[Rearing Stallion] Winding down, and up. (Coryn)

by **Alexander Faircroft** on January 29th, 2016, 6:55 pm

Time stamp

Time

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

The fire warmed the corner of the room, Alex found himself twisting his eyes to the flame briefly feeling a part of him slipping into the flames. Five long years of near constant travel and it felt like he left a piece of him behind. He felt his face fall form the small smile that he held out of courtesy sipping another small mouthful from the edge of the mug. He caught a glimmer of something in her face out of the corner of his eye however. A small flicker of sadness, loneliness barely even there. Her voice cut the din nearby briefly. She finished her shift soon.
“You finish soon? I take it that means that you’ll be taking the time away from this place? Shame really, it’s nice having someone else to talk too who isn’t looking for something from someone.” A small smile from him genuine and distant. The last five years of his life he’d been constantly taken advantage of. His skill with a bow used by his father time and time again. Apparently boring wasn’t the right word for her current situation. “That bad? You have my honest sympathies.” His tone still carried the honesty too it but with an edge of belied sadness himself. Her follow up of how long had he been in the city for was an easy enough answer. He had nothing to hide. “I’ve been in the city for around a year almost. It’s been an eventful year. If a difficult one.”

Her follow up was a curiosity broken in two by a slight pause. Probably lost in thought. Then the fact she missed the sea and didn’t know how people coped here. “Hope.” His one word answer. Rang with more honesty and strength than anything else he’d said that evening. “You get through the days with the never ending hope that tomorrow will be a better one.” His voice calm almost soothing as he spoke. “I can understand you missing the sea, I spent some time in the coastal cities. And I miss the reflection of Syna off of the waves in the morning. And the soft glow of Leth’s light against the blackened beaches.” He paused a moment taking his eyes back around now to look her in the eyes again.

“Here is closed but within the walled city there is safety. Much more than out in the world. And sometimes a little security is worth the loss of the open expanse.”

He held that smile a little more and softly plied his fingers over the icon of a watchtower around his neck. “The Key to getting through things. Is to have hope. Without hope there’s no perseverance. And with hope even a lost cause can find a solid foundation.” Realizing what he’d been saying he lowered his head a bit and his face flushed slightly red. Embarrassed that once again he’d just spoken without thinking of hwo to guard his words. “Sorry…I kind of get lost in rambling sometimes.”

by **Coryn** on January 30th, 2016, 1:11 pm

Hope.

The word was a simple one, but even Coryn knew that it bore a great weight. If hope was the key to remaining sane into Syliras, she already felt pretty - and ironically - hopeless. Frustrated, she sighed and wiped at a stubborn ring-stain on the table. “This is why coasters are made available.” She muttered grumpily.

The safety found within the city was easier for her to appreciate. During those first few blinding days, Coryn had stayed within the medical centre whilst doctors and healers prodded and poked her. Each day had bought a new tragic and damaged man or woman, some of them broken like a child’s toy. Wolves, bandits, exhaustion, poison, accidents, exposure: all could lead to serious injury or death and typically occurred outside the stifling walls of the city. For that, Coryn was thankful. But in truth she had little interest in the land beyond Syliras. She was far more interested in the sea, where only some of the previous dangers could be suffered.

“I just need to adapt,” she decided after more wiping and scrubbing with her cleaning rag. Coryn released another sigh, exhausted both mentally and physically. Adaptation was a slow progress, and she had made that first step by getting a job. She would earn money, like everyone in the city did or tried to do. What exactly she would do with her petty cash, however, was an unknown. She felt little need for physical things, or indeed any belongings. And certainly working in the taverns was not how she wanted to spend her time. “How did you know you wanted to be a Knight?” She asked, her head tilted towards the male inquisitively. Though Coryn was hardly going to sign up herself, she was curious as to how someone chose their field of expertise. “Did you always want to be one? Or did you try different things beforehand?” She had become a barmaid based on the sound advice that it was easy work, and did not require any specific skill. But perhaps the easy road was equally the most boring or tedious. She needed a challenge, something to keep her mind busy.

by **Alexander Faircroft** on January 30th, 2016, 4:02 pm

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

Listening out he heard a sharp and frustrates sigh. She’d begun to dig at a sticky ring stain on the counter. Even catching the grumpily muttered statement and coaxing a small chuckle from him not at her not the situation but the mannerism in which she’d attacked the stain. As if that one small spot was the cause of all her problems. She just needed to adapt? To her job or her surroundings? Either way Alex gave a small nod. “It takes time but it gets easier with time.” A long pause passed between the statement and a question, a gap that said she was planning out something.

How did he know he wanted to be a knight? Id he always want to be one or did he try something different beforehand? He sighed again heavier deeper like lifting up an old weight on his shoulders. Placing the ale on a coaster on the bar lest he suffer her fury of cleaning. He lifted the loop of symbols from around his neck. The ones he’d been twiddling and adjusting most of the evening. “These.” He paused placing the array of wooden icons over the counter top allowing each its proper place and a vision of all the different woods and colours in each. “It was my mothers, before she died. She was a good woman. A kind one too. My father took me from where I was born and where she died to this place. Finding out he died after abandoning me here. I decided to join with the knights as a way of carrying on a legacy that they offered to me. As a way to help bring hope to the people who have none.” He paused a moment looking down at the array of symbols. “In the past I tried my hand at being a hunter for a while. Never was too good at it but a fair shot with the bow. I never intended initially to become a knight but…It feels right now that I’m on my way there.”

Realizing he’d been babbling and dredging up his past he felt a little colour crawl up his face again. “Sorry, rambling again. How about yourself? Did you want to become a bartender or do you think there’s a greater goal in life. A reason for you being here? Is this just a means to an end or is this what you want to do?” Honest enough statements and simple enough questions but so rapid fire that he was almost tumbling over his own words. Not sure of what to ask or when exactly to stop.

by **Coryn** on February 2nd, 2016, 5:17 pm

Coryn listened patiently as the young knight explained himself. The inspiration for his chosen career path was his mother, and her manifestation as a beaded necklace, a sweet token in truth. But it was no help to Coryn, who continued to pick and scrub at the ring stain with growing angst and frustration.

She snorted derisively at his question. Had she always wanted to be barmaid? The fact he had asked this question alerted Coryn that were people who perhaps did choose this as their chosen career. Those poor, fortunate, souls, she thought, pitying and envying them all at once. How simple life would be if she had such simple wishes. Want to be a barmaid? No problem! Here you go, a skill-less and thankless job just for you! “No, this is not what I’ve always wanted to be.” She replied curtly, half insulted that he would even think such a thing. Did she give the impression of being such a simpleton?

Clearing her throat, she glanced around to the rest of the tavern. The number of guests had slowly grown since Coryn had first approached the knight, and a single look from Kevith informed her that she needed to pay for attention to their other patrons. She rose to her feet, nodding slightly to Alexander and bidding him farewell. “Enjoy your evening. Let me know if you want anything else.” As she turned away from him, another patron approached her and lay a casual hand on her forearm. The Svefra winced minutely as the male’s desires swept over her. “Ale.” She said to him before he even managed to shape his lips. The would-be drinker nodded, both surprised and a little unnerved at the accuracy of her apparently guess.

This time when Coryn smiled, it was genuine. The blessed gift of being a Ranuri was that providing someone with the simplest of things gave her a pleasure that would otherwise be quite absent from her life.

oocI figured this was a good place to wrap it up

Thanks for the first thread!

by **Konrad Venger** on March 27th, 2016, 12:37 am

Nice job! Your work has pleased The Sloth!

Alexander

XP:
Observation - 2
Socialization - 3
Intimidation - 1
Rhetoric - 2
Philosophy - 2
Investigation - 1

Lore:
Coryn: Elegant But Not Simple
End Things Before they Escalate
Why Hang Around Me?
Hope and Perseverance
The Necklace: Preserve of Gods, Memories and Motivations

Coryn

XP:
Socialization - 2
Acting - 1
Observation - 3
Subterfuge - 2
Investigation - 1

Lore:
Barmaid: One Job, Many Roles
Acting: The "Easy-Breezy" Voice
Squire Faircroft: Young and Noble-Spirited
Subterfuge: Can't Let the Real Me Be Easily Known

Click Me! :

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