> Sorry I haven't been commenting much lately, but RL has been a bear.
> Hopefully I'll be caught up soon, but I did manage to get this finished.
Hey there. I hope your RL situations with quiet down a little soonish.
> “Hmph. I wonder if that 'shopping' will involve any gold changing hands,”
> Anomen said dryly.
DUH! That's the very notion of shopping, dudesy!
> As the group separated, the ranger and the priest walked silently together
> for a bit. Finally Valygar spoke. “You have known Jarran for a while now.
> What is your opinion of this quest of his?”
Oooohhhh. Talking about your leader behind his back, eh?
> “I must confess that it is on Moira's account. I have never met this
> Imoen, but from what our leader has told me she sounds a bit like my own
> sister. Moira was cheerful and kind-hearted in spite of our father's best
> efforts, and it pains me deeply to think of another merry young soul
> suffering as Imoen must be.”
Hmmm, that's actually quite sweet, really...
> Valygar nodded and opened his mouth to answer, but was distracted. The two
> men turned at the sound of violent coughing. Anomen's brow wrinkled in
> concern as they watched a young girl of about ten years of age double over
> in pain as she sat on the front stairs of a small dilapidated home. When
> she lowered the rag that she had held to her mouth, the men could see
> blood splattered on the cloth.
Awww, oh no!
> As he did this, the door of the house flew open. His examination was
> interrupted by a screeching voice crying out, “Get away from her!” Anomen
> suddenly found himself with a face full of thin twigs as he was knocked
> back into the street. Dazed, he looked up to see a furious woman
> brandishing a broom at him. As she swung it once more, she yelled, “You
> rich bastards are all alike, thinking you can use a poor girl for your own
> twisted pleasures!”
> “Madame, please… ouch… I assure you… argh… I had no… ow! Stop this!”
Viconia : *chuckles* If I saw Anomen holding Vierna like that, reducing him to ashes would be my first impulse too...
> “Hmm, I am not surprised that Barl turned you away. You will be pleased to
> know that he is no longer serving at the temple.” He walked over to the
> girl and knelt in front of her. “Now, little one,” he said gently, “let me
> see what I can do for you.” He put his hand on the girl's neck and chanted
> a low prayer. When he was finished, the color returned to the child's
> cheeks, and her eyes were no longer glassy with pain. She took a deep
> breath and cried out, “Momma! I feel better!”
Awwwwww....
> A man in the crowd snorted. “I didn't think Helm cared about anyone.”
> “The Watcher cannot cure all the ills of the world, but he does indeed
> care, good man. As his priest I must do what I can to aid those in need,
> and guard those in my care with my life.”
> Another woman said hesitantly, “Would… would you help my husband? He was
> hurt when his axe slipped while he was chopping wood.”
> “Of course.” Within moments, a dozen people were pleading for help, and
> Anomen listened to all of them.
Oh, dear. Anomen the faith-healer. Praysselord!
> Jan took a deep breath. Ah, the smell of commerce! Now if he could only
> find any. Nobody seemed interested in doing much business, and he drifted
> from tent to stall to caravan wagon, talking and joking with any who would
> open up to the gnome.
> He ducked into a brightly colored tent. A woman lounged on a cushion, her
> cheeks garishly rouged and her lips reddened. She gave him a bored look
> and said, “I am Mistress Jeanne, proprietor of this pleasure tent. You've
> come at a bad time if you want a girl. Things are so slow I only have
> Annalynn working, and she's busy.”
> At that moment a rather weedy looking young man came out of the tent,
> another woman by his side. He had greasy red hair, and he walked with a
> swagger that did not match his thin frame. He beamed at Jan and said,
> “Coming to try Annalynn? She's expensive, but worth it. Of course a great
> adventurer like me can afford it. I'm sure you've heard of me, I'm Wilfred
> the Red of Luskan, dragonslayer and hero!”
I bet Annalynn is really hating life right about now...
> “Thanks,” Jan said calmly. “Just wanted to be sure.” Wilfred charged at
> him, his fists clenched in anger, when he suddenly stopped. His eyes went
> wide, and a low gurgle came from his throat. He fell to the ground, and
> the two women gaped at the bloody dagger in Jan's hand.
Woohoo!
> Jeanne just stared, but Annalynn said, “You bet! Thanks for getting rid of
> him, if I had to listen to one more version of how he killed that dragon I
> would have gone mad.” She grinned. “Would you like a reward?”
> Jan grinned back.
Annalynn can help peel today's meal of fresh turnips!
> Really! Can I not converse with a fellow pseudodragon without all this
> innuendo?
Yeah, honestly!
> Innuendo? I have no idea what you are talking about. Jarran was grinning
> from ear to ear. It was very amusing to have a chance to tease Kay for a
> change. He approached the entrance of the inn and winced at the sound of
> badly played music. There was a young woman sitting next to the door
> playing an interesting musical instrument. The bard studied it. It
> appeared to be a yarting, judging by the flat back to the body, unlike the
> rounded body of a lute or mandolin. At least two of the strings were out
> of tune, and the woman did not seem to be very familiar with how to play
> it.
As that the same bard that's playing in the Trademeet in. I was always miffed the game didn't allow me to give her some coins, especially after the 'I am but a poor bard'-bit...
> Jarran looked at the yarting once again. He had never played one, and
> found it very interesting. They were common enough in Amn and Calimshan
> from what he had heard, and were becoming more popular in many places. He
> brushed the strings again, enjoying the tones, which were lower than most
> stringed instruments he had played. He made a decision. “Would you be
> willing to sell it?” He saw sentiment warring with dire need in her face.
> “I am a bard. I would care for it properly and see that your brother's
> instrument is used to make music that is worthy of his memory.”
> “H-how much?”
> Jarran calculated the worth of the finely made instrument and then
> adjusted that amount to compensate for the high cost of food in Trademeet.
> “Three hundred gold.”
> “Three… sir, you are sent from Milil himself! Thank you!” He counted out
> the coins, and she happily ran down the street. It suddenly occurred to
> him that he had never learned her name.
Still, he did a good deed...
> In a cheerful frame of mind, he entered the inn. As he walked past the
> bar, a young man that he had never laid eyes on before cried out, “What...
> no! No! A Bhaalspawn? Here?!”
> Jarran's mouth fell open. “How…?”
> “No, no! Not after all this time! I won't... ah... ahhh, not again!” With
> a piercing scream and a flash of lightning, the man vanished.
LOL! Little foreshadowing on Bioware's part, I'd say. Thinking up an explanation of Viekang bent my mind into a pretzel.
> “Oh, stop it. I am being serious here.” Then to Jarran's surprise she
> began to chuckle. “No, no, do not stop it. I have been far too serious and
> have worried about too much for too long. What is so wrong with this?
> Nothing! It is ridiculous to feel guilty for laughing.”
Sure is!
> Anomen was seated on the stairs in front of the same house, a small crowd
> of people, many of them children, gathered around him. He was telling a
> tale of Helmite priests and paladins defeating a terrible force of evil
> with a great deal of arm waving and speaking in different voices. Valygar
> heard some of the children gasping in delight at the dramatic battle the
> priest described. As he finished his story, he looked up to see the
> ranger. He said cheerfully, “And now that I have filled your hearts with
> the glory of Helm, my friend is here to fill your bellies.”
Ano the storyteller? Wow, you learn something new every day!
> The people looked startled, then realized that the cart that Valygar had
> brought was loaded with game. Three large bucks and a number of rabbits,
> squirrels and partridges were piled inside. The poor folk of Trademeet
> began to cry out with joy, and people came streaming out of their homes.
> Before long the meat had been distributed with the help of Warinyn,
> Callara's mother.
Ah, they make a great team, really!
> “Both of those women have loved ones whose limbs were broken and mended
> improperly. The only way to truly heal them after all this time is to
> re-break the bones and then use a spell. I want Jarran to accompany me so
> that he can use a sleeping spell on them so that they will not feel the
> pain.”
Ouch! That must not be a fun thing to go through, for both healer and healed...
> All five companions met at the inn for a well-deserved supper. It was
> one of the happiest meals they had ever shared.
I can imagine!
Great story! More soon?
---Weyoun