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[IamanElfCollaborator]

"Ser Bael, it only has to happen once. It only has to happen when your loved one is threatened and you're the only one able to stop the threat."

Alith looked at him, concerned. Pride had been the downfall of many of his targets, and he was concerned Bael would fall due to his own pride.

"Only once, Ser Bael. That would be enough."

[Dwarmin]

Bael scoffed.

"Until that day, Ser Alith...don't speak to me of it again." he said, not turning around to face him.

[SeriousConcentrate]

(OOC: Against all expectations, every time I attempted to make Anya look older than 16... she turns out looking like she's either 11, 49, or male. O.o I might keep at it, but she's probably happy looking eight years younger than she actually is for the moment. )

Anya matched his bet with what she had, then put her cards down. "Read 'em and weep. Three of a kind, and lucky triple seven besides!"

[Dwarmin]

Bael laughed, throwing down his lousy two pair, and pushing the chips to Anya.

"There you go! Nicely played, Sister." he said, smiling and nodding his head respectfully.

He looked around-there was no one else at the table but Anya, and a big pile of chips.

"It seems you've cleared the table of competitors...well done. Hopefully you find more worthy prey in the lands ahead."

He turned to take drink of coffee, enjoying Anya's victory for her own sake. After a few moments, he couldn't help but ask.

"Curios. What will you end up doing with that silver chain, anyway?"

Bael had a sudden flash of omen. He wondered why it bothered him so much, it was so small a thing to weigh on his mind.

[SeriousConcentrate]

"This? I might give it to someone." She laughed. "Or maybe pass it down to my son after I retire from adventuring, make it an heirloom." She took the locket out and examined it a bit more closely. The inside was empty. "I could put a keepsake in it, or a picture..." She sighed, put it away, and gathered the chips. From under the table she pulled out a box and started putting the chips in it, then gathered the cards, shuffled them, put them in their pack, and put them in the box as well.

"So you elves live for a thousand years or so normally. You planning on going back home and settling down someday?"

[Dwarmin]

"That's a hard question, certainly...

I suppose once this trouble with the God-Weapons is over with, that should be a good time to go home for awhile, have a child or four...

Hang up my bow over the mantle for awhile...just relax, maybe tutor younger Elves, defend the tribe. It's not a bad life to retire to, for awhile at least." Bael responded, smiling warmly

"At least until the next world threatening crisis rears it's head, then old Bael will be around to pull everyone's boots out of the fire again, hah!

Yes, I think we all find our way back home, eventually...where's your home, Sister Anya?"

[SeriousConcentrate]

"Right now, it's here." Anya grinned as she completely ducked the question, but relented and answered it anyway. "No, my hometown is in Ula. Fort Espion in the Dolgorouki Barony. My father's cousin is the lord of it." She rested her chin on her wrists. "It was pretty boring. Nothing to do but sneak off to the soldier's barracks and gamble with them, and they usually let me win because I was both a little girl and a noble. Got my love of cards there." Anya sighed.

"Of course, there was the matter of arranged marriages. Most of my sisters and female cousins were married off for political gain. I didn't want that, and by the time I would be of age there probably wouldn't be a lord worthy of being married off to anyway, so I skipped town when I was about fifteen. Toman already told everyone the story of what happened after that." She looked up at Bael. "So, what about you? I thought I heard Rae mention that you weren't born a Tyrmitore...?"

[Dwarmin]

"Ah, she mentioned that? It's not something I would have told lightly.

Indeed, not blood born, no...I was born into one of the more 'civilized' cities that ring the coast of our lands, if you can believe it-A small town called Brownwater. It's actually run by Halflings-Elves there usually don't belong to any clan, and my mother and father were crafters, not warriors.

The life bored me beyond belief. The 24th year of my life I said my goodbyes and headed off into the wilderness. I spent a long time wandering, almost 60 years...eventually I found the Tyrmitore clan-or to be more precise, they found me...

...caught in a net trap they set for deer." Bael doesn't often blush, but he does now, smiling wryly.

"They let me hang for a good few hours before cutting me down and inviting me to the clan halls for dinner and some medicine-I was in pretty bad shape.

It was then I knew I'd found my home. My real family...I suppose my blood parents miss me, but I've never thought to go and see them again-I know they would never join the clan, though. Maybe something to do, soon."

Bael drained the last of his coffee mug, smacking his lips.

"What about your parents, Anya? What do you remember of them?"

[SeriousConcentrate]

"Sasha and Faina." Anya thought. "Not much. They were never around, really. Father was an ambassador to other lands and usually sent letters home. My mother handled the trade center, so she was usually dealing with merchants or updating the ledgers." She snorted. "And I'm sure she spent most of her nights sleeping with Lord Alexei." Her tone made it very clear she and Faina hadn't gotten along at all when they did see each other, and so she didn't care to drop what most would consider dirty laundry. "I was on my own most of the time, so I usually just talked and gambled with the soldiers. The younger ones weren't very friendly, but I think a lot of the veterans liked talking about old battles they had been in and impressing little girls with their heroics."

"I guess if any two people raised me in particular, it would be Sergeant Collins and my sister Katenka. Collins was very kind. He was an adventurer and a mercenary in his youth and I always thought it odd he was, because he was a very gentle soul. He raised cats, said all of them came from a kitten he'd found in a forest he called Pumpkin." She was silent for a few moments, lost in thought. "...Anyway, my sister was a historian. She was nice to me, and always took care of me when everyone else was busy. I write to her every so often."

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"Lucky. At least you had people to raise you, good people too, miss Anya."

Alith smiled darkly.

[SeriousConcentrate]

"I suppose so. I know a lot of other people had worse problems growing up," she said, looking over Bael's shoulder to the doppelganger. "But it was still pretty lonely in that fort. I was the only person my age around there; by the time Katenka had a child, I was already ten years old. After that, she was too busy with her son to pay attention to me much." She sighed.

"Well... there were other reasons I left, besides an arranged marriage. One was that Collins died. I wish I could say he had a dramatic, hero's death, falling on some battlefield far away, or that he caught an illness and I was there for him in his final moments. He wasn't even assassinated, so I could find his murderer and get revenge." She rested her chin on her wrists again. "Just heart failure. I knew he was around fifty, and that he carried a lot of old wounds - I had even seen a few of the worse scars - but... I guess I just didn't expect it. It's always such a... well, a sudden shock when you lose someone close to you that you love very, very much, like suddenly falling into an ice cold lake."

She ran a hand through her bangs, ignoring them as they immediately fell back into place. "Everyone was busy after the funeral, so... I left. There didn't seem to be a reason to stay or a place for me there, anyway." She turned her eyes back from the table to Alith. "What about you? Did you know your family?" The doppelganger often hinted at his past, but he had never really said anything concrete about himself.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"No. It's a typical doppelganger thing, really. Two doppelgangers make love, then abandon the kid."

Alith's smile reduced to a slight curve.

"I was raised by a guild of thieves. When they found what I could do, I got used as a tool."

[SeriousConcentrate]

"I see. Sorry, Alith." Anya rested her forehead on her wrists again. Thinking about Morgan, as always, brought many mixed feelings with it, and she was feeling somewhat moody now. "I guess you were pretty lonely growing up, too."

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"No problem at all, Miss Anya."
"I had one friend. One. That was enough for me. I will not speak of her though."

Alith smiled again and left the table.

"My belated condolences to Ser Collins, miss."

[Dwarmin]

OOC: The following is assuming we make landfall at a city sometime in the next session.

Sometime after landfall...

Bael took awhile to shop for supplies-refreshing his survival gear, naturally...if he didn't have any luck, he would be sure to consult Tali's contacts in the mainland for help finding them [Knowledge: Local 12]

Piercer Cloak
Price: 900G
Body Slot: Shoulders
CL: 3rd
Aura: Faint (Dc16) Transmutation
Weight: 0 lb

The back of this dark cloak depicts a silver spear pointed downward.

The cloak may be activated as a Free Action at the beginning of the wearer’s turn.  Any attack rolled on that turn from higher ground deals an additional 1d6 points of damage.  If the wearer charges his target from at least ten feet above him, the extra damage increases to 2d6. This benefit lasts for one round.

This ability functions three times per day.

(Source: MiC pg 118)

(Edited )

Additionally, Ria had spent her free time in the last few days crafting Bael specialty ammunition...

20x +2 Plant Bane Tumbling Arrow
20x +2 Animal Bane Tumbling Arrow