[WARNING... INCOMING GAME. WARNING... INCOMING GAME.] Ah, the joys of traveling. You can tell that is has rained in this area recently; the ground is still muddy, and the smell of the rain is still there. Here and there you can even make out a rainbow. On the downside, the sky is still dark in a manner promising more of the same, and the dirt used to make this particular stretch of road makes an especially soft mud. As such, your feet keep sinking an inch or three into said road, which not only slows your progress, but also makes an obnoxious sound. The area around you is a highlands, and occasionally you've seen some caves. A thick forest of mighty oaks stretches about you, mostly on the left side of the road; on the right it occasionally becomes thin enough for you to catch glimpses of grassy hills, which currently boast an assortment of flowers. (Aaand, action.) *** Yu-Mei sets mode: +v Nebrinel *** Yu-Mei sets mode: +v Fyril * Fyril sighs as his feet squelch for the umpteenth time. He mutters, "Man, this stuff is never going to come off of my boots." * Nebrinel frowns. "I have to agree... this is very annoying." *** Brett has joined #YeOldeChibiRPG (Hola, Brett. Game in progress. ::passes popcorn::) * Fyril sighs again, more loudly, and looks around. "This area's really pretty, but I prefer to travel without the sound effects." ( Curse you, Yu. Now I have to actually go make popcorn :P ) (Bwahaha! Behold my evil power!) * Nebrinel hmms. "I agree." She extends her hand. "Here, grab my hand, we're going to make some progress." ( Mmm... Popcorn's done. ) * Fyril eyes the hand, then looks to her face. "What're you planning?" * Nebrinel hovers herself out of the Mud. "I prefer a more direct method of travel. We'll fly down the road a distance, hopefully get to a drier spot." * Fyril grins, and stuffs a hand into his pocket. "Not a bad idea." He floats up alongside Nebrinel, and laughs happily. * Nebrinel blinks. "I am surprised. Magical item?" * Fyril shakes his head, and his eyes sparkle. "Nah, just a little thing I learned a while back." He flies forward a bit. "Comes in handy pretty often, I have to say." * Nebrinel chuckles. "I always say Magic is handy. Alright then, let's go." She takes off down the road at a reasonable speed (running into things is bad.) (Note to the both of you; normal rate is one mile per 5 EP expended, and I'm being nice when I quote you that figure. There's a reason mages don't fly everywhere. ;P) * Fyril follows along slightly behind her, whistling happily and looking around at the landscape. He stops whistling for a second to say, "It really is pretty here. Blooming, freshly washed, and far from my feet." He continues whistling. (*chuckles*) But, you proceed down the road. And, after a few minutes, right into a downpour. * Fyril groans, and quickly moves back down to the road, trying to find cover. * Nebrinel curses, and stops. "Damn, flying in rain is a bad idea." The rain comes down in sheets you can scarecely see through. Roll perception, both of you. ^_^ ('perception'...?) Actually, roll perception at a +1 penalty. Yes, Nebby. :P As in "Roll Mind, unless you have heightened perception, or heigtened senses; sight." 2d6+1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Nebrinel (2d6+1) and gets 7. (If you have either of those, you get the normal bonus.) (Yay, made it.) (She made it. You go, too, Fyril. 2d6-5 for you... !_!) (...) 2d6-5 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Fyril (2d6-5) and gets 5. (Score! ^^) (Jesus, that's a horrible roll. ^^;) You both notice a small entrance to a cave off to the right side of the road (unless you turned around, in which case it's on the left.) You'll have to duck to get in, but it's better than, say, standing under a tree. * Fyril gestures wildly off to the right. "You see that cave over there?" * Nebrinel sqiunts. "Yeah. Ya wanna wait in there for this to go by?" * Fyril reaches up to feel his head, and sighs softly. "If we don't, I'll never manage to get my hair right again. C'mon, let's head over." He walks quickly towards the cave, head down to watch his step. * Nebrinel hovers over slowly, and then sets down to duck into the cave. The cave is a tiny bit larger inside; about six feet in height, and perhaps eight feet wide by ten feet deep. There's a depression in the center bearing a pile of ashes, and there is a stain along the cieling, leading out to the mouth, that tells you that fires have burnt here in years past. The cave raises a bit, so that you shouldn't have to worry about water running in. * Fyril ducks down in next to the soaked girl, and presses himself against the wall, grimacing at the soft wet noise that emerges. "Man, like mud wasn't bad enough." It's rather dark inside the cave, for obvious reasons. * Nebrinel runs her hand along her hair. "Gods, I'm soaked." (BTW, you both made it far enough to spend 3 EP on the journey.) * Fyril peers around the cave. "At least this place is more than a hole in the wall." He squints, trying to see around in the darkness. It's awfully hard to see, as it is. You can see the region near the mouth, and that's about it. * Nebrinel frowns, and holds up a hand with a ball of light in it, to get a view of the cave. "All the wood outside, sadly, is soaked." * Fyril pulls a hand through his hair, desperately trying to respike it. "OK, so no fire. Well, no natural one. We can take turns on the light for a while. Maybe it'll let up soon." Now that there is some light, you can see that this cave was apparently inhabited at some time. There is an iron tea kettle that has rusted a bit, and there are three holes carved into the walls; two of them appear to be shelves, and one holds some bery old, but dry, firewood. The dry air that this area enjoys much of the year has kept said wood from rotting much, and apparently no animals have found it. * Nebrinel looks at the shelves, and smiles as she walks over to grab some firewood. "Well, that's lucky." * Fyril glances around the now-lit cave, and smiles warmly. "Yeah! Way better than sitting around completely wet for hours." (You're clothes are still wet, naturally. And it's rather cool in here.) * Nebrinel nods as she starts to drag firewood over to the pile of ashes. "C'mon, help me set some up and we can light it on fire." Oh, I almost forgot; on the right side of the cave, the stone near the fire pit has been chiseled into a position that almost looks comfortable to sit in. It has hay stacked on it, as well, apparently as an attempt at cushioning. (The hay is far enough from the fire pit to not be in too much danger of catching fire.) * Fyril nods, and steps over to Nebrinel to start putting together the wood into a proper pile. "You want to bring it over, and I'll build the pile?" * Nebrinel nods, as she puts a pile of wood down and walks back to pick more up. "That'll work." * Fyril briskly picks up the wood a piece at a time, and starts assembling it into a simple pattern. He keeps glancing up towards the mouth of the cave, listening to the rain. * Nebrinel drags over some more wood, and mms. "Enough?" * Fyril looks briefly from the assembled pile to the new one. "Yeah, that should do for now." He quickly takes the new wood and lays it out in the pattern with the old one. * Nebrinel nods, and takes her cloak off, shaking it off and folding it, waiting for Fyril to finish his work. * Fyril claps his hands, and stands up. "Care to do the honors, or should I?" * Nebrinel waves her hand, as she wrings her hair out. "Go right ahead." * Fyril sets a hand next to the base of the pile, and a soft flame emerges. He leaves his hand there until he's sure it would catch, then moves back. * Fyril smiles, and backs away, moving towards Nebrinel. "There! Nice and cheery." * Nebrinel chuckles. "I would not say 'cheery', but it's definitely an improvement." (Ah, what a happy little cave.) * Fyril unlaces his shirt, then looks over at Nebrinel and blushes slightly. He hastily looks at her cloak. "Hey, if you fold that up, it won't dry." * Nebrinel waves her hand at it. "It's not really wet." Then she stretches. At this point, one would be inclined to notice that she's wet, and that her outfit only covers the upper half of her body and much like a pair of shorts on the lower (black and red). Not exactly a modest outfit. (Especially in this day and age. Sheesh. ^_^) * Fyril hesitatingly finishes unlacing his shirt, and pulls it off. He lays it a safe distance away from the fire to dry. "Well, my stuff certainly is. How can yours not be?" He pulls off his boots, sighs at their muddied look, and sets them next to his shirt. * Nebrinel eyes Fyril thoughtfully. "Well, I meant the cloak. It's waterproof. Years on the road'll make you think of enchanting it that way." * Fyril nods, just slightly overeagerly, and runs a hand back through his hair, trying again futilely to spike it. "Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I haven't been doing this that long. I don't even have a cloak. Just the shirt, boots, pants, you know. Basic things." * Nebrinel picks at her shorts, and chuckles as she sits near the fire. "Well, with experience comes knowledge. You seem like a smart person, you'll catch on quickly." * Nebrinel adds, as an aside as she pulls a brush out of her bag. "I guess I'll just have to let the clothes dry on my body. What luck." * Fyril straightens proudly, and blushes a bit more. "Well, I am pretty good at what I do, I think. Just need to do this more, you're right." He tentatively sits opposite the girl, across the fire. "How long have you been doing this?" * Fyril sits back, his eyes closed. "Yeah, bad luck." * Nebrinel chuckles, and looks up at Fyril across the fire. "A while. Contrary to what you've seen in the past week or so, finding great weapons just isn't that easy." * Fyril absently fingers one of his two swords, and nods. "Great treasures, right? They don't come along every day." * Nebrinel leans forward and looks into the fire. "Yeah, they don't." I still don't know what kind of luck Ada had to come into contact with three or more so quickly, even pieces of them. Outside, a loud peal of thunder rumbles about for a bit. * Fyril sighs, and leans to look into the fire too. "Well, she had me. I've got pretty good luck with finding things, usually." He grins warmly, and his eyes sparkle. "It's a good knack for a thief." * Nebrinel laughs softly as she looks back up to Fyril. "I'm sure." * Fyril blushes, and visibly forces his sightline to stay on Nebrinel. "I haven't found anything legendary yet, but it's only a matter of time. Maybe this time, you know?" * Nebrinel nods. "There's always this time." She huhms. "How'd you get caught up with Ada anyways? I think I figured Ethan, and I'm not so sure about Sei... but I dunno 'bout you." * Fyril grins widely. "I stole Ada's flute the first time I met her, and found her secret identity, all in one go." He smirks. "Not so alert for an operative, I'd say." * Nebrinel huhmphs, and starts brushing her hair out. "Yeah, well, I'd say she's not trying to be so subtle, and that's not such a great idea. Xivilai's got a lot of people who would gladly take her place from her, if they could. Most of the nobles, for some." * Fyril shrugs. "Well, she's been subtle when she's had to be. No one else in my town knew who she was. Just me. And she's only giving herself away to people she thinks will help." He scoots around the fire, and sits next to Nebrinel. "Want me to help with that? I used to brush my sister's hair." He looks over to a cave wall, and blushes furiously. * Nebrinel grins to herself, and blushes despite herself, and turns to the side so he can reach her hair easier. "Sure, go right ahead." She huhms. "Still. Strategy wise, I'd say I was an odd choice, unless she needed someone willing to do what she wouldn't." * Fyril takes the brush, and starts to brush it out with practiced strokes. "I can't say I know why, either. You were there, and maybe she just wanted to help you along. Ada's strange, that way. She seems to like independent people." * Nebrinel mms softly. "An odd one, I will agree. For one, a human with magic. Significant magic, at that." * Fyril continues to brush, slowly moving his gaze to focus on her hair. "Yeah, I've never managed to figure that one out, either. I've been studying this for years, and I've never even heard tale of a human with as much power as she has." He shakes his head in puzzlement. * Nebrinel chuckles. "If I hadn't spent time with Zarias, I don't think I would have been able to handle that so well. And I think Xivilai has something to do with it... for all she does, she's got great skill." ::blink:: (One moment, please.) (Game on.) * Fyril nods, and sighs, trying to focus on the girl's hair. "I can't say it came easy for me to handle, either, trust me." His hands shake slightly as he tries to reconcile the idea. * Nebrinel nods shortly. "I've learned to appreciate humanity a bit more over my life... but it is a definite surprise." * Fyril steadies his hands, and looks into the fire as he brushes rhythmically. "She's definitely full of surprises. Still can't believe she managed to catch me. Or the daggers, for that matter." * Nebrinel chuckles. "Well, the daggers were easy. I, for one, could see through your bag." * Fyril looks over at it, and sees the outline of the remaining daggers pressed to the side by Jordan. He laughs merrily. "Well, I didn't even notice that. I'd better buy a bigger bag." * Nebrinel blinks. "I don't think a bigger bag would have helped me from seeing through it... but there's nothing wrong with being more prepared." * Fyril counts off to himself, brushing away. He snaps with a free hand. "So you mean you could see through it magically. Cool! I never got the hang of that." * Nebrinel chuckles. "Well, I AM somewhat practiced as a mage." She leans back a bit. "Thanks for the brushing, by the way. You're pretty good." * Fyril nods, and blushes as he moves slightly behind her to support her. "I haven't done this for a long while, at least 15 years or so. Ever since Calyniel..." He trails off, his hands brushing softly. * Nebrinel mms softly, and smiles softly despite herself. "Bad memories?" * Fyril shakes his head absently, counting in his head mechanically. "Not really bad, no, just more distant than I'd like." His voice sounds far off. Aah. * Fyril sighs. "But you don't want to hear about that, right? I'm sure there's other stuff you'd like to talk about." * Nebrinel chuckles. "If that's what you want to talk about, you go ahead. I don't mind." * Fyril sighs again. "Well...she left our town a while back. She was...we were very close. And I know she's out here somewhere, but I don't know where to look." * Nebrinel mms. "There's a lot of world to search." * Fyril smiles warmly. "That's what the luck's for, right?" * Nebrinel chuckles. "That it is." * Fyril nods sharply. "500." He takes Nebrinel's hair, and moves it softly over her right shoulder. He leans forward, pressing his bare chest to her back, leaning over her left shoulder, and looking into her eyes in profile, his face a deep red. "How's that?" he asks tentatively. * Nebrinel smiles and looks sideways at him, and grins. "Good. And the brushing went well too." * Fyril blushes a bit more, and he bites his lip briefly. "Thanks. Good to know I've still got it." Session Time: Mon Dec 03 00:00:00 2001 The rain shows no sign of letting up any time soon. * Nebrinel chuckles. "It's not a skill you lose." She reaches down into her bag, and cinches the hair (think like what a scrunchie(sp) does). * Fyril lifts up a hand, and runs it over her hair. "You know what?" * Nebrinel mms. "What?" * Fyril feels his chest warm, and his face burn. He hesitates, looks into the fire, then resolutely back to her face. "Whatever the reasons for you being with us, you're a great surprise. Best so far, I'd say." * Nebrinel grins towards Fyril, and looks down to his chest and back up. "I'm touched." She hmms. "It's a shame, I can't think of any way to repay you for brushing my hair." * Fyril looks out towards the mouth of the cave, the pouring rain. Softly, "Nothing?" * Nebrinel grins, and winks. "Well, some things. But we've only known each other for a couple weeks." She scoots closer to him. "Still, it would only be fair." * Fyril stares out at the rain for a few more seconds, then back to the fire. "Good. Fair." He smiles softly. * Nebrinel grins, and brings her hand around to turn his face towards her. "Well?" * Fyril starts slightly, and moves one hand to cover hers on his face, the other to her knee. He smiles again, and his eyes sparkle. "What do you think?" * Nebrinel giggles, and looks at Fyril softly, and moves forward to kiss him softly and briefly on the mouth. * Fyril turns his head, and kisses softly back. * Nebrinel , when they break the kiss, licks her lips and smiles. "Well. That was unexpected." * Fyril nods and grins. "Surprises again." * Nebrinel chuckles to herself. "It's been a long time since I spent tine with anyone." * Fyril blushes again as he reaches forward to twine his fingers around her hand. "Maybe you should more often." * Nebrinel grins softly at Fyril's blushing face. "Maybe I should." She looks at the fire, then the rain, and mms. "Well, we're stuck here for a while. How about I show you a few more magic tricks?" * Fyril nods and grins, eyes sparkling madly. "Always in the mood for learning more." His face stays the same shade of red. * Nebrinel laughs, and turns towards him and crosslegs, and some lights dance. "Well, then, let's just have some magic training." * Fyril nods and assumes a studious face. "Ready whenever you are." (And I think we can cut there. ^_~) (Cap?) (::points to the /msg deal::) (End or cut to rain end, whichever works best for y'all.) (Great, the massive indecisiveness. Let's do a bit more. ^_~) (I'm ready if Yu is. ^_~) (::sweatdrops:: (Wait, you mean a bit more after they're through? Okay, that'll work. ^_^) Sometime later, the rain subsides. It's mid-afternoon, now. (Er, end narration. And if y'all wanna just call it quits here, that's fine, too.) * Nebrinel banishes her shield spell, and looks outside. "That took a long time." * Fyril looks out past her from where he sits. "Yeah, that was quite the storm." He groans. "Which means the mud will be that much worse." * Nebrinel huhms. "Yeah... Maybe there's something else we can do." * Fyril gets up and stretches. "Want to get going, then? How far away is that military guy's house from here, anyway?" (This is only the first or second day of your traveling, so it's still a good way's off.) (My plan was for you to get to the first town with a port and then take a ship to the city Sergeant's house is in.) * Nebrinel (nods.) * Nebrinel (well, then, how far away is that? ^^;) (Eh. Two days, maybe three if you lag a bit.) * Nebrinel mms. "Two days to the port..." * Fyril picks up his shirt and shrugs it on, laces it up. "Well, there's a good amount of light left. We should try to get closer." * Nebrinel scoops up her cloak, and huhms as she puts it on, looking outside. We won't be able to fly for long. Can we make mud walkers out of this firewood? (There just might be enough of it there, yeah.) ('Course, you'll need something to lash it together with.) * Fyril looks at the remaining pile, and nods. "Yeah, we probably can. Just cut it down a bit more, and stick it on." He makes a face. "And we'll be less squelchy. Only problem is, I don't have anything to tie it on with." * Nebrinel huhms. "Well, I think I can make something... cut up some wood, and I'll see what I can do for rope." * Nebrinel walks over to the wood and picks a few pieces out for her purposes, then sits down on the ground. * Fyril nods, and pulls out his plain, ordinary dagger. He goes to the pile, picks out some wood, and starts to saw at it. * Nebrinel sets the wood down on the ground, and concentrates. * Fyril whistles happily as he saws the wood down, occasionally glancing up at Nebrinel as he finishes a cut. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Nebrinel (2d6-3) and gets 5. (Wootzors.) (The wood is cut into a whole bunch of itty bitty strands.) * Nebrinel grins as the wood falls to pieces. "Glad to see I haven't lost my soft touch." * Fyril blinks, and sets down his dagger. "Wow! How'd you do that?" * Nebrinel grins, and gestures, and a piece of wood across the room gets split. "Blades of air." Simple, efficient, and good for cutting. * Fyril grins, and cocks his head. "Teach me?" * Nebrinel chuckles, and picks up her strands. "Well, alright. After we get these flats made, though. We can do that while we walk." *** Ardweden has quit IRC (Quit: Gika. ) * Fyril nods, and holds two pieces up to his feet. "OK, that'll work for me. Can I see your foot for a second? I need to size it." * Nebrinel nods, and steps close to Fyril. "Go right ahead." * Fyril holds out the other two slabs of wood he'd chosen, and sets them next to her feet. He marks each one at the appropriate lengths, and nods. "Great! This won't take long at all." He goes back to sawing. * Nebrinel nods, and puts the strands down next to him, and then sits back on the floor to watch him work. (Fyril critically succeeds his shoemaker's roll.) (Yeah! ^^) * Fyril works quickly and efficiently to saw the wood down to the right size, sawing quickly through the ancient dry wood. He brushes away a few splinters, then holds them up. "How's that?" * Nebrinel nods and smiles. "Looks good." * Fyril grins, and hands over her pair. He grabs his boots, and shoves his feet into them before lashing the wood to his feet. * Nebrinel does similar, lashing the wood to her feet as well, and walking slowly towards the door. The entrance to the cave is where you left it, fortunately. Outside, the sky is clearing. * Fyril stands up, and makes his way to the door as well, tottering slightly as he does. "These things aren't all that easy to walk on." The road beckons. It's ready for round two, see. * Nebrinel chuckles as she starts to get to walking down the road. "Well, yeah. But I'm sure you can handle it." She winks. "You can always lean on me if you like." (And then it starts raining again! BWAHAHAHA! Kidding.) * Fyril steps out behind her, and starts walking. "Nah, it's easier when they have something to sink into." He blushes slightly. "The leaning part doesn't sound so bad, though." * Nebrinel chuckles. "Lean later. Now, let's work on some air manipulation before we go to air blades." And so, Our Heros exit the cave and move on down the road, while discussing magic. What adventures await them down the road? Did I actually just ask that? Tune in next time. [Session end.]