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[Org]

American

[Supermikhail]

Two versus one, and my sense of medievalness have decided that it will be the British English.

They set out the next morning. No one seemed to have gotten a good night's sleep, and, although Will woke up last, it was still dusk outside. He rolled from side to side on what little space his bed provided for it, then the events of the previous night dawned on him. He sat abruptly.
At the door, already fully dressed and armoured, only his helmet in hand, Vig stood, talking about something with the landlord. Vig seemed a bit more cheerful than usually. He spoke quickly and with a slight stutter. Near the table in the middle of the room, Amlemth was strapping on the sheath with his sword. He looked very concentrated, and his long wavy hair was all over his face. And the kobold... The kobold was nowhere to be found.
Will jumped out of his bed and rushed to check his belongings, that hung, carefully folded, over the back of a chair, by the head side of his bed. He called Amlemth in a loud whisper:
- Hey, Am, where is that... Nliru, or whatever?
The man moved the hair away from his face, then said:
- Oh, hi, Will. She wasn't here when I woke up.
- I told you! - said Will triumphantly. - Have you checked if she took any of your things?
- Why would she... - started Amlemth. Then he became worried, - She looked like a nice person. Do you think she would...?
- She's a kobold, - said Will.
They both started rummaging through their bags. Will, however, soon halted, noticing a lot of glitter from the Amlemth's bag. He squinted to the side and saw the man casually holding an exquisite ornate steel torch holder. He turned to Amlemth.
- Do you always carry that around with you?
Amlemth shrugged.
- Yes. It's very handy, when you need your hands free, - he pointed at a movable steel shank, fitted to the holder. - You can pin it to a crack in a wall, a tree or secure it on the ground. I can make one for you, once I get my hands on a good forge.
- You made it yourself? - said Will.
- Yes, - answered Amlemth. - I have worked with steel since I was a child.
- A-ha, - Will drawled. He closed his bag, disheartened. - I guess, she didn't take anything after all.
- Nothing missing, - said Amlemth, and started repacking his bag.
The landlord and Vig finished talking, and the latter went to his bed.
- What did he want? - asked Will.
- He was about noise I did yesterday, - said Vig, pointing at the cleft in the floor boards he had made during the meeting of Nliru.
- And how did you explain it? - Will smiled, for some reason.
- Weapon fell, - answered Vig simply.
Will finally started donning his armour. It was very slim on him, and he meticulously adjusted all the creases of the leather. Buttoning up his jacket, he asked:
- You haven't seen Nliru today, either, Vig?
But before Vig could answer, there was a knock on the window. The big eyes of the kobold peered into the room. She lithely held on to the bricks of the wall outside. Amlemth came to the window and opened it.
- Welcome back, my lady, - he said.
The kobold jumped into the room. Her garment was soaked with the mist that hung in the street air.
- Hello, - she said, shaking her head and spattering the men around her with water.
Will loudly cleared his throat, grimly looking at Fithgnliru; he just opened his mouth to start interrogation, but felt a big hand on his shoulder. Looking up he saw a strict face of Amlemth. Vig spoke to the kobold.
- So, you ready to go?
- Yes. Have you had a good breakfast? I have, - Nliru grinned.
- We are going to, - said Vig.
Nliru's face suddenly became serious.
- I'll meet you outside, then.
With these words she jumped back out of the window.
Will and Amlemth couldn't help but come to the window to look where she had gone. They didn't see much as she had disappeared in the bushes below the window, leaving a spot of disturbed dew on the leaves.
The three adventurers went down into the main hall of the inn and had a decent breakfast, after which they said their thanks to the landlord and left the inn.
The morning was favourable to their journey. A warm sun was sweeping away the last shreds of mist, and the air was clear and fresh, even if the rain had left the road a bit slippery. It was broad enough for the adventurers to walk in a row, Will happily in the middle. They had walked but a few steps when Nliru appeared out of a thicket of hazels, as unexpectedly as always.
- Good Armok! - exclaimed Will. - Could you stop doing that?
- Yes, this time it was a bit uncomfortable, - confessed Amlemth.
- I'll stop now, as we are out of the human city territory, - said Nliru. - You know how it is with human cities and kobolds.
And she marched in front of the company, as if she had always been there. Vig and Amlemth followed her, Will stood there, still a bit upset. In a moment, though, he caught up with the rest.
- So, to Cŕkrash? - murmured Vig to the halfling.
- Uh... Yes, - said Will. - I thought you didn't get it.
A little smile was on his face, as the party moved amid the fields towards their destination.

Guys, I already don't know where I am going with this. Should I go on to describe their whole journey? Or do we want to start the real adventure in the city of Romistra?

In any case, you can already speak up what grotesque and ridiculous feats you are ready to dare your characters to.  I think there is enough background information.

[Dwarf]

Well, have something meaningful happen on the way or only describe it broadly.

Have Víg show them group combat tactics, since we all seem to be more one on one types. Shield walls and such (if the others accept, that is).
Also, outstandin work there

[Armok]

This is Beyond Quality. I have a feeling this will become a truly epic saga.
I think you shouldn't skip over the travels, but you should try to get through it fairly quickly.

[Jervous]

Yeah, agreed :B

Grotesque feats? Oh dear D:

[Supermikhail]

Nice idea, Dwarf.
Thanks for the praise, everyone, my inner critic has been having a really bad mood lately, so it helped much.

I was hoping for some actual feat ideas, and our valiant halfling's author hasn't spoken yet, so I'm going to wait for him, although I've thought of something already (partly thanks to Dwarf's aforementioned idea). I feel like this journey is providing too fertile soil to skip it.

[Jervous]

I'll send a PM to Org I guess, unless you're done waiting for him. :|

[Org]

Huh what.

[Org]

Describe part of the journey, some interesting parts.
I guess.

[Supermikhail]

Oh, hakuna matata. I've had a bit of a stump. I won't be forcing anyone to make decisions. There was a good word in the OP - "may" - but on the previous week even I missed it. Although, that's misleading, too; I guess if Org... or everyone posted their intentions towards participation, it would make the process a bit easier (like "I'm going to stick my opinions into every dialogue, and you try and stop me" .

Spoiler: Wussying in the creative process (click to show/hide)

A lot of self-doubts on the previous week. I think it still started with some real life event. Then I set to edit the whole text of the story up to the last entry, and saw that it is not turning out as I wanted. You might have guessed (or maybe I've never let it into the thread) that I was going for Tolkienesque quality with homogeneous narrative (e: without copying, but show me another fantasy writer with such immense knowledge on the medieval culture), but my story is in scene-like bits. I also for the first time on the last week seriously looked through the dialogue. All in all, I hoped that this story would be a jewel in the crown on the head of DF. Well, I didn't turn into a pro writer overnight (as I had hoped I would). But you guys seem to enjoy the story. And I enjoy it to a point (the schedule that I tried to keep to from the start was driving me a bit crazy).
Also, I was afraid this story wasn't even worth bumping the thread. Thanks, Jervous.

I did some research, for which I had to turn to human sources. Basically, I got the reply yesterday, so expect an update at something like 8 pm GMT today.

[Supermikhail]

A little bit earlier, in the hope, that someone is stricken with some clever idea.

They had walked for several hours already, and there wasn't a turn in western direction, as promised by Will. Vig didn't say anything - obviously he hadn't believed the halfling from the beginning, but wasn't angry at him, and just grumbled quietly from time to time as there had been no sign of a sparce forest anywhere in sight.
Their road still wound through fields, but it has become much wider as they turned from the track, leading to the inn, onto a highway. The highway was called The Silk Road, and caravans of mules carrying bales of spider-silk travelled along it from the human cities in the west to elven retreats far in the east. The adventures even passed one, moving in opposite direction, at about noon. A dwarven merchant with a luxuriant red beard and four guards of different peoples, all in rich armour, suspiciously eyed the party, and one guard decided to walk awkwardly sideways, trying to keep sight of the kobold, while the two groups were opposite each other. Mules in the caravan, however, were strikingly calm, and glanced at the adventurers serenely, twitching their ears.
Nliru didn't seem amused with the encounter. For about an hour after they had started, she chattered into everyone's talk, especially when there were questions about her adventures, but gradually she had become quiet and a little sombre. A lunch that the party had had under a tall lime tree a little off the road didn't cheer her up at all. As usual, Amlemth showed the most concern, addressing her with jokes and idle remarks, but it wasn't much good, and she replied to him curtly, in a dull voice. What was worse, she had started falling behind, and the party slowed down to a drag. And while at the beginning it had been an unnoticed nuisance, with time Will's face had started showing increasing discontent, and Vig had been getting more and more edgy. Finally, turning back, Amlemth saw Nliru yawn heartily, with the whole width of her mouth. He tapped Vig on the shoulder:
- I think, she's tired.
- Aha, - said Vig with a frown.
- Shouldn't have let her in so easily, - Will broke in in a loud whisper. - Now she's only going to drag us down.
Amlemth looked at him with a sorry face.
- Maybe I could offer to carry her? - he said.
Will just opened his mouth. Amlemth turned towards Nliru, limping a couple of feet behind them.
- If you are tired, maybe I could carry you for a while? - he said, with just a hint of shyness in his voice.
Will grunted, indignant, and resumed walking. Next he knew, Amlemth was catching up to him, the kobold fast asleep on his back.
- Are you going to do her job even when it comes to the real deal? - asked Will.
- You mean, stealing the armour? - said Amlemth. Will was almost sure there was a slight smile on the face of the warrior.
They had discussed this point the night before, but not with the kobold... Well, the discussion wasn't lengthy, as too much money was at stake. But somehow, for Will, letting one of the thief race do the stealing seemed wrong. However, he shrugged and said.
- As long as my wallet is safe, she can do anything she wants.
Amlemth's smile grew broader.
They spoke no more, and, for all the confusion in the halfling's heart, he felt glad that the company picked up a bit of pace.
In an hour a shadow of a vast forest appeared on the horizon. The Silk Way skirted it cautiously, but the road to Romistra lay right through the forest. The company decided to halt before entering it.
- Uh, - Nliru muttered, as Amlemth was trying to wake her up in a soft voice. She felt his broad and warm back under herself and snapped to alertness, in surprise. Amlemth let her down, and she jumped to the ground, glancing around. Vig's and Will's bags lay in a small hollow below, and the owners were already collecting brushwood for a bonfire under the eaves of spacious oaks at the edge of the forest. Amlemth put down his own belongings and started freeing a small circle in the middle of the hollow from grass. He didn't say anything else to Nliru, and she, after some fidgeting, jogged towards a larger oak and started climbing up the trunk. Soon her small dark figure perched in a fork near the top and began observing the surroundings.
Half an hour later the bonfire was already crackling merrily, and the party gathered around, baking meat on sticks. Except for Nliru, who was still up in the trees, and declined the invitations of her companions. While she wasn't near, Will tried to discuss the situation with Vig, but without success. Then he said "Alright", and started strumming his mandola. The music spread around and echoed between trees. Amlemth sighed and lay down on the grass.
Suddenly, amid Will's playing, that had really gained momentum, Nliru's chirp from the above could be heard. Amlemth and Will looked up and already didn't see the kobold, who had hidden somewhere in the foliage. Vig, crouching, peered over the brink of the hollow, gesturing his companions to stay low. After a couple of minutes he got up and walked out of the hollow.
A group of human warriors approached along the forest's edge from the place where The Silk Road disappeared out of the view. Their armour and weapons gave away their kinship to Vig, although few faces among them displayed such noble features. There were five of them, proud and erect figures. They stopped several feet from Vig, and greeted him in a foreign tongue. Vig answered. Amlemth and Will were a few steps behind him, and, although they couldn't understand the speech, threatening arrogance in the voices of the strangers they understood well.

What do you think?

[Dwarf]

Interesting. I am these guys are

Spoiler: DON'T READ (click to show/hide)

some of my old enemies?

Also, a certain supermikhail asked some questions on one of lindybeige's videos?

[Supermikhail]

Crap! I should have thought about it! I was hesitant to ask him in detail (or embarrassed), but an old friend of mine helped me out excruciatingly.

Spoiler: DON'T READ EITHER (click to show/hide)

No, rather your former employers. You know... Good ol' Vig has had a lot of odd jobs.

[Armok]

Beyond Quality.

[Jervous]

No problem for bumping it


Pretty excited for the next part!