Post by antonios on Nov 16, 2011 17:37:15 GMT
Trying to have a better background with Vesa and Martin and seeing how our guys know each other, after talking and chatting and exchanging ideas I composed this. They have already seen it and were ok with it. It can still change it before posting it on OP (and even there). Just thought of giving you some basis for future adventures or what. If we start properly today, I wouldn't mind a five minute chat on what we know about each other so that we can be more believable in game, and especially when we interact with NPCs.
So... EPs and honour for everybody for our collaborative effort? ;D
----------------------------
'Hej', said the middle-aged man to Pyry who was kneeling at the turn of the path. It was cold in these first hours of dusk in the forest.
'Terve', replied Pyry. He looked at the man with a smile. Based on his characteristics and accent, he was a Frithlander, and an ugly one at that. 'What are you doing there?', asked the man.
'I am hunting!', replied Pyry loudly, dislodging some herbs from the ground with his knife. 'It's a fine day for a hunt!'
'You are hunting for worms? That bow you have there isn't so useful then!' The man smiled.
'No', said Pyry jumping up from his kneeling position, 'I am hunting for deer!'. He stumbled a few steps and almost fell. He was lightheaded; I shouldn't get up so fast, he said to himself.
'And… did you find any deer in there?' The other man laughed heartily. Pyry laughed back, regaining his balance.
'You need herbs to cook too, no?' He showed the other man what he was gathering. It was all forest growths and herbs and mushrooms.
The man showed one of the herbs disapprovingly, still laughing. 'You cook with this, you will fertilize your fields yourself in a day!'.
'I don't have fields!', said Pyry laughing. 'You don't eat the flower! You eat the root only... ...after you boil it! Here, have a few! Gift from Pyry!'
The man took an intrigued face and took the herbs. 'I am Volmar, Pyry. You are a hunter? Or a tavernier?'
'I am a tanner. But I don't do tanning now, I would have smelt so much the animals wouldn't be anywhere near me. Next season again. Want to join for a deer? Easier to carry back for two people'.
Volmar laughed. 'It's not that easy. This knee here', he said, holding his left knee, 'has a mind of its own. It tells me where to go and when. You might have to carry the deer and me back!'.
'Oh', said Pyry, 'and how do you hunt?'
'I don't! I am a scribe and researcher. Others do the hunting for me. I just eat what's on the table!'.
'A very rich man you are then!', said Pyry.
Volmar laughed. 'Hardly! I am simply surrounded by books! And expensive as they might be, they are neither that expensive, nor are they mine!'.
'So you can read...'
'Yes, that’s the point you see. Learn and write and read for others to learn too!'
'How can others learn to hunt, if you don't go hunting? Just by telling them? If I don't go hunting now and continue talking here, the animals will hear us and get scared! Also, it will rain later on!'
Volmar laughed again. 'Rain, you say? I have to get going then and you'd better be going yourself. Animals wouldn't get on the path, they are clever enough to know where they are in danger. A successful hunt, Pyry!', said Volmar, giving his hand.
'Happy... reading?', replied Pyry, shaking Volmar's hand. 'Ask for my wares if you want skins and furs!'
'Will do that! I'll ask what happens to those you cook for too!'. Volmar turned and left, walking slowly down the path. Pyry smiled, setting his bow and arrows.
Looks like a good man, he thought. But, a life of reading? Buried in books? No hunting?
How boring is that?
--------------------------
It was cold that winter. His father was still in bed, coughing. Maybe his time wasn't so far now, but young Pyry knew not of this. Life was going on almost as usual, his father in bed in pain, his mother always troubled and stern-faced, yet always finding the time for a smile.
There was some upheaval in the settlement, The elder was also sick. Some Frithlanders had come from far away to see him. Were they healers? Priests? Pyry didn't know. But his mother was looking at the elder's simple lodge every now and then, agitated.
When they came at the elder's lodge Pyry didn't know. Nor did he know how long they stayed. But they were leaving now, and his mother left the boiling broth in the fire, something she would have never done, and started running after them. 'Wait, wait', she shouted twice, before the small pose of men stopped for her. They talked for just a few moments, and one man started following her, the others heading towards their horses. They were now reaching their lodge, Pyry looking outside. 'Out, both of you, said his mother, go out to play'. It didn't sound like her at all.
Pyry looked at the man and gaped. He was impressive… yet not a human. Pyry could guess neither his age, nor why he was so short. He was as tall as some of the young hunters, but his looks suggested a different age. An age altogether indiscernible behind the brown wavy hair and the stunning face of the man with the pointed ears. Twenty? Thirty? More? But the man looked calm behind his angular characteristics. His presence exuded peace and calm. Pyry cautiously took a step back and exited. He had never seen a non-human before.
He was looking inside to see what's going on. His mother lead the man next to his father, but all the talk was muffled, almost whispery. The man started examining him, or so Pyry thought. They talked, all three of them, and the man stayed for quite a while. When they finished the man rose, greeting his father good health, 'hej' he clearly said, and exited with his mother. Pyry run to the side of the lodge not to be in front of them and followed them a few steps behind, pretending he was playing. They talked for a few moments, hushed and in a low voice and Pyry heard none of it. But he clearly heard the last words of the man, when he stopped, looked at his mother straight in the eyes and held both her arms firmly in compassion.
'I can't do anything about this. Be strong'.
The man looked down and walked towards his comrades in a quickened step. His mother stood there, bringing her hands in her face.
And Pyry knew long before he learnt the word elf that he would never forget this elf's face.
------------------------------
'They tell me you sell skins and furs...'
Pyry turned around from looking at the sights and sounds of the market. 'Yes, I...'. He immediately smiled. 'Volmar!' Two months had passed since they had met in the forest.
'I see you in good health! No stomach problems with your food?', joked the Frithlander.
Pyry laughed. 'Only if you don't know how to prepare it! How is your reading going? Can you now read more letters than before?' Volmar wasn't sure whether this was a genuine question or joke; the former seemed far more likely.
'It doesn't work that way. One day I might show you a few things'.
'One day I show you how to prepare food properly! But today you are here for a good fur, no?'
'How much for these one?', a voice interrupted them.
Both men turned. Volmar immediately recognized the man and greeted him by name. But Pyry didn't hear any of it. His jaw had practically dropped to the ground. He swallowed hard, and caught his good luck charms in his right hand.
Under the winter sun, in the fresh air of the market, Pyry saw a face he thought little of, but knew he would have never forgotten. The face of an elf. That elf.
'I know you', he said hesitantly. 'You are a healer. You were there a few days before my father died.'
'Hej Volmar', the elf said. 'What are you working about this time?' Obviously the two others knew each other.
'I remember you too', the elf said to him. 'I am not a healer, as much as I can help people in need of one. I couldn't do anything for your father'. A few moments passed. 'You grew up well'.
'You are the same!', Pyry blurted out in disbelief. Volmar and the elf laughed. Apparently they knew something he didn’t. 'Who are you? What are you?'
'I am Ainon, an elf. I am working for the church of the Caregiver. And I want to buy things you might be selling. No?' The elf laughed at Pyry.
'Yes, I am selling', Pyry replied. 'What is it that you want it for? And Volmar, how can I help you?'.
-------------------
Pyry was nervous. He hadn't done something like that before. What if the Frithlanders were as lazy and dishonourable as they were said to be?
His mother wasn't happy in the least. Far from being a possessive one, she didn't want her son to mix with the lowlanders. She could do nothing about it though but watch him walk away with his meager belongings. He obviously hadn't thought anything out, but isn't this how real men learn?
It was a few days march to the city, a route Pyry knew only too well. He recognized some of the people on his way, even though he wasn't sure whether greeting them loudly was a good idea. Most seemed afraid by his physique and the barbed axe he was carrying, or was it his accent and manners? Frithlanders and their weird habits.
It didn't take him long to find something he wished to do. He wanted to travel. He wanted adventure. But he wanted something familiar too. When he heard of that skinner Markus hiring people to accompany him, he had a good feeling. I know the job, maybe if the trip goes wrong I can help out with the skinning, he thought to himself. Or maybe I can hunt and cook.
So there he was now at that inn where Markus was supposed to be. He ordered an ale and told the keeper whom he was searching for. The man behind the bar nodded towards a corner where two men were sited. Through the crowd Pyry couldn't make them out, so he consciously started towards them when a hand caught him firmly by the shoulder.
'Now that's a place I wouldn't expect to see you!' Pyry recognised the voice. He turned.
'Volmar! And by the looks of it, you study beer-drinking!'
Volmar laughed. 'I am only waiting for someone for a job. You might know him effectively, he is a skinner.'
'You want to become a skinner? You pay me, I can teach you anything! Even how to cook for people you like or you don't like!'
'But I don't have any money!', replied the Frithlander. 'Ah, there he is in the corner'.
Pyry was honestly surprised. 'You are looking for Markus?'
'Yes. You know him?'
'No, but I am looking for him myself. He wants strong men to accompany him, no?'
'So we are here for the same reason, Pyry!'.
Pyry smiled with trepidation. Was he going to lose a job he didn't even apply for? He immediately grinned back to himself. That is nonsense. The Frithlander is a good fellow, but there is no way he is stronger than himself. He can't hunt, he can't cook, there is no way he would loose this job.
'Yeah', Pyry said absentmindedly. 'Let's go find him!'
It wasn't more than a few steps in the crowd when Pyry realised that one of the two men sitting in the corner was Ainon. And by the looks of it, the other was Markus indeed. Did he lose the job to Ainon? How complicated all this was.
'I am here for the job!, Pyry shouted from two meters away through the bustle of the crowd. He practically shoved the last guy between him and the table, in between a midst of short grunts and protests which died as soon as he passed.
The man who was Markus turned his head and looked at him unphased. Ainon did the same. 'Hej Pyry', he said.
'Is that so?', the skinner said. 'Sit with us, Kolkko. If Ainon knows you, that's good enough. And if you are here for the job, you already know what it is about and what it pays'.
That was going too fast for Pyry. 'You mean, I got it?' he blurted. He didn't even greet Ainon in his confusion.
'Don't you want it, son?', asked Markus disbelievingly. 'One more man and we leave first thing in the morning.'
'You mean, you want more than one man?'. Maybe this wasn't the cleverest thing to ask, he immediately thought.
'Are you drunk, Kolkko? Are you sure you are good for this? Yes, I want three men!'
'Then you get this man here behind me!', Pyry exclaimed loudly. 'I know him, and Ainon knows him too. Hello Ainon! Three men! Like you want!'
Markus grinned with surprise at Ainon and back at Pyry and now at Volmar, who had finally waded through the crowd. A few moments passed, in total silence, Pyry thought, inside the bustliing inn.
'Why not?', said Markus, gulping down from his ale. 'No need to waste the evening looking for men when men are here'.
Pyry sat fast in the bench next to Ainon and let his beer on the table with a bang. 'I will travel!', he thought. 'With people I know!'.
So... EPs and honour for everybody for our collaborative effort? ;D
----------------------------
'Hej', said the middle-aged man to Pyry who was kneeling at the turn of the path. It was cold in these first hours of dusk in the forest.
'Terve', replied Pyry. He looked at the man with a smile. Based on his characteristics and accent, he was a Frithlander, and an ugly one at that. 'What are you doing there?', asked the man.
'I am hunting!', replied Pyry loudly, dislodging some herbs from the ground with his knife. 'It's a fine day for a hunt!'
'You are hunting for worms? That bow you have there isn't so useful then!' The man smiled.
'No', said Pyry jumping up from his kneeling position, 'I am hunting for deer!'. He stumbled a few steps and almost fell. He was lightheaded; I shouldn't get up so fast, he said to himself.
'And… did you find any deer in there?' The other man laughed heartily. Pyry laughed back, regaining his balance.
'You need herbs to cook too, no?' He showed the other man what he was gathering. It was all forest growths and herbs and mushrooms.
The man showed one of the herbs disapprovingly, still laughing. 'You cook with this, you will fertilize your fields yourself in a day!'.
'I don't have fields!', said Pyry laughing. 'You don't eat the flower! You eat the root only... ...after you boil it! Here, have a few! Gift from Pyry!'
The man took an intrigued face and took the herbs. 'I am Volmar, Pyry. You are a hunter? Or a tavernier?'
'I am a tanner. But I don't do tanning now, I would have smelt so much the animals wouldn't be anywhere near me. Next season again. Want to join for a deer? Easier to carry back for two people'.
Volmar laughed. 'It's not that easy. This knee here', he said, holding his left knee, 'has a mind of its own. It tells me where to go and when. You might have to carry the deer and me back!'.
'Oh', said Pyry, 'and how do you hunt?'
'I don't! I am a scribe and researcher. Others do the hunting for me. I just eat what's on the table!'.
'A very rich man you are then!', said Pyry.
Volmar laughed. 'Hardly! I am simply surrounded by books! And expensive as they might be, they are neither that expensive, nor are they mine!'.
'So you can read...'
'Yes, that’s the point you see. Learn and write and read for others to learn too!'
'How can others learn to hunt, if you don't go hunting? Just by telling them? If I don't go hunting now and continue talking here, the animals will hear us and get scared! Also, it will rain later on!'
Volmar laughed again. 'Rain, you say? I have to get going then and you'd better be going yourself. Animals wouldn't get on the path, they are clever enough to know where they are in danger. A successful hunt, Pyry!', said Volmar, giving his hand.
'Happy... reading?', replied Pyry, shaking Volmar's hand. 'Ask for my wares if you want skins and furs!'
'Will do that! I'll ask what happens to those you cook for too!'. Volmar turned and left, walking slowly down the path. Pyry smiled, setting his bow and arrows.
Looks like a good man, he thought. But, a life of reading? Buried in books? No hunting?
How boring is that?
--------------------------
It was cold that winter. His father was still in bed, coughing. Maybe his time wasn't so far now, but young Pyry knew not of this. Life was going on almost as usual, his father in bed in pain, his mother always troubled and stern-faced, yet always finding the time for a smile.
There was some upheaval in the settlement, The elder was also sick. Some Frithlanders had come from far away to see him. Were they healers? Priests? Pyry didn't know. But his mother was looking at the elder's simple lodge every now and then, agitated.
When they came at the elder's lodge Pyry didn't know. Nor did he know how long they stayed. But they were leaving now, and his mother left the boiling broth in the fire, something she would have never done, and started running after them. 'Wait, wait', she shouted twice, before the small pose of men stopped for her. They talked for just a few moments, and one man started following her, the others heading towards their horses. They were now reaching their lodge, Pyry looking outside. 'Out, both of you, said his mother, go out to play'. It didn't sound like her at all.
Pyry looked at the man and gaped. He was impressive… yet not a human. Pyry could guess neither his age, nor why he was so short. He was as tall as some of the young hunters, but his looks suggested a different age. An age altogether indiscernible behind the brown wavy hair and the stunning face of the man with the pointed ears. Twenty? Thirty? More? But the man looked calm behind his angular characteristics. His presence exuded peace and calm. Pyry cautiously took a step back and exited. He had never seen a non-human before.
He was looking inside to see what's going on. His mother lead the man next to his father, but all the talk was muffled, almost whispery. The man started examining him, or so Pyry thought. They talked, all three of them, and the man stayed for quite a while. When they finished the man rose, greeting his father good health, 'hej' he clearly said, and exited with his mother. Pyry run to the side of the lodge not to be in front of them and followed them a few steps behind, pretending he was playing. They talked for a few moments, hushed and in a low voice and Pyry heard none of it. But he clearly heard the last words of the man, when he stopped, looked at his mother straight in the eyes and held both her arms firmly in compassion.
'I can't do anything about this. Be strong'.
The man looked down and walked towards his comrades in a quickened step. His mother stood there, bringing her hands in her face.
And Pyry knew long before he learnt the word elf that he would never forget this elf's face.
------------------------------
'They tell me you sell skins and furs...'
Pyry turned around from looking at the sights and sounds of the market. 'Yes, I...'. He immediately smiled. 'Volmar!' Two months had passed since they had met in the forest.
'I see you in good health! No stomach problems with your food?', joked the Frithlander.
Pyry laughed. 'Only if you don't know how to prepare it! How is your reading going? Can you now read more letters than before?' Volmar wasn't sure whether this was a genuine question or joke; the former seemed far more likely.
'It doesn't work that way. One day I might show you a few things'.
'One day I show you how to prepare food properly! But today you are here for a good fur, no?'
'How much for these one?', a voice interrupted them.
Both men turned. Volmar immediately recognized the man and greeted him by name. But Pyry didn't hear any of it. His jaw had practically dropped to the ground. He swallowed hard, and caught his good luck charms in his right hand.
Under the winter sun, in the fresh air of the market, Pyry saw a face he thought little of, but knew he would have never forgotten. The face of an elf. That elf.
'I know you', he said hesitantly. 'You are a healer. You were there a few days before my father died.'
'Hej Volmar', the elf said. 'What are you working about this time?' Obviously the two others knew each other.
'I remember you too', the elf said to him. 'I am not a healer, as much as I can help people in need of one. I couldn't do anything for your father'. A few moments passed. 'You grew up well'.
'You are the same!', Pyry blurted out in disbelief. Volmar and the elf laughed. Apparently they knew something he didn’t. 'Who are you? What are you?'
'I am Ainon, an elf. I am working for the church of the Caregiver. And I want to buy things you might be selling. No?' The elf laughed at Pyry.
'Yes, I am selling', Pyry replied. 'What is it that you want it for? And Volmar, how can I help you?'.
-------------------
Pyry was nervous. He hadn't done something like that before. What if the Frithlanders were as lazy and dishonourable as they were said to be?
His mother wasn't happy in the least. Far from being a possessive one, she didn't want her son to mix with the lowlanders. She could do nothing about it though but watch him walk away with his meager belongings. He obviously hadn't thought anything out, but isn't this how real men learn?
It was a few days march to the city, a route Pyry knew only too well. He recognized some of the people on his way, even though he wasn't sure whether greeting them loudly was a good idea. Most seemed afraid by his physique and the barbed axe he was carrying, or was it his accent and manners? Frithlanders and their weird habits.
It didn't take him long to find something he wished to do. He wanted to travel. He wanted adventure. But he wanted something familiar too. When he heard of that skinner Markus hiring people to accompany him, he had a good feeling. I know the job, maybe if the trip goes wrong I can help out with the skinning, he thought to himself. Or maybe I can hunt and cook.
So there he was now at that inn where Markus was supposed to be. He ordered an ale and told the keeper whom he was searching for. The man behind the bar nodded towards a corner where two men were sited. Through the crowd Pyry couldn't make them out, so he consciously started towards them when a hand caught him firmly by the shoulder.
'Now that's a place I wouldn't expect to see you!' Pyry recognised the voice. He turned.
'Volmar! And by the looks of it, you study beer-drinking!'
Volmar laughed. 'I am only waiting for someone for a job. You might know him effectively, he is a skinner.'
'You want to become a skinner? You pay me, I can teach you anything! Even how to cook for people you like or you don't like!'
'But I don't have any money!', replied the Frithlander. 'Ah, there he is in the corner'.
Pyry was honestly surprised. 'You are looking for Markus?'
'Yes. You know him?'
'No, but I am looking for him myself. He wants strong men to accompany him, no?'
'So we are here for the same reason, Pyry!'.
Pyry smiled with trepidation. Was he going to lose a job he didn't even apply for? He immediately grinned back to himself. That is nonsense. The Frithlander is a good fellow, but there is no way he is stronger than himself. He can't hunt, he can't cook, there is no way he would loose this job.
'Yeah', Pyry said absentmindedly. 'Let's go find him!'
It wasn't more than a few steps in the crowd when Pyry realised that one of the two men sitting in the corner was Ainon. And by the looks of it, the other was Markus indeed. Did he lose the job to Ainon? How complicated all this was.
'I am here for the job!, Pyry shouted from two meters away through the bustle of the crowd. He practically shoved the last guy between him and the table, in between a midst of short grunts and protests which died as soon as he passed.
The man who was Markus turned his head and looked at him unphased. Ainon did the same. 'Hej Pyry', he said.
'Is that so?', the skinner said. 'Sit with us, Kolkko. If Ainon knows you, that's good enough. And if you are here for the job, you already know what it is about and what it pays'.
That was going too fast for Pyry. 'You mean, I got it?' he blurted. He didn't even greet Ainon in his confusion.
'Don't you want it, son?', asked Markus disbelievingly. 'One more man and we leave first thing in the morning.'
'You mean, you want more than one man?'. Maybe this wasn't the cleverest thing to ask, he immediately thought.
'Are you drunk, Kolkko? Are you sure you are good for this? Yes, I want three men!'
'Then you get this man here behind me!', Pyry exclaimed loudly. 'I know him, and Ainon knows him too. Hello Ainon! Three men! Like you want!'
Markus grinned with surprise at Ainon and back at Pyry and now at Volmar, who had finally waded through the crowd. A few moments passed, in total silence, Pyry thought, inside the bustliing inn.
'Why not?', said Markus, gulping down from his ale. 'No need to waste the evening looking for men when men are here'.
Pyry sat fast in the bench next to Ainon and let his beer on the table with a bang. 'I will travel!', he thought. 'With people I know!'.
