humanoid. He kissed his soon-to-be wife, and threw his arms around her. "Too long away, too short in meeting," he said the traditional elven words. "I sincerely hope you are in good health, Clare." He released her and turned back to the orc, speaking in High Elven, knowing full well that there was a good chance the orc would understand. "Mankoi naa lle sinome yassen'arwenamin, orqu?"
Lady Clare Windariete 12-17-03, 09:24 AM	She looked up from the pond as she hears a familiar voice, "Aravilar? I.. I didn't expect you to be here..." She smiles, but the pain.. the heat, was much to great. She walks to the pond and steps into the water, the sound of water boiling could be heard along with the smoke rising up from the water. "My whole body feels like its on fire... its no wonder I quit using my healing powers." Looking back to the place where Aravilar is, "Calm down, I came to see him. When Agudo brought me to the school I had met Thog along the way. I wanted to come back and invite him to come to the ceremony."
Thog 12-17-03, 10:14 AM	Thog woke with a start, feeling like he was on fire. He saw Claire standing over him, and watched as his wounds knit before his eyes. "She got some high magic there" he thought to himself. "Thank you Gray one." He said aloud. "I feel fine now, but ready to eat a horse. Hmmm.... I think there is one or two over in the next meadow..." As Claire finished her spell, a glowing globe of light appeared and started speaking to hear in a most proprietary and commanding, but affectionate manner. Then it turned into an elf. Thog stood, relaxed but ready his axe casually at hand. "I'm Thog," he answered the Elf. "And what deception would that be?" He asked mildly.
Lady Clare Windariete 12-18-03, 12:41 AM	Clare watched and listened between the two for a minute before she could no longer stand it. She ran off toward the pond, her hair flowing gracefully behind her and her dress doing the same.
Thog 12-18-03, 01:00 AM	Thog looked to the nameless wizard and shrugged. Suddenly, he felt wonderful. Not only heald of his wounds, but of little aches and annoying pains. "She's your fiance wizard, go after her." The mightly orc exclaimed. "These are dangerous woods, despite the proximity of yru vaunted school, or perhaps because of it." The orc then reached down and tore up a bandage that he no longer needed to bind a wound that was miraculouly healed. With it, he began the long job of cleaning and whetting his axe.
aravilar_holistacia 12-18-03, 08:09 AM	"Amin ildura amin sana naio tuulo'lle, orqu," Aravilar spoke again in Elven. "Ar'lle amin ildura lle naa onna dura. Manka lle lavaya lembamin..." Aravilar looked around, then followed his bride-to-be into the woods, coming to a small pond. He called out, "Arwenamin! Are you alright? I hope you have not been harmed by the orqu! I'll burn him a third eye socket..." His spellfire roared like a fiery maelstrom of an inferno in his mismatched eyes. Those same eyes dropped tears of that fire, which slowly ran down his cheeks and off his chin, landing with a sputter in the pond. "You scared me beyond words, Clare," he said, the flaming tears still falling. He looked at her, almost through her, and then the fires subsided. "When will you return to the school? Shall I stay here?"
Lady Clare Windariete 12-18-03, 11:47 AM	She looked at him and frowned slightly, "Calm yourself Aravilar, remember I came searching for him, not the other way around. He is no harm to me nor shall he ever harm me. Thog helped me once, healed me. So, calm yourself and your spell, there will be no harm allowed to come to him. I wanted him to come to the school, but I doubt he will want to now. Aravilar I never knew you had such jealousy inside you...." She kneeled upon the ground clutching her chest. "I burn inside.... from healing him....I need..." She grows silent, but still moves and breathes.
aravilar_holistacia 12-18-03, 08:28 PM	"Jealousy is a human trait, Clare. I would not presume to be jealous over anyone... It is an elven custom to allow an elf-maid her freedom in respects to her life. Compassion, perhaps. Protectivitity? Yes." The elf turned away and mumbled something in Elven. "Manka re ere'sinte mani ta'naa na'ilfirin..." He turned back. "If you were as I am, Clare, you would understand. When you have watched your first true love die without being able to die as well, you would understand. When you realize the horrible and terrifying truth that you are not as your friends and enemies... you will understand." The elf waded into the pond, and his robes were astonishingly not soaked by the water. He raised his hands, and his silverfire and spellfire formed a ball of magic that he fired into the water. The water sizzled, and a bit evaporated. "Immortals who are forced to watch their friends wither and grow old, then die, are cursed. I am cursed..." Aravilar turned around to Clare, tears of flame running down his face in a small stream, the almost crystalline firetears splashing in the water. Although he was dripping tears, his face was not contorted into a sad or depressed one. In fact, he was showing more love than anything else. "Ever since that fateful day, during the Time of Troubles, my heart has not been flesh and blood has not run in my veins. Spellfire is my heart, and spellflame is my blood. I am sustained by what I wield... It is a curse beyond comprehension. But it is my service to Mystra. "I do not wish to see you suffer the same fate as Keya... I am prepared to sacrifice myself to see your survival in any situation. What hurts the most is hearing you accuse me of jealousy..." His eyes were alight with spellfire, the flames dancing in his pupils. He looked down, a torrent of fire spilling forth from his tearing eyes into the pond. The small firetears fell into the pond, becoming crystalline and a soft red color... Crystals of fire, as it were. He wiped his flaming eyes, almost catching his dry robes on fire as he did so. "Now, allow me to take care of these burns you have..." The mage walked to Clare and placed a hand upon her shoulder. Blue flames coursed into Clare's body, healing her wounded soul and her burnt mind, fully curing her body. He retrieved his hand. "Tell the orqu I apologize for my Elven-ness," he said as he prepared to leave. He held out his hand to Clare and said, "Please come back with me. There is more to tell you... More than I can say while I am standing in the middle of the Dire Wood." He raised his other hand to his eyes, wiping more fire from his sockets. For the second time in his life, Aravilar felt as if he had lost something important. The first time was when... she... was snatched from his grasp in the midst of matrimony. Now, the second, Aravilar felt as if Clare was gone forever, spiraling more and more into the dark abyss that was Aravilar's mind. As Aravilar awaited Clare's response, seconds turned into minutes, and minutes to hours. The two stood there for hours, Aravilar's hand outstretched like a monolith of stone. The fire had not subsided, and a veritable puddle of tears were laying upon the soft earth outside the pond. Aravilar kept thinking back to that fateful day... Aravilar stood at the end of the procession, his eyes gleaming with pride and excitement. He watched as Keya walked slowly down the long, snowy path to Corellon's altar. When she finally arrived, he took her arms and the duo stepped up to the altar, arm in arm. The priest of Corellon began to speak, but fire engulfed the statue of the god. The statue shattered into blocks of stone and mounds of gray dust; in its midst stood a nigh-nine foot tall Balor. The balor growled, and in one swift stroke it tore into Keya's stomach with its claws before Aravilar had fired a black death magic into its gaping mouth. The elf-maiden fell to the ground, blood staining her white wedding gown. Aravilar reached out and caught her head as she fell to the snowy floor, his fingers running through her chestnut brown hair. The red liquid spilled onto Aravilar's blue robes... The girl mouthed, "I love you... Aravilar..." before her eyes went dark and her figure went limp in his arms... The mage shook involuntarily, as if he were awaking from a dream. He was still holding out his hand to Clare, who was staring into his eyes. Aravilar glanced up into the sky, and he realized that more than three hours had passed. He looked back to Clare and said, "I think I have said too much. Shall I leave?"
Lady Clare Windariete 12-18-03, 08:42 PM	She listened to Aravilar with sadness to hear of his pain and suffering, and his... immortality? "Thank you for healing me Aravilar, and I'm sorry to accuse you of such jealousy but that is how it felt. I will speak to you later of this new news as I have much to say on it. Give me one day more here Aravilar and then I will be on my way back to the school." She walks over to him and hugs him and stands there hugging him for a minute. Then finally she lets go.
aravilar_holistacia 12-18-03, 10:46 PM	"I shall await your return... for now, I shall wait here. Perhaps the waters of this pure pond shall absolve me of my failures..." The mage, still streaming fire, sat in the cool water and sighed, mumbling more elven, although this time, someone answered. An elf-maiden, clad in red and blue and with mismatched eyes like Aravilar, slowly phased into reality, sprawled on the ground. Aravilar watched in half-awe, half-total shock as the body of Keya Moonstar materialized on the soft moss next to him. "By Corellon, Hanali, Sehanine, and the Lady of Mysteries! What...! How...?" Aravilar lost his words as the girl slowly revitalized. As if she was born again, her newly drawn breath was as her first. The girl sat up, her shoulder-length chestnut locks swirling about her head. She opened her eyes, and as she caught sight of her former lover, she gasped audibly. "By Hanali and Corellon, where am I?" she said, her angelic voice filling Aravilar's ears. Aravilar could not find words... He merely sat there, staring into her mismatched blue and gold eyes, the reflected light from the gold flecks in them twinking innocently at him. He tried to say something... A jumbled phrase came out, and she put a finger to his lips. "Shhhh..." she said. "A gift of the gods is not to be questioned." She threw her arms around his shoulders and laid her head down upon his shoulder. Aravilar said in rapid High Elven, "Amin... Amin nowe lle aute e'a'numendor, e'a'Seldarinelye! Ed'Seldarine amin dura lle nae'ba!" he stammered. << I... I thought you had gone to the west, to the gods! I thought you were dead! >> The girl swept up to his cheek and kissed it lightly, her lips barely touching his face. Their noses touching, she said, "Utune en'Seldarine naa utua melyanna, melamin." << To ask of the gods is to receive a dear gift, my love. >> Aravilar dropped yet another tear, and this time, his tear was met with another fiery tear from his arisen bride. The two sat in the water, cradling each other for awhile, until Aravilar said, "I have to attend to Clare." Keya looked absolutely petrified as he released her and got up, leaving her in the water. "Clare?" she said, not entirely sure of his intentions. Aravilar said to the silver-haired human, "Clare... Meet Keya Moonstar... my wife."
Lady Clare Windariete 12-18-03, 10:56 PM	She turned around as he spoke to her, "Your wife?" She looks to Keya with a sincere smile, "It is a pleasure to meet you. You have a great husband, perhaps one of the more kind, gentle, and sweet ones." Her eyes then turn to look at Aravilar, "You must be quite happy to see your wife of old return to you." Her eyes filled with tears and she turns to walk away, but thinking of something she looks to the two of them, "May the gods bless your marriage. I could think of no happier couple than perhaps the two of you, even though I do not know you Keya." Her eyes fall on Aravlar once more. "Thank you for everything, I will not forget the things you've done for me." She looks downward then sighs. She then headed toward where Thog was and lets the tears that had welled up in her eyes, roll down her cheeks like that of rain rolling off a leaf and into a puddle upon the ground. Her emotions rage deep within her, as she tries to sort through them and figure out which she feels more, anger, jealousy, or hurt. As she now stood beside Thog, she sat down beside him. Her back resting against the tree and her eyes closed. Her beautiful gray hair resting behind her, save for the occassional breeze that blew a few strands around her.
Lady Clare Windariete 12-18-03, 11:13 PM	She looked down seeing the amulet, she frowned. Standing up she took it off and threw it into the water near where Aravilar and Keya are. For the first time she sounded upset, she spoke to Aravilar's mind, "If you want it, swim for it." She then sat back down beside Thog and half smiled to him.
aravilar_holistacia 12-18-03, 11:31 PM	Aravilar watched as Clare went over to Thog, presumably to check his wounds. "Thank you, elendilamin," Keya said, still quite politely confused. She turned her innocent eyes back upon Aravilar as the receding Clare disappeared behind a tree. "Who is that, melamin?" the young elf-maid asked of Aravilar. "I..." Aravilar began, but Keya shook her head. "I can tell what you mean, melamin. Is she your lover?" the girl asked bluntly, in the traditional Elven custom. Aravilar opened his mouth, and he promptly shut it. He thought for a moment, and he said, "We were engaged. I apologize... I lost faith in the gods..." he lamented, hanging his head down. "Do you think I am any better for returning to you like this?" the other elf said, walking over to him and sitting next to him, putting her head back on his shoulder. "I expected you to have moved on." Aravilar leaned his head agaist hers and said, "I don't know what I should do... I can tell she is feeling a maelstrom of emotion right now." He pulled the pendant out from a woolen pocket. "You know what this is." The girl nodded and pulled out a blue sapphire pendant, which was surrounded in a cage of pure gold. "Remember? I have one too," said the girl. The sapphire glowed a bright pink as she touched its cage. Aravilar looked into his diamond and saw that it was radiating a bright pink as well. From the woods came a silvery chain with a silvery pendant attached. The gem landed with a splash, and Aravilar quickly cast a spell, snatching the jewel from the depths. "What have we here?" Keya said, but she frowned. She looked at her sapphire and to the new amulet's emerald. This emerald glowed with a white light, and the girl tapped it with her sapphire. The white glow traveled from the old to the new gem, and now the sapphire radiated a white light. Keya smiled and said, "Should I wear it?" Aravilar made a noncommittal noise, and the she-elf laughed. "Here... Put it on me, see how it looks! I have worn it for so long... but not with the light returned..." Aravilar did so, and as he did, Keya said, "I am glad we are together again, melamin... For untold years I was neither spirit nor flesh... Did you know that immortality is lonely?" Aravilar's face turned slightly rigid as she said that, and he blurted, "Lle nyara amin lle naa vee'Seldarine?" << You mean to tell me you are as the gods themselves? >> Keya smiled slightly and said, "Now we both are. Allow me to explain..." Keya told Aravilar that when he had spoken about her, it was as if Corellon had cried his own tears. He called to his daughter's spirit, and he said to the girl, "You are not meant to be in the land of the dead, Chosen of my sister..." She said that Hanali Celanil, elven goddess of love and beauty, appeared to her in Arvandor and told her, "My Chosen, you are to be as your love is..." That was when Keya appeared to Aravilar in the waters of the pond. Aravilar said, "I see Lady Mystra and the Lady Hanali have senses of humor, to give us this gift." Keya smiled again, her dazzling smile alighting Aravilar's face, a smile spreading across his features. "Shall we go? It is getting cold," said the Chosen of Hanali Celanil. "I need to know whether Clare is alright or not," replied the Chosen of Mystra. The Chosen of Hanali stood and said, "If I were you," she began, her smile still dazzling Aravilar, "I would leave her to her own for a moment. I know I would not wish to be lectured after something like this." "You know me all too well, arwenamin," Aravilar said, and he stretched his legs. "We should retrurn to the school." "The School?" his wife said, a curious look spreading across her face. "Agudo's School of Light and Magic. My newfound home," Aravilar replied in kind. The duo vanished in the wake of a teleportation spell. A soft sound of crying could be heard in the forest mists.
Lady Clare Windariete 12-18-03, 11:45 PM	She looks Thog over and makes sure his wounds were healed well. Seeing that they were she stands, "Thog, if you have anywhere to go, please allow me to accompany you. As I have no place to be as of now. I cannot go back to the school for they will only send thoughts of sympathy toward me. I do not wish to hear that for it will only drive me crazy." She sighs. "I seem to have sorrow and trouble follow me wherever I seem to go. I should not travel any longer but perhaps seek a master, as much as I do not wish to. At least a master will not send any emotion my way but hatred or none at all. My mind will be to busy to even think of what's just happened." She frowns, "Well, I'm rambling more than usual, forgive me Thog. I know you do not wish to hear of that." Her eyes look toward in which direction the school is. "I have to send a message to Agudo and let him know that I will no longer be attending and that they can clean my room out. As if there is much to clean anyway... well I would like to get my instrument." She gently pats Thog's shoulder, "Wait for me here please."
Lady Clare Windariete 12-19-03, 01:18 AM	In Thog's mind he hears, "Please come quickly Thog, I need you at the school." She then continues on to tell him where she is and in what room.
Thog 12-19-03, 01:25 AM	"I'll be here, or nearby." The orc replied as he finished cleaning his axe. The bright face now again clean, the edges taking on their usual well-honed state. "I don't know what is going on here, and I don't know as I rally want to." FInally looking up from his task, the mighty orc gazed into the cool gray eyes of the woman beside him. "But, you healed me, and at great cost to yourself. "I won't forget that," he said bluntly. "It's not everyone that would put themselves out for an orc, and one they hardly know." The slow slap-slap-slap of his honing stick beat a steady rythem as Claire left on whatever business she had.
Thog 12-19-03, 01:31 AM	Hearing Claire's voice in his head, Thog sat up and looked toward the school. "Hmmm..." He thought. "That School of Light and Magic is no place for an orc. I wonder if it would be better to go in by stealth, or simply walk up to the front door and knock? "I hate magic! All it ever gets an occ is dead" He lamented as he rose and starte the trek to the school.
aravilar_holistacia 12-19-03, 01:33 AM	The spell-ball that Aravilar had sent suddenly vanished, appearing inside Aravilar's closet at the school.