Walking On Doorsteps

[Ricky Maze]

Walking On Doorsteps
Summer 31st 514 AV, 19th Bell
Location: The Fool's Errand

It was late for the trio that had arrive, or it felt late compared to the amount of time they'd been here. The caravan they'd been traveling with had made a pit stop here at the Mithryn Outpost, a place Ricky never knew existed until today that is, where they were to stay the night in the sheltered walls of the outpost. For once it felt good to know that no such threats from he outside posed a danger on the party that had journeyed what felt like a thousand miles worth. With the amount of time spent getting here they were definitely being rushed in an effort to beat the clock that had been counting down, and that count down was on Ricky's very own life as he struggled to remain as vigorous as ever. Yet there were signs, strong signs no less, that his perseverance was fading. It was present in both his body and mind they've come to be exhausted by the venture, and of course the ability to shrug off another day to be closer to salvation had already dwindled much of his willpower.

But they were so close now. So very, very close to their destination, practically less than a day away and they would be able to save him. Surely he could make it through one more harsh night of a miserably painful headache. Tell dat t' de nosebleeds. He tried his best to silently muse but the exhaustion alone made any signs of amusement vague, at best all he could do was poke about with the food that was present before him. They had arrived at the outpost a few bells earlier and now that the sun had gone down, the three were settled in to rest for the evening. Hannah had already taken to retire to her room for the eve as she had already finished eating her meal, while Ricky and Telion of course sat at a table tucked away from most of the people that resided in the tavern. The Fool's Errand. How ironic that this place was named something like that, after coming this far Ricky himself couldn't help but think the journey here was itself a fool's errand in turn.

The food though great just wasn't something Ricky felt like eating, in truth he hadn't the stomach to hold anything in after the amount of walking he'd done today. "You need to eat Ricky, you'll need you're strength for tomorrow." His wife Telion encouraged softly with great concern, after all much of the coloration in his face had already started to fade. That and another nosebleed started to happen, it was to be expected even when it was sudden. Nevertheless Ricky accepted the rag that was colored red already from the amount of blood that'd dried onto it.

"Oi ain't really 'ungry love, an' dis blasted 'eadache ain't 'elpin any." He responded lowly with a glance over his shoulder to the activity of the other folks that filled the place with mirth, he was already on edge from the amount of painful skull splitting throbs that pang the center of his head. Telion frowned afterwards as she couldn't find anything to say, she definitely felt useless and hated it in turn. After all how do you try and comfort someone who was under a lot of constant pain? She sighed as she scooted closer to him, a hand placed over his as she fell silent for just a few ticks. Between them they had something huge to brood over, but to the rest of those in here that might've paid attention, they would merely look like a couple troubled by a trivial burden.

[Balian Martell]

Your Words I My Words I My Thoughts

It had been about two weeks since he had left the outpost. Two weeks since he first met his Patron Knight, and two weeks that he began his life as an honest squire. In that time, Balian had met other squires; some more….unique than others. He has explored the fortress city and surrounding areas, and he has trained incisively. He has had precious few moments to himself without the wait of some task or responsibility looming overhead. So when he received the task of carrying a message to one of the knights of the outpost and then told to have the day to himself, Balian gladly accepted. The task itself went off without much fanfare. He had left the fortress early in the morning and arrived at the outpost by early afternoon, just after when Syna was at her highest point. He made his way towards the barracks, where he had the best chance to locate the knight in question. Unfortunately, the knight was stationed atop the walls that day, and so he had to make one more stop before his task was done.

Once the task was complete, Balian breathed a sigh of relief. He had went to visit his mother at his family cottage, catching up and hearing all of the local news. It was a pleasant afternoon, however he had not eaten since the morning and his mother had not prepared anything for this surprise visit. Not being able to ignore his grumbling stomach any longer, he bid his mother farewell, at least until later that evening when he would return to sleep in his old room. His legs took him, almost effortlessly and without command, to the one place that he knew he could get a good, hot meal; the Fool’s Errand.

He entered the establishment, as he had many times before. However this time he had slightly more coin than usual, and of course he was dressed in his squire attire; his blue shirt that lay under his chainmail shirt, which was in turn covered by his cotton tabard, his plate grieves, leather vambrace, leather gaurdbrace…in short, the typical light armour of a Syliran Knight, minus the pin of course. The only additions that he had added to this ensemble was his leather gloves and the hand-and-a-half sword that hung off his left side. The Errand had its usual number of patrons; some of these people that Balian himself had grown up with. Those waved him a cheerful greeting, which he returned in kind. There was of course those that he did not know, mostly travelers that had stopped for the night at the outpost. Balian sat himself a few tables away from one such group, two in total. He paid them only glancing notice, although one of them, a man, did look rather pale. The thought left his mind as soon as one of the servers arrived to take his order. Even though he has had it before, Balian still felt a bit childish when he ordered a mug of ale, along with his dinner. Of course, the ale was the first to arrive, and taking it in his right hand, he took a good drink from the mug as he waited for the food.

[Ricky Maze]

There was no change in the fisherman as he would remain still with a head hung down, eyes cast to the table as he tried to massage the temples of his head. His skull felt ready to burst now and the conversations that echoed in the room were hardly helpful in this case, hell even the sound of a mug as it clanked on the wooden table nearly made him want to cringe. With his wife there to comfort him of course it was all so slightly bearable, but only to a point where Ricky didn't loose it in front of the entire crowd of course. One more night... just one more night. Yet even then he wasn't sure how close he was towards giving up, to stopping here and just letting everything go so he no longer had to worry about it. He was, most surely, exhausted from the fight he had put on during this journey. Hallucinations were something he had to handle and in turn he couldn't tell what exactly was real on this trip, only that his mind was clearly ill from the sickness that threatened to kill him from within.

Telion of course would notice the new arrival of another, her glance over to him returned for but a brief moment before she focused on Ricky once more. "I know your hurting dear, I know your tired and don't feel like eating... but please, for me, would you eat your dinner so you can rest. When you finish your bowl we can go to our room and get you to bed." She pleaded with a hand on the back of his head, she made sure to be gentle when she massaged it and ran her fingers through his grungy hair. He was a mess. They both were in fact, but they hardly had the time to clean up, considering Ricky faced the countdown of a ticking time clock.

"Oi... Oi'll try." He sighed as he gave in. He was too tired to fight, to tired to do much of anything these days. When the fisherman started to eat a spoonful of the stew, yet his taste buds didn't revel delight as they normally would. Pretty much the food seemed bland, which could mean several things. First being Ricky was too used to dried food rations, second would be that this wonderful food had hardly any taste, or third being the worst case scenario and he's already lost a sense of taste to begin with. He hoped the third wasn't the case, yet even so he found it impossible to care as he tried to satisfy the request of his love. No doubt he looked rather pitiful too, the weak slurps and painful chews led to him wishing he hadn't taken to eating at all. The pressure in his head, his face, all of it just made him feel like he was swollen. There was a small sheen of cold sweat too, all in all his appearance tonight was far from what he would prefer.

"Tonight," Telion spoke softly to keep from hurting his head further, "That's all we have left. Tonight and then we're in Syliras, you'll feel better and no longer be in pain. I promise." She assured him as he gave a few weak nods, still in the process of force feeding himself even if he didn't feel up to eating to begin with.

[Acinonyx]

Yet another new place for me, thought Aci as he wondered into this tavern. He had been exploring Syliras for some time now and only now has he ventured into this outpost. The name escapes him though, all these blasted names! How do the non-shifters ever remember everything? The journey from the actual city to this outpost was not as dangerous as he was expecting, but perhaps he was lucky. He didn't really have anything else in comparison in his inexperienced, sheltered life, save the Bronze Woods, although he had spent a lot of his time hunting there it was like a second home to him. Certainly, it was his territory. Looking around the room, it seemed simple enough. This brought a smile to Aci's face as he stood in the doorway. The atmosphere clashed somewhat with the look though, the sound of hearty conversations and cheery greetings seemed to contradict the militant appearance and this weakened Aci's smile. Being a lover of perfection, this clash just simply will not do, but he'll learn to live with it. Hunger was not on Aci's mind as of now, he was just looking around. Maybe he looked a bit strange to everyone everywhere as he just roamed the city, but he didn't care much for that, he felt it had a purpose. Widening his knowledge is essential. He looked around then and saw a typical assortment of people, a few knights here and there, even one with leather gloves who seemed to know everyone. He seemed like the type of person to say hi to and get to know. He stepped forward, then his ears pricked at the sound of someone grumbling painfully. With a quick turn of the head, a man and a woman where sitting just a few yards away from him. "Oi'll try..." A nosebleed had leaked, touching his lip before being wiped away by an already red rag. Oh no, that just will not do. Changing direction rather abruptly, Aci produced his own, clean rag that he personally used to soak up any blood after a hunt. Succeeding the hunts, he always took the time to clean the rag, it just felt right, you know? With a hand outstretched, Aci offered this rag to the stranger with good intentions while hinting at his dirty rag. "Here, looks like you'll need this more than that thing you have there."

[Balian Martell]

Your Words I My Words I My Thoughts

His food arrived promptly. A hot stew accompanied by a piece of bread. Nothing fancy, but the food here was generally good, and it did satisfy the hunger. the first spoonful of stew was still uncomfortably hot for Balian, so he let the bowl sit, waiting for it to cool down a bit. As he waited, his attention returned to those around him, particularly to the two travelers a few tables away. Travelers were not uncommon at the outpost, it being a natural layover for those traveling between Syliras and most other cities in the region, and his natural curiosity usually led him to find out what he could about such people; where they were from, where were they headed, what stories did they have…anything regarding the world outside his known boundaries. And while his curiosrity did peak at these two in front him, the man’s sickly expression and pained moans were enough of a deterrence; it was clear to him that the last thing they needed was some nosey stranger. They’re probably on their way to Syliras, no sense in traveling while you’re sick. He could find a healer there.

He checked his stew once more, it now being at a more tolerable temperature. No sooner had he taken his first spoonful when another man gained his notice. A slim man, not to tall had entered the Errand and he seemed to scan the crowed. Another Traveler? Balian had not seen this man before, so it was possible, or he simply could be from Syliras, were Balian new almost no one outside the order. This new man seemed to walk towards him as he ate, but then abruptly changed directions. He turned to the couple with the pale man, and offered him something. His back was turned to Balian so he couldn’t quite see, nor could he hear anything more that some words being spoken to softly to make out. By now Balians mug was almost empty, and he was halfway through his stew. The three in front of him interested the young squire enough to eat slowly, as he wanted to see what happened next. He made his mind up to introduce himself to them after he had finished, if nothing else to see if he could help the sick man. After all, that was what Knights were supposed to do, right?

[Ricky Maze]

The sudden flash of another rag provided from a stranger had brought on a look of shock at first, the couple had given a bit of an awkward stare that might've suggested the fellow had imposed on them at first. Yet the gesture turned out to be looked upon in kindness as Telion rose to accept it from him, Ricky was just too damn exhausted and pained to do anything other than look about. He hated that he had a sullen look to him, the paleness featured in his expression, it just easily showed how weak he'd come to be after the long trip that they made.

"Thank you." Telion reflected appreciation for the both of them as Ricky followed along, though his thanks was a soft mumble that showed he didn't really feel up to greeting newcomers so enthusiastically. "We appreciate the kind gesture sir, had we any proper way to show it then we would. Unfortunately the trip has worn us both down, an my husband here needs rest before we make it to Syliras tomorrow." She explained as she took her seat next to Ricky once more, as the fisherman looked as though he couldn't really eat anymore to begin with. His stomach told him and the two around him that he felt hungry sure, but his mind definitely didn't feel up to the extra effort that would be put in eating. He was so very tired, and so very ready to just give up.

With the new rag handed over from his beloved he used it to wipe away the blood that started to trickle down once again, he'd suffered quite a bit of that today apparently. He'd lost count of the days worth of travel made and the amount of bleeding that occurred in the process, but now that they were practically on Syliras' doorstep that hardly seemed to matter. Would he make it tomorrow? He felt as though he didn't want to take any more steps to be honest, that he would just lay in bed the whole day and see if he would feel better then. Though he knew that wouldn't be the case. His condition was already getting worse and if he continued to waste more time, then he wouldn't have any more will left to push forward. Whatever small amount of will he had left, come the morning, he had to force himself to keep moving. "Oi'm tryin' love." He assured her as he felt her watching him with even more concern, seeing as how he probably didn't look to provide much effort in eating.

"I know dear, I know. Just take it slow, you'll be fine." She encouraged him before she looked up to the stranger once more. "Would you like to sit with us if you like? We're not going to be very lively company, but all the same you're welcome t' join us for the evening." It was an invitation extended out of courtesy, given that they were in a civilized place after all. Spending enough time in the wilds could easily make one forget their manners, yet now that they were back in the presence of people they were all the more ready to finish their journey in hopes to return home soon afterwards.

[Acinonyx]

Perhaps they are in much worse shape than I had first anticipated... Aci thought to himself. The man had barely managed a thank you and only spoke properly when addressing his wife, saying he'll be fine in a thick, unfamiliar accent. Well, he doesn't look fine. The woman extended a polite invitation to Aci to join them at the table. Aci thought about it, and it wasn't a very hard decision. They seemed kind, polite, even called him sir, which was a first in his life. He smiled at the request and even more at the specific words, "We're not going to be very lively company." As Aci accepted the offer and sat down, he responded, "It's completely fine, I can hold up with un-lively company. Trip, eh? What uhh... What kind of trip? Oh and, uh, you may keep that rag if you like. I have plenty more." Which wasn't actually true, but he quickly decided the need of the stranger was more important than his small detriment. He'll just find/buy/steal another for his hunting in the future. Aci's curiosity was poking at the veil of the strangers' recent past. Wanting to help leads him to wanting to know more about the situation that caused the grief in the first place. Plus, such a trip that would leave a man so exhausted must not be boring, so there was a small element of interest there too. They must be travellers of some sort, maybe they weren't even from Syliras in the first place and they were just fishing out for a place to rest properly and attend to the man's problems. He also wondered about the relationship between the two. It doesn't take a genius to work out they are close, maybe they were involved. Or maybe they were just brother and sister. Who knows? However, one question at a time. He didn't want to seem too much like an interrogator.

[Balian Martell]

Your Words I My Words I My Thoughts

Balian was curious at the gathering. At first it was just the two people who appeared to be traveling to Syliras; one of whom did not look well. Then a third had entered and joined the group. When the new arrival sat and joined the other two, Balian’s curiosity was aroused even more. With a last spoonful of stew, and the last bit of ale washing it down, Balian got up from his chair and made his way towards them, the wooden seat grating against the floor, leaving the coins necessary to pay for the meal.

He made his way over to the small group, first to see if there was anything that the sick man needed, and secondly to satisfy his curiosity. He always enjoyed learning of the different places that travelers came from and the stories that they could tell of the road. He covered the space in just a few strides, his chainmail clinking slightly with each step. He never once stopped to consider how he might appear to the travelers, dressed as he was in the knights standard issue light amour, sword strapped to his belt and all. In his mind he had yet to make that switch, from civilian to member of the order, often times he still found himself approaching things as he normally would, while those around him would react instead to sigil displayed on his Tabard. And so he approached the group as such.

“Excuse me, sorry t’inturrupt, but I couldn’t help but t anotice that you don’t look t’well.” He spoke addressing the pale looking man, “Is thare any thing I cuild do ta help?” He stood there, waiting for a reply, glancing quickly between the man and the woman.

oocI am attempting to give Balian a slight Scottish accent, still tweaking that around, so bare with any seemingly misspelled words please.

[Ricky Maze]

oocNo worries Bal! Ricky's dialogue is actually tweaked derived version of the Irish accent, half the time I worry about whether or not people can actually read his dialogue because its that bad. And apologies if Ricky's turning out to be antisocial in this thread, I never realized how bad he is with interacting when he feels like shit. >.>

"Well," Telion glanced over to Ricky as the newcomer took a seat, "my husband and I have come to Syliras for the Priestess of Rak'keli. We're hoping her healing powers can save Ricky from his condition." Ricky would've chuckled or snorted then, but given the fact every muscle in his face might've wound up creating a worse headache, he remained indifferent as he crumpled the rag in his hand and held it under his nose.

"Priskil 'elp me if she can't." He murmured with eyes shut for a moment, he still felt Telion's hand gently massage into his shoulder as she presently showed more concern for him. That was when another decided to show up, the clink of his light armor just a bit of an irritation to Ricky's eardrums with each sound the chainmail made. He offered to help them however he could and when the sound of his armor no longer tortured Ricky's head, the fisherman finally opened his eyes once more to see who exactly this man was. Brown hair. Brown eyes. Both lighter colors. Friendly face. Thin frame. Sigil of the Knights. All these things helped Ricky identify this young man but in that moment it also hurt to process these things, why that was so was of course beyond Ricky other than the fact he was exhausted and this illness threatened to make his mind addled.

"Oh, not really but thank you." Telion answered for the both of them, her attention shifted between the three men as she felt a bit strange about the confrontation. Sure she didn't mind social gatherings and the like, but given that both her and Ricky were far from home and he was most likely deathly sick at this point... she was definitely a bit nervous about being here, and seeing as how their journey alone was already hectic enough. "We just need to rest and be ready to make for Syliras first thing tomorrow, the quicker we get there the better for my husband." A thought then hit her as she definitely looked to have a question, which caused her to send a look of curiosity at the would be knight or squire that just accompanied them. "How long of a walk is it from here to Syliras, if you wouldn't mind me asking sir?"

[Balian Martell]

Your Words I My Words I My Thoughts

Balians face scrunched for a tick as he tried to calculate how long it would take on foot. He only ever made the trip three times before, and those time had been on horseback. He unconsciously gripped the pommel of his sword as he thought. How long did it take me last time? Around 4 bells….so on foot… “Well, on foot I’d say it’ll take…seven to eight bells” he took a pause as he estimated as best he could the time. “if ye can travel on horse…” he took a quick glance at the ill looking man, “…or on a cart, it’ll be fast’r.”

The man did not look well, and remained as motionless as possible, seemingly trying to avoid causing any pain. The concern on the woman’s face and voice also lent to his theory that the man was in fact ill. He took stock of the third person there, the lean man that had entered earlier. He seemed content with listening for now, so Balian continued. “if ye want, there is a shop ‘ere at the outpost, that sells medicine. I’ am sure ye can find some’thin there t’help, least till ye get to the city.” He spoke of the general shop located by the western wall of Mithryn, the Brunde and Brady Supply shop. It was a simple shop, used by the residents of the outpost for their general everyday needs, and what medicines they did have may not be able to cure whatever ailed the foreign man, but perhaps it could help. He would even be willing to go there himself and buy something, if only to help. That’s what knights did, right?