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Post by Aiden Calder on Aug 22, 2012 15:22:22 GMT -5
[style=font-family: arial; font-size: 25px; text-shadow: 0px 2px 3px #666; color: #cccccc;]LET'S SET THE WORLD ON FIRE - - - we can burn brighter than the sun  The young knight was weary from his journey, but he didn't complain the least. Besides, even if he did complain, there was no one there to hear him; he was on the journey alone. Aiden was sworn to serve the rightful ruler of Faylinn and would do so until his dying breath. Since King John's return, they had been working hard to gain allies throughout Faeryn, alongside Hrothgard's Queen Lydia, but John didn't seem to think that this would be enough. It was for this reason that he sent one of his highest ranking officers to Mourinor to seek aide and to inform them of the events in Faeryn.
His journey had been long and perilous, lasting him well over a month as he crossed the Arcane Sea. He sent a raven weekly to Hrothgard's capital to inform them of his progress, though he was careful not to divulge too much information in case the ravens should fall into the wrong hands.
Muscles aching from riding from the coast, the general followed the path he had drawn on his map toward Andrasti's capital. He knew that his best bet would be Andrasti first, because of Mourinor's tendency to be discriminatory toward arcanists. If the other kingdoms could not give him aid, then perhaps he could convince them to allow him to take with him some of their own, unwanted arcanists.
Though he usually wore armor, Aiden was garbed otherwise while he traveled. Not to mention, his muscles ached too much to consider wearing even his chainmail. Sitting atop his borrowed horse, Aiden was garbed in all black. His sword was sheathed at his side and he wore a cloak to shield him from the frigid, winter air.
Before long, he made his way to a market place. Tying up his horse and securing his belongings, the human weaved his way through the throngs of people, in need of food. It was growing later in the day, but he didn't want to stop until he reached the capital. With his stomach rumbling, Aiden was more than happy to buy an apple and some cheese off of an old lady in the market, smiling kindly when he gave her more than was necessary to pay for it. This hadn't gone unnoticed though and as Aiden turned and walked away, he was soon stopped by a large elf, two others flanking his side.
"Where'd you get that kind of money?" he asked, snatching the apple from Aiden's hand. Aiden's jaw tightened and his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "Do you mind? I wanted to eat that and your scummy hands are soiling it," the knight responded, his hand travelling to the hilt of his sword.
"Is that so?" the man asked, smirking and tossing the apple to one of his minions who took a bite of it. "You're not from around here, are you?"
"I don't think that's any of your concern..." Aiden responded, right before being punched in the ribs. Doubling over in pain, the wind knocked out of him, he refused to fall. "We don't want your kind around here," the man said to him, punching him again before headbutting him and knocking him right out.
When Aiden came to, he didn't have the slightest idea as to where he was. His head throbbed and the aching in his body wouldn't allow him to push himself up. His black shirt was ripped and he was aware of a pull pain in his gut. His memory of what happened was fuzzy, but he vaguely remembered one of the brutes hacking away at his forcefield before he just couldn't hold it up anymore. That was when he was stabbed.
"Fuck..." he groaned, lifting his head before letting it fall back down onto the cold stone beneath him. He was bleeding everywhere, his wound, his nose, his lip. His body was riddled with scratches and bruises and, from the way his eye was hurting, he was sure he had a black eye. Not only was his money stolen, but the cheese he bought for himself had been taken as well. It was because of this that Aiden hoped the Watcher would strike them all with lightning.
The sky had darkened and the beaten knight lie in an abandoned alley way, wishing he could have at least enjoyed his food before he died. His cloak had been taken, leaving him with nothing to keep him warm. The idea of going to sleep sounded like an excellent one to Aiden, his mission forgotten in his state. Vaguely, he could hear the sound of someone approaching, but he couldn't even comprehend the noise...
800 WORDS FOR ILLYRIA EIRWEN FËANOR
LYRICS ARE FROM WE ARE YOUNG BY FUN. |
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Post by Illyria Fëanor on Aug 22, 2012 18:49:52 GMT -5
| [atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-color: #343434; padding:20px; border-top: 10px #712237 solid; border-bottom: 10px #712237 solid;] here's a riddle for you ( WORDS ) 1008! ( TAGGED ) AIDEN CALDER! ( MUSE ) GRAND! The cold winter had taken its toll on elves around Andrasti and Illyria was the one volunteering on nursing them. She was not alone though – she had few other nurses and healers in the group which traveled around Andrasti to give help to those who needed it. Most of those who had fallen ill had nothing more dangerous than a regular cold – that could be treated with a collection of different herbs usually boiled into a tea. Some needed a specific mix of medicine to conquer their persistent illnesses. Those elves were usually left to the nurses while powerful healers moved on forward to seek those in need of specificly their assistance.
Illyria did not fear getting her hands dirty, neither were she afraid of keeping company to those who wanted it. In her opinion, no one should be left completely alone. Unfortunately there were also those who had lost their family in a war or whose relatives were perished by the hands of humans. Illyria was always willing to give them someone to talk to. And besides – the older elfs knew a lot and sometimes even told stories from the past. Illyria was very keen on hearing those.
When they were done in the village nearby her home, the capital of Andrasti, the young elf gathered the rest of her herbs and tools to a bag she carried with her and mounted on her horse. Belroch neighed shortly and Illyria pet his neck, just in front of his withers to calm him down. He was eager to get home and Illyria could sense that. It wasn't because of a threathenig atmosphere, Belroch was just waiting to get some apples from her as a reward for his good work. ”Good boy,” Illyria praised him while taking the reins to her hand, ”Let's go home.”
The journey didn't take really that long but meanwhile that Illyria had realised that the wind was getting stronger, probably predicting a small snowstorm coming their way. In which case it was better to stay inside where there was warm and comfortable. ”Illyria!” A distant call woke Illyria from her imagination and she halt the horse, turning around. She recognized two of her friends, Estel and Marille, catching her up on their horses. The young elf smiled to them as they approached. ”You two are ridicuously slow. I thought you left before I did.”
Illyria mounted off her horse only to stop by to buy some apples for Belroch from the market. Her friends followed her example soon enough but instead of coming with her, they just waited for her. Illyria gave Belroch's reins to Estel who held the horse while she was gone. She wasn't far away though. While she was at the market place, she decided to look around. She was already leaving when she heard not-so-distant groan from the alley nearby. She scrunched her eyebrows and took a few steps towards it only to realize few moments after that there was indeed someone lying in there. A human. He seemed to be hurt. Illyria had heard many times how humans had mercilessly killed elves who wandered into their kingdoms and prejudiced them before knowing a thing about them.
However this young man was quite badly hurt and Illyria could not see how he could do any harm to anyone in that state. In fact he would probably die during the next night if she'd leave him there. And Illyria didn't have the heart for it. She bent down so she could see his wounds properly and noticed that he was barely conscious. ”Can you hear me?” She took a hold of his chin, trying to wake him up a little bit, just so she could get him inside. Her home was not far away and it was her duty to attend to the wounded. ”Stay awake.” She rose up just to walk to the end of the alley to call Marille help her. She couldn't hold the man up by herself so a little help would be needed. She rushed back to the man. ”You'll be alright.”
It took a little while for them to get the man inside Illyria's home but they managed to do it nonetheless. They carried him to her room – Illyria was that kind of girl who could basically sleep anywhere so she didn't mind giving her room away for a while. ”Just lie down and try not to move, I will be right back.” She thanked Marille and Estel for their help and went to get her herbs and equipment from her bag, giving Belroch finally the apples he had craved. She went to get some more bandages and hot water from the kitchen continuing to attend to the wounded man. ”This is going to hurt a little.” First she cleaned the wound in his abdomen, which was not luckily so deep that it would require a healer but would most likely heal in time. She applied some herbal lotion on the wound which would keep it clean and prevent infections and put a firm bind over the wound. That was the worst part of his wounds – the wounds on his face would probably heal quite quickly. ”Now, what may I call you, sir?”
There have been mysteries from the beginning of time |
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Post by Aiden Calder on Aug 22, 2012 23:00:55 GMT -5
[style=font-family: arial; font-size: 25px; text-shadow: 0px 2px 3px #666; color: #cccccc;]LET'S SET THE WORLD ON FIRE - - - we can burn brighter than the sun An angel must have been speaking to him. That was the only explanation Aiden could come up with. The only reason he held onto consciousness was because she told him to, otherwise he would have gone into a nice, most likely eternal, sleep. He didn't know what the hell he said to the angel when she spoke to him, but it was probably just as incoherent to her as it was to him. Perhaps the only coherent thing that Aiden said the entire time was: "Bastards took my food..."
Aiden laid there, the room just about spinning while he waited for the angel to come back. She told him he was going to be fine so he no reason to believe otherwise. He felt perfectly numb and blissful... until she cleaned his wound. The pain was almost blinding and he found himself stifling his scream of pain with a pillow.
Breathing heavily by the time she was finally done, Aiden's mind was a little sharper, but he was still tired and wished to do nothing more than sleep. Sweat beaded his brow and he stared at the angel for a moment, finally realizing that it was instead, a young elf woman. Still, she had the appearance of an angel and for a moment, his tongue seemed to thick and twisted to allow him to speak.
Shifting on the bed so that he would be more comfortable, he gritted his teeth and groaned. "Aiden, m'lady," he said, catching his breath. "You may call me Aiden." His blue eyes took her in for a moment and he relaxed against the pillows. "And you? What may I call you, m'lady?" He arched a brow tiredly.
800 WORDS FOR ILLYRIA EIRWEN FËANOR
LYRICS ARE FROM WE ARE YOUNG BY FUN. |
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Post by Illyria Fëanor on Aug 23, 2012 17:38:48 GMT -5
| [atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-color: #343434; padding:20px; border-top: 10px #712237 solid; border-bottom: 10px #712237 solid;] here's a riddle for you ( WORDS ) 616! ( TAGGED ) AIDEN CALDER! ( MUSE ) GRAND! Illyria had still to attend the scratches on the man's face. She wet the cloth she had on her hand and lightly pressed it against his wounds, cleaning them off from the blood. In a moment he began to look more like a human being than a practise target for some warrior elves. ”Well, Sir Aiden, it's nice to meet you, though the circumstances might not be the best. My name is Illyria.” She gave him a smile while putting down the cloth. ”There.” The door opened, another elf coming in to ask if Illyria needed any assistance. She declined gracefully but gave the dirty water bowl to her and asked her to take it downstairs. Illyria would wash it later herself.
”Your injuries were pretty bad but not lethal. You should be fine, but you need to take it easy for a while,” she stated. ”You should get some rest.” Illyria's gaze went throughout his body to check that everything else was alright. She rose up while checking the binding in Aiden's abdomen once more, just to be sure that the bleeding had stopped. The bind had to be changed in a few hours though. ”I will be back in a few hours. Try to get some sleep in the meantime.” Illyria turned around and walked out, closing the door behind her.
Illyria was a bit curious about what a human was doing in Andrasti. And alone. That was probably not the wisest decision a human could make considering that not all elves welcomed them with open arms. Illyria had nothing against them but was a bit cautious. She had met only a few human beings in her entire life and some of them weren't exactly the nicest kind. There was a reason why she stayed in Andrasti and only rarely crossed the borders – and on those cases she usually needed some herbs behind the border.
The young elf was used to doing things by herself, such as cooking and cleaning and rarely used the servants for that purpose. This time she needed some help cooking a meal for the wounded stranger whilst she was boiling an herbal tea to him. ”Alyndra, would you kindly make some supper for our guest.” She put the pot on the fire and waited the water to boil and added some cinnamon and clove to the tea. She let the tea to boil for few hours, letting it get stronger. While she was waiting, she cleaned the bloodstained bowl and took the bandages and herbal ointment ready on the table.
While she was waiting, she did rearrange her herb collection as well as crushing the big herbs into a powder. All of that was only to prepare for the days to come – both with her work as a nurse and for the stranger upstairs. After four hours it was time to check upon him. She waved for Alyndra to take the food upstairs as she filled the bowl with warm water and poured the tea into a cup. She knocked on the door just to inform that she was coming in. ”Put it on the table,” she guided the servant elf. ”Thank you.” Alyndra left the room after setting the tray down. She set the bowl down next to the bed and put the teacup on the table near her. ”How are you feeling?” She rose the binding a little bit to see how the wound was doing. It was looking pretty good. ”The bleeding has stopped. I still need to change the bind though. Can you sit?”
There have been mysteries from the beginning of time |
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Post by Aiden Calder on Aug 23, 2012 18:43:14 GMT -5
[style=font-family: arial; font-size: 25px; text-shadow: 0px 2px 3px #666; color: #cccccc;]LET'S SET THE WORLD ON FIRE - - - we can burn brighter than the sun A smile crossed Aiden's face, despite his aching body. "The name suits you, m'lady," he said to her, rather fond of the name. It had a pleasant sound to it and was not a name that you heard every day. Though he was reluctant to see her leave, Aiden drifted into an uneasy sleep soon after. His dreams were filled with apple and cheese stealing demons and beautiful angels that he couldn't take his eyes off of.
When someone entered the room, the knight jolted awake, wincing in pain from the sudden movement. An elf woman that he didn't recognize entered with Illyria and he couldn't help but give her a small smile. It took great restraint for Aiden to keep from shivering as Illyria checked his wounds. The smell of the food was so welcoming, his mouth began to water.
"I've been better," Aiden said to Illyria as she inquired about how he was feeling. "But, I'm not dead, that much I can be grateful for." He smiled at her grimly until he felt her hand brush against his abdomen. In a flash, he grabbed onto her hand, pulling it away for a moment before he realized what he had done. "Sorry," he said, his face flushed in embarrassment. "It tickled...."
He cleared his throat and, when he realized he was still gently holding her hand at bay, he let go of it quickly. Carefully, so as not to reopen his wound, Aiden sat up so that she could change the bandages, using his one hand to hold him up while he used the other to massage the back of his neck. It was a nervous habit of his.
800 WORDS FOR ILLYRIA EIRWEN FËANOR
LYRICS ARE FROM WE ARE YOUNG BY FUN. |
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Post by Illyria Fëanor on Aug 23, 2012 20:37:05 GMT -5
| [atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-color: #343434; padding:20px; border-top: 10px #712237 solid; border-bottom: 10px #712237 solid;] here's a riddle for you ( WORDS ) 401! ( TAGGED ) AIDEN CALDER! ( MUSE ) GRAND! ”Actually you might want to be grateful to your luck. The one who did this had no experience of fighting or was very experienced to know where to stop.” The young elf didn't know which one was more believable. Most of the elves had exceptional training in arms when they were young. Not all of them were good with all of the weapons though – Illyria being a good example of this. ”Have it been a few inches more and you would've been dead in a heartbeat.”
The look of surprise took over her face when Aidan grabbed her hand just when she was checking the wound. She did not move anywhere but looked him straight into his eyes right after looking at her hand. When he seemed to realise it, Illyria gave him a smile and looked shortly to the ground only to raise her look to him a few seconds later. ”Surely a man who can take that kind of beating can take a little tickling,” she said playfully and kept the smile on her face.
Illyria took the old bandages off from him and feeled his wound gently. It looked good for a freshly made stab wound. She took a wet cloth from the bowl and sweeped it clean. ”You are not from here, are you?” She took a little bit of chamomille ointment in her hands and leaned towards Aidan to put it on his wound. Then she took another clean bandage and bound it around him again. ”All set.” She smiled and straightened her legs. She took the tea cup from the table and gave it to Aiden. ”Here. Drink this. It probably doesn't taste very good, but it helps for the pain. We have also prepared some supper for you.” She took the tray slowly to a smaller table near on the bedside, backing away a few steps and giving some space for the recovering man.
The fireplace was almost out of wood so Illyria went to put some more in it. The last thing they needed now, was a freezing temperature. It was quite cosy in the room at the moment – warm enough. Of course there were sheep skins and some bear fleeces if they felt cold, but at the moment it was quite alright. ”Would you need anything else?”
There have been mysteries from the beginning of time |
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Post by Aiden Calder on Aug 23, 2012 21:16:34 GMT -5
[style=font-family: arial; font-size: 25px; text-shadow: 0px 2px 3px #666; color: #cccccc;]LET'S SET THE WORLD ON FIRE - - - we can burn brighter than the sun "I wouldn't be so sure of that, m'lady," Aiden said, giving her a charming, half smile. "I can take a beating like a man, but the moment someone starts to tickle me..." His smile grew more pronounced. "That's how I got here, you know. Three men jumped me. I was handling the situation well enough until one started to tickle me. Typical Aiden... he had just been stabbed just hours before and was already joking about it. The young man gave her a mere shake of his head when she asked about him being from around there or not. "I come from the realm of Faeryn, across the Arcane Sea."
He accepted the tea gratefully, drinking from it too quickly and choking on the hot liquid. "Thank you," he said to her, eager to chow down on the food that had been brought to him. Aiden's eyes followed Illyria as she moved about the room. He couldn't help it. Aiden had seen elves before, on rare occasions, but she was unlike any that he had ever seen before.
She looked just about ready to leave the room, causing Aiden's heart beat to spike somewhat. He had already devoured his meal like a ravenous beast and his tea was half way gone. He was hesitant to request such a thing from her, but he was unwilling to watch her leave so soon. He was in a strange place where he knew absolutely nobody and her presence was of great comfort to him. "Nothing but company, m'lady..." he said, offering her another smile and setting down his tea on the table.
800 WORDS FOR ILLYRIA EIRWEN FËANOR
LYRICS ARE FROM WE ARE YOUNG BY FUN. |
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Post by Illyria Fëanor on Aug 24, 2012 10:26:12 GMT -5
| [atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-color: #343434; padding:20px; border-top: 10px #712237 solid; border-bottom: 10px #712237 solid;] here's a riddle for you ( WORDS ) 349! ( TAGGED ) AIDEN CALDER! ( MUSE ) GRAND! It was probably a bit inappropriate, but Illyria couldn't help but utter a little laughter. He had indeed been stabbed a while ago. Couldn't blame him for a sense of humor though. Had Illyria been in the same situation, she would've probably just fallen into sleep. ”It's no joke though, you could've died if you were left there. If not the wound, the cold winter would have taken its toll on you.” Illyria wished that it would get a little warmer, but that wish hadn't been granted lately. The weather had been cold and snowy so long and there was no end in sight. Luckily they had warm clothes for winter and no one had to freeze to death – unless they wanted to...
”Faeryn?” Illyria had often heard of Faeryn, across the sea. There were elves there too, some who traveled to Andrasti from time to time. She had heard that Faeryn was in some kind of war – or well, not exactly a war but that there was this one Queen who disliked all of those women who were more beautiful than her. To be honest, Andrasti seemed like a really peaceful and safe place to be. But Illyria still would've wanted to see the world around her – she was just too afraid to travel so far. ”How come have you traveled so far? And without any company?”
Illyria walked near the bedside and sat on a chair nearby. She stared at Aiden for a while before realizing that it was probably really rude so she turned her eyes away from him. It was not that usual that she brought injured people to her home, but it had been near and she basically didn't know where else to take him. ”I don't know how long you were going to stay but it will take time for the wound to fully recover. So in the meantime you will stay here with us,” Illyria said with a smile. ”Partially to prevent you from getting into trouble before you have healed.”
There have been mysteries from the beginning of time |
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Post by Aiden Calder on Aug 24, 2012 16:44:41 GMT -5
[style=font-family: arial; font-size: 25px; text-shadow: 0px 2px 3px #666; color: #cccccc;]LET'S SET THE WORLD ON FIRE - - - we can burn brighter than the sun Aiden was tempted to roll his eyes when she insisted that it was no joke, but he refrained from doing so out of respect. It's a good thing you were there then, isn't it?" he said with a smile, watching as she came to sit near him. He was overjoyed that she decided to keep him company, not to mention grateful that he wasn't going to be left alone.
"It's a bit of a long story, how I wound up here..." Aiden said, leaning back against his pillows and thinking back to the death of King Christopher. But, the short version.... I came on behalf of the rightful King John of Faylinn and Hrothgard's Queen Lydia to seek out possible alliances in Mourinor." With a sigh, he looked up at the ceiling, missing her stare. "I came without company so as not to draw too much attention to myself. The last thing I need is for the enemy to discover what I'm up to."
"I suppose staying in Andrasti a little longer than I planned isn't such a terrible thing." When he smiled this time, it was a little more flirtatious. "Me? Get in to trouble, m'lady? Never." His chuckle was almost devilish. "What of you? Tell me about Andrasti and yourself. I hear that Mourinor's elves live quite a different life style from those of Faeryn." The muscles in the knight's hardened chest rippled as he shifted his position so that he could place his hands behind his head. The shocking pain in his abdomen made a slight look cross his face, but his body relaxed after the initial shock of it was gone and he was able to get comfortable once more.
800 WORDS FOR ILLYRIA EIRWEN FËANOR
LYRICS ARE FROM WE ARE YOUNG BY FUN. |
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Post by Illyria Fëanor on Aug 24, 2012 18:39:19 GMT -5
| [atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-color: #343434; padding:20px; border-top: 10px #712237 solid; border-bottom: 10px #712237 solid;] here's a riddle for you ( WORDS ) 420! ( TAGGED ) AIDEN CALDER! ( MUSE ) GRAND! ”It could've been anyone. And some of them might've not given you the chance to heal but indeed kill you without mercy. So yes, you were the lucky one,” she stated with raised eyebrow and a smile on her face. She usually was quite humble but something made her to do differently – maybe it was Aiden's humor. Illyria wanted to see people smile and relax. Especially if they were hurt and needed a little laughter. Though she hoped that Aiden wouldn't laugh too hard – well, she was not exactly an entertainer – since it might re-open the wound.
Illyria listened carefully Aiden's story of how he got in Mourinor and what was he doing there. There was certainly something going on in Faeryn if this one man alone was sent to seek an alliance with the kingdoms of Mourinor. ”The journey must have been lonely for you.” Illyria said, leaning forwards a bit, looking at him, studying him. She couldn't see herself spending so much time alone – at least the journey to Faeryn took a lot of time. ”I mean I've heard it takes a long time to travel to Faeryn. I've never been there. Or anywhere for that matter.” It didn't bother her – or well, to be honest it did a little.
When Aiden smiled back at her, she smiled quietly and moved her eyes looking at the floor. She gave a quick bit of a laughter and shook her head. ”I have the kind of feeling that you would get into trouble even just outside that door.” She bit her lip when asked to tell about Andrasti. Illyria honestly did not quite know if she was allowed to talk about the elves in Andrasti to a complete stranger, especially when he was human. But she had the kind of feeling that Aiden would probably be trustworthy enough. If he truly was there behalf of another king. But what if Andrasti were to become their enemy someday? ”Well, I am not sure how the elves in Faeryn do live, but we have built our cities into the nature, with the nature in them. As you can probably see,” she told. ”As for me... well, I am the Illani of Andrasti. My father is the current Arallan of Andrasti. And he is not quite that fond of humans, I'm afraid. But you are safe here and welcome to stay as long as it takes for you to heal.”
There have been mysteries from the beginning of time |
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