Ironworks Gaming Forum - A Mourning Star (Closed)

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As they stood facing each other on the cliff, a heavy gust of wind breathed upon them, sending their hair fluttering. He was tall, muscular and brooding; she, struggling to stay as erect as he was. There was a moment’s pause before he spoke, his voice gruff and his manner stern.

”Do you know why I have brought you here on your birthday, Ji Xiang?” ~ His hands were behind his back, hiding… something, she knew not what.

”No, Teacher.” ~ She replied half in bewilderment, half in meekness ~ ”Forgive your disciple’s stupidity. Your disciple has no idea.” ~ If only she could! It was so hard, so difficult to gain his approval these days. She wondered why, what she had done, that day, or any other day for the past two years… why did he behave as if he were offended by her? Her conscience protested its innocence, and she could only look down wretchedly at her own hands, asking herself again how she could redeem herself, if she had committed some wrong unwittingly.

”It is your sixteenth birthday… child.” ~ He seemed to stumble at the last word, and she glanced up to see his inscrutable expression ~ ”Your name is self-explanatory. Your parents wanted you to hold on to your roots.” ~ He cleared his throat, before continuing ~ ”‘Ji’ being to remember, and ‘Xiang’ being your hometown.” ~ Walking up towards her, his tone became more serious by the second ~ ”It is time that you ventured out, to strike out on your own. I, after all, did just the same, at your age.” ~ His piercing gaze rested upon her paling face ~ ”But first, of course, you must return to your hometown.”

”I can’t do that, Teacher!” ~ She had blurted out before she could repackage her words, and her cheeks flamed ~ ”You know how unwelcome I would be there…” ~ The words trailed off as she stood, almost mesmerised by hypnotic stare ~ ”Your disciple will leave… leave if she must, but she begs your permission not to return home.” ~ Hurriedly, she fell upon her knees and cupped her hands ~ ”Your disciple pleads for your understanding, Teacher.” ~ Her voice was quavering; she dared not tilt her head again to meet those eyes.

”Very well, then.” ~ There was solid determination in his voice ~ ”You will go immediately now. But before that…” ~ A pause. She glanced up and saw a beautifully carved jade flute in his hands ~ ”This is for you.” ~ She grasped it, awe-stricken by the intricate design and wondered how much it must have cost – how could he have afforded such a treasure?! ~ ”It is both a birthday gift, and a farewell one. We will part ways from now on.”

She tried to shove away the massive pillar that inhabited her heart, but try as she might, it just would not do ~ ”Yes, Teacher.” ~ She was shivering, and not knowing the reason for it ~ ”Your disciple bids you farewell... for now.” ~ Holding the flute in her right hand, she performed three respectful kowtows before getting back on her feet ~ ”Do take care of yourself, Teacher. And forgive your disciple for not being able to be around to support you…”

”Enough of all that nonsense!” ~ He boomed, his face darkly irritable ~ ”You know that I don’t care for all these ridiculous ceremonies.” ~ His tone softened as he caught her wounded look ~ ”You’d best leave now while the sun is still up.”

”Yes, Teacher.” ~ She bowed and turned, never turning back…

Ji Xiang breathed softly in her sleep, occasionally turning to her sides and back.

OOC>>>A most wonderful post from each of you three! I feel rather humbled to try and match them. Yet I must post something.

Markul

The dwarf watched as the waitress gave but a momentary thought to what was said, strolled over to the spot that had been indicated and tested the brick slightly. She was convinced enough to turn her back on the two penniless strangers, to which meant they were free to go about their way.

They did so, quickly. Outside the door, the dwarf was still too astounded to make sense of it. His new friend seemed to be rather valuable. He needed a new face for the night, and so he excused himself to the back of the tavern. When he returned, he was a human male, fashioned after the stereotypical vision of a monk. He carried a staff, and wore a dark brown robe. He did not utilize the hood, showing a shaven head and dark brown eyes.

Markul approached his newfound associate and asked, "Now that we have that behind us, what are your intentions? Where are you headed? And By what power do you do your tricks? Come now, no secrets. Maybe I can be of use to you."

[ 01-26-2004, 11:41 PM: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]

Sive gave a delighted laugh at Markul's new appearance and then gasped, remembering why she was in a hurry. "I'm not really headed anywhere, I just wander from place to place. And what do you mean by intentions?" she asked her newfound companion as they hurried to the outskirts of the town. "And I already told you, it's not a trick!" the strange creature pouted slightly, her one good eye looking slightly hurt that Markul hadn't remembered her saying that.

Suddenly, a medium-sized explosion of fur and feathers zoomed past Sive and started to attack Markul's face, making angry chittering and screeching noises. "Lark, Lark, stop! It's alright, he's not... it's alright! Markul's my friend!" Sive shouted anxiously, gathering the fuming bundle into her hands. The quivering thing gathered in the girl's hands resembled a kitten except in place of a cat-head it had a head of a bird, and a pair of feathered wings sprouted from its back, which were currently held away from its body in an obviously threatening gesture. "This is Lark, my friend. He's a Roller-songgryphon," Sive commented, petting her feathered friend's head soothingly.

The bird-head sported a somewhat large, curved, black-coloured beak, and the small black strip over "Lark"'s eyes made it seem that the songgryphon was glaring at Markul. Its head is a powderblue, and the feathers slowly give way to fur of the same shade down its chest and stomach. Its back consists of chestnut-coloured fur, and near its rump the colouring changes to a blue-purple shade, with the tip of Lark's tail ending in a turqoise-white with two black spots on opposite sides of the lashing appendage. The wings have the same strange, brilliant purple-blue on the shoulders, then give way to powderblue for half of the wing, and the bottom half is a dark black. Overall, the creature was as beautiful and strange as its owner, Sive.

"Lark" seemed to finally be settling down, and after uttering a few more harsh "Kri"s, proceeded to preen its wings with its beak, pointedly ignoring Markul's presence. "Sorry about Lark's behaviour, he's just very overprotective of me," Sive appologized, taking out a cloth and dabbing at the few scratches that Markul now sported on his face.

Krii the small songgryphon grated in what seemed to be a smug, affirmative tone.

"I had agreed to check on him at this time, to make sure he was okay, and that's why I was in such a hurry. He doesn't like to come into the towns with me for some reason," the girl explained while she continued to fix Markul's cuts.

Krii carrakk Lark commented harshly.

"I don't draw that much attention! And I'm sure they've seen plenty of songgryphons before," Sive retorted. "Right?" she looked at Markul for support with wide, hopeful eyes.

ooc- Hehe, where would a strange person be without her equally as strange animal companion? ;) If you are interested in seeing a picture, I used a European Roller to make up the bird parts of "Lark," and modeled it after a picture in The Birdlife of Britain & Europe by Peter Hayman and Philip Burton. My mom's a birder, so I had a large amount of bird books at my disposal :rolleyes: Here's 2 images of the European Roller. The second one shows a better example of the colouring of the cat-tail.
http://en.arocha.org/images/shared/158l.jpeg
http://my.ort.org.il/holon/birds/as1p1.jpg
And here's a picture of what a generic songgryphon looks like [img]smile.gif[/img]
http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/loth/s...phons.gif.html
http://www.epilogue.net/cgi/database...=53663&genre=2
http://www.epilogue.net/cgi/database...=53662&genre=2
Keep in mind that Lark will be a little larger because he is part European Roller, not part Chickadee or some other tiny songbird.

[ 01-27-2004, 02:47 PM: Message edited by: Skydracgrrl ]

(ooc: Skye, that is absolutely the most adorable thing I've seen since Kuroshi was a baby. ;) )

Sayn was silent as she made her way back into the One-Eyed Wolf tavern, not bothering to exale her tension until she was behind the closed door of her room. Once it was securely locked and the curtains were drawn tightly shut, the tiefling finally felt somewhat at ease. With a small yawn she kicked off her boots, lay down her packs and equipment, and curled up on the bed, her cloak still pulled up over her head...

OOC>>> Yep, that was really cute :D

IC>>>
It was the waft of lilting music that tore her away from the warm embrace of peaceful slumber. Who could forget that haunting tune? Hastily, she pushed herself off the bed and peered out of the window. Immediately, the beckoning song ceased. She saw that it was daybreak.

Exactly the time when they would have commenced their daily regime of perfecting their skills. Followed by a few sessions of pitting each against the other, and her bowing to his superiority. It had been galling at the time, but now… I would gladly receive a few hundred more bruises. ~ Her gaze went to her right shoulder and she flexed it, smiling wryly. How would he react if he were to see her now? Yet… if he had wanted to see me, he would not have stopped… ~ Her head drooped slightly and she moved away from the window.

Did he not want me to gain my independence? Clearly, he is following me, as these daily interludes indicate… but for what purpose? ~ A frown formed on her pale lips as she started to circle the room ~ Does he intend to protect me? Or observe my progress in a detached way? ~ It was all very puzzling, and she – straightforward as she was inclined to be – did not like mysteries, not about him anyway. She needed to know what he thought, especially of her; she could not bear the thought of him being disappointed or contemptuous of her.

Tentatively, she picked up the flute. It suddenly struck her that it had been a month ago since she last received this instrument, but that she had given it its due inspection. Raising it to her eyes, then, she began to study the detailed markings on its body, which was a uniformly brilliant green. Tidal waves. An emerging dragon. Bellows of clouds. How richly ornamented it was! Again, she wondered how he could have afforded it.

It was then that her distracted fingers ran against what felt like three characters. Snapping out of her trance, she glanced at them.

Zheng Cheng Kang.

This… this belonged to him! ~ She swallowed a gulp as her shaky fingers fumbled about, trying to grip the flute ~ I should have recognised it before, but alas, I didn’t. ~ There was a curious pounding in her heart and head, but it comforted, rather than hurt her ~ He didn’t buy it, he gave me his own flute. ~ As she whispered the words repeatedly, she found herself caught in a rising wave of ecstacy.

He can’t be all that displeased with me, if he could give me his worldly possession! ~ In the privacy of the room, her brilliant smile seemed to illuminate everything else ~ Oh, I will prove myself worthy of being your disciple, Teacher! I will! ~ Hurriedly, she put on her white hood and clutched the flute before turning the knob.

Making her way down the corridor and stairs, she descended to the bar, seated herself quietly and waited for Sayn to appear…

OOC>>>They only like it because it attacked me.

Markul let his strange friend clean up the scratches and then he gave a glaring eye at the little bird-like thing that was her animal companion.

"Yes, you do become more interesting by the minute. I have never encountered such an animal as that before. If you will allow me..."

Markul realized that there were no people out on the streets at such a late hour of night and so he was thinking of melting his form into a likeness of the songgryphon...but changed his mind, after realizing that he'd have to lose alot of weight to get that size and then he'd be hungry again.

"...Umm...nevermind. I was going to shift into a songgryphon to see what it is like to be one...but it is late and I do not want to have to eat again tonight. Some other time, then.

So...Here is my plan. Remember those two girls you saw me following earlier today? I want to know more about the hooded one. If you can somehow see through my disguises...you can see through her's...am I not right? She is not what she seems to be, so I would like to satisfy this curiosity, if you would be so generous. In return, I shall allow you to ask of me what you wish. Do we have an agreement?"

OOC>>>Skye...we gotta find a way into the group before they head off to Candlekeep. If you ever find an opening, lead the way. If not, I will continue to try for the both of us.

Those two are playing it tough these days!

Sayn rose as quietly as she had fallen. She hadn't fallen into the comforting arms of a deep sleep since she was very young, and this night had been no different. With no urgency in her movements the tiefling gathered her belongings and shot a quick glance to the mirror. She tugged a loose strand of her dark ruby hair behind her slightly tapered ear, pushing one side of her hood back slightly from her face as she did so. One pale grey eye, cold and distant, stared blankly back at her. Her eyebrow arched slightly as she lost herself in the reflection's gaze, watching as a fire grew behind pupils. A black ring became more apparent around the iris, as though it had suddenly been charred about the edge. Then, deep in the reflection within the reflection of the eyes was a glimmer of movement...

Sayn snapped to attention, looking somewhat disconcerted as she gripped her sword and turned slowly around. Nothing there.

Sayn shook her head, readjusted her hood, and apathetically made her way out of the room to meet her companion.

ooc- will do, Larry. [img]smile.gif[/img]

ic- Sive gave Markul a doubtful look. "Weelll, I can try to find out what she looks like under the hood... but I'll need to find something that's seen her without her hood on." she pondered for a moment, thinking, and didn't elaborate on her strange response. "If we can get into her room, I'm sure I can find something that's seen her without her hood on. You are always watched by something, no matter how secretive you are," she concluded with a nod. "Its always the little things that you overlook or deem unimportant that watch. I just happen to be able to hear them."

This seemed to be the best explanation about her talent that Sive was going to give, for the moment.

Smoothing Lark's ruffled head-feathers one last time, the little creature swooped off in a flight of fancy barrel-rolls and twists and disappeared from sight. "Shall we go then?" Sive asked brightly. "Or do you want to change forms again? Can you change into forms you've never seen but only have invented in your head, or do you merely copy bits and pieces of creatures you've seen throughout your life, and then paste them together?" she questioned, her curiousity aroused once again.

[ 01-27-2004, 10:29 PM: Message edited by: Skydracgrrl ]

Promptly arising as the dark shadow drifted towards her, Ji Xiang stood up and spoke softly ~ “Good morning, Sayn. Shall we leave now?” ~ Good thing I’ve this hood on… it certainly combats the cold dawn air. ~ She drew a deep breath, trying to calm her excited nerves at the thought of the new adventure ahead of them.

OOC>>>Insert curse here...I lost my previous post...and do not have the ability to redo it as well. So I am going for a lesser, quicker response this time, then go scream for a while.

"I am fine. I do not need to change. This form suits me well this morning. And to your other question, I need to see a new creature before I can mimic it well enough to appear real. I can then make alterations that are my choice to make. I can also add stuff like these robes and stick you see here. They are not actually made from what you would think they are...they are actually part of my living body. But...you probably already know that. Anyway...let us be off and running, for tis morning and our mice will be on their way to do their business. This is the most exiting adventure I have been on in months, and never had I the opportunity to share it with anyone before,,,so I am glad you are so available. But enough chatter...let's go!"

The odd pair made their way through the busy morning streets toward the One-Eyed Wolf. 

[ 01-27-2004, 11:49 PM: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]