((OOC: I tried for the 60k post and only got halfway there. <_< Makes a good history though... Trying for a 60k was probably too big for a first post, especially when I don’t know my character too well as of yet!))
If one wanted only one word to describe this place it would be ‘gray’. Nothing else was as constant as that color. It was the backdrop to everything. Walls, floors, ceiling, the entire place was built from the same simple gray stone. It wasn’t drab really. There were never ending scrollwork and extravagant carvings, some even telling tales of brave heroes, villains, and even the occasional appearance of gods. They weren’t painted, though you could tell that it wasn’t for lack of trying. The walls were magical after all and they withheld the moisture from the rooms and soaked up paint and other dies completely, leaving only that ever-present gray. The solution? Tapestries! Though covering the walls of a library with tapestries isn’t truly frowned upon, finding ones that actually fit the spaces was near imposable. And what could one do about the huge stone shelves? It was the same stone, rows upon rows of endless gray. The books and scrolls stood out brightly against the gray though. Colors with no rhyme or reason. Why should they be? Texts are not organized by color, but by subject: Divine Grace fifth row on the left, starting at the top; Undead first seven rows on the right, organized from most common to least. That sort of thing.
If allowed two words they would undoubtedly be ‘Organized Chaos’. Silvia providing the organization and Fera diligently redoing everything to her own tastes, after she finished reading them of course. How could one possibly know where a book belonged if one didn’t know what writing it held? And atop one of the many said stone bookshelves sat the very girl doing just that. Bare feet dangling over the edge, she sat enthralled by a new text. She wasn’t even attired appropriately in Silvia’s eyes as she looked up at the girl. Clean black wraparound pants and a loose oversized shirt that seemed to barely fit the small girl’s frame. The shirt didn’t belong to her but was being lent to her by the Keeper of this hidden trove to texts, Uilliam the Hermit. The title no longer fit the half-giant though. Uilliam the Ancient or perhaps Uilliam the Sleeping suited him better. He had once been the lone keeper of the underground library. He used to know everything about the texts, but he was getting old and kept drifting off to sleep, and snoring loudly… one such snore echoed through the stone halls, ending with an odd snort at the end. Silvia smiled to herself and took hold of the ladder leading up to where Fera sat. After making sure it was secure she started up it.
Silvia had once been an elven bard, one driven to thievery due to the fact she wasn’t very good at not spending all her money away on frivolities. She had come across the Library about twenty or thirty years back quite by accident and decided to sneak past the sleeping half-giant to steal something worth a pretty Ingot. She instead found tale upon tale and being inclined to such tales herself was bound to stay. She was there for a few weeks before Uilliam found her organizing the place. After hearing her story and viewing her work, he let her stay.
Fera on the other hand was an odd case. It so happened that the library was in a magical area, one enchanted to let no one in who didn’t need to find the place in. It also so happened that a brave knight of the realm (specifically a paladin, though that is a little known fact) brought her to them. She was unconscious and in tatters. The only identifiable bit of cloth on her was an image carved on black leather that was likely some type of insignia. It was a soft sea green spiral that resembled a dragon or perhaps a demon. It was some type of winged beast and on each of the child’s shoulder blades was a tattooed mark that was identical to those wings. It was obviously the wing that was important and not the actual beast. That hint gave them no information about the unconscious child though. Nothing in the library referenced it. Even when the girl woke she remembered nothing and the image meant nothing to her. She kept it though, in hopes of finding out what it really was.
“Fera! Do you hear me child?” She heard Silvia of course, she was shouting loud enough to wake Uilliam! Fera was just busy reading and didn’t see the point in answering. Tucking her long black hair behind her ear, she paused to reflect on the odd fact that it faded to a rust color at the end, much like an iron blade is said to rust. Her attention went right back to the book without missing a beat though and she turned the page. Then, quite suddenly, the book was gone from her fingers. Looking up in surprise she saw Silvia had reached her and had snatched the book from her hands.
“Hay! I was reading that!” She protested and reached for the text.
“Get dressed!” Silvia rebutted, closing the book and putting it in her wide apron pocket. She started down the ladder once more, forcing Fera to come down to retrieve the book. She didn’t do so at first, then decided she could do this a different way. Turning around she started climbing down the shelves instead. “Fera! Don’t do tha…”
Silvia never got to finish her protest as Fera’s untrained climbing skills soon started her on a headfirst plummet toward the simple gray floor… Seeing that floor as an unwelcome end, Fera threw her arms over her face. Quite abruptly something happened. Large feathered wings sprang from her back and she was nearly yanked into a glide. The change from a nosedive to a glide was both incredibly startling and completely unexpected. She still managed a rather graceful crash, ending up in a tangled heap of limbs and feathers instead of a bloody splat on the floor. Silvia rushed to her aid, righting the girl and making sure she was really all right by patting her all over.
“I’m alright…” Fera said weakly as Silvia murmured something in Sindarin that Fera couldn’t understand. After assuring herself that Fera was indeed all in one piece she sighed and looked down at the shorter girl.
“I knew calling you Fera was a bad idea. That, my girl, was shapeshifting. Focus. I bet you can shape them back.” Fera concentrated, quite easily in fact, and the wings disappeared just as easily. Wide eyed she looked up at Silvia with a how-did-that-happen look on her face. “I think we know what you are now dear, you are a shapeshifter. Unfortunately, we don’t have much information on shapeshifting or shapeshifters here. I do think I know of a place you could go, but I’m not sure…” Silvia turned as started to walk away, biting the side of her index finger in thought.
Fera pause. A shapeshifter? That had to be a better clue to where she came from then the image she had. A need to know more about her life before coming here crept into her mind and she followed Silvia. Catching up to the elf she caught her sleeve with her fingertips in order to give it a quick tug. “Tell me, where can I go. Please Silvia…”
The ex-bard paused, looking down at the girl. She seemed old enough to go out on her own, not by elven standards at all, but human? Yes, shapeshifters could pass as human and she was human enough in appearance. It would work. “Lómëdor, a large city on the far east coast, has a large library they call the Parmamar Library. If you were going to go anywhere to research anything that you can’t find here, that would be the place.
“Now go and get dressed already. Your clothes are folded in your room.” Fera nodded and started off, causing Silvia to call out after her, “Come and eat when your done and we’ll talk about your journey!” Murmuring to herself in Sindarin once more she shook her head and went to go wake Uillium. What had fate tossed at them now?
Fera passed at her room and collected her thoughts before slipping inside the dark room. No light sprang to life. It would not only be pointless but also costly. There was no flame or fire anywhere in the library, nor would their ever be. Flames would not burn within these walls, for the sake of the books! Her mirror like eyes cast about the small room for a moment, seeing perfectly fine, before she pulled of the overly large shirt and frowned at the tear one of her wings had ripped in it. Tossing the now rag aside she slipped on a smaller tube-like blouse and shrugged on leatherwork bodice that laced not up the front but on each side of a wide and colorfully dyed panel in the front. Most of the top was a soft cream color with a softened rust color stain used to highlight the patterned leatherwork. The panel in the front held the insignia she had with her, the only link she had to the past, sewn onto it. The background of the panel evenly faded on the edges from deep brown to the lighter rust color used on the leatherwork. She then pulled on elbow-high fingered gloves that left her index finger and thumb uncovered. They were darker, like the panel, starting with that rust color at the elbow and faded to dark brown and nearly black at her fingertips. She then slipped on a rust colored shirt that fades to a deep brown the same way the gloves did. This skirt was also split up both sides to the hip for easy movement, though one is unlikely to see the wrap around pants she has on beneath the flowing skirt. She spun then, enjoying the look of the subtitle fabric as it twirled around her.
The dark pinewood case on her desk caught her eye then and Fera paused, the skirt finishing its spin without her noticing it. A deep seriousness crossed her brow as she approached the latched case attached to a long length of chain interwoven with leather. Even though one couldn’t tell by looking, the case was also braced with metalwork and even tiny hinges. It was her most prized possession. Picking the box she opened it in order to pull out a simple bound book covered in black leather. All that was in this journal was a sketch of the insignia she now wore. Then a smile came to her lips. There would soon be much more to add to this book, and even to the pine case, soon enough. Solomly she set the book back in the case and latched it. Her spirits rising once more she took the other end of the leather-woven chain and wrapped it about her narrow waist not once but twice before latching it and letting the pine case hang down from just behind her right hip so it bumped lightly against the back of her knee as she walked. Turning back to her clothes she picked up and laced on an overskirt made of the same cream and rust stained worked leather. It was split down the front where the laces on the bodice met it, with matching, though much looser lacing. The overskirt was also shorter in the front and nearly touched the floor in the back. The heavier and stiffer fabric left no telltale mark that she hid a wooden case under it. Sitting on the bed she pulled on clean stockings and dull black of her knee-high soft leather boots, whose toes were barely visible beneath the embroidered edge of the rust skirt when she stood and smoothed out her skirts.
Leaving the dark room behind she trekked up a level of gray stone steps to the guest and dinning area. There she found good food, company, and plans for her journey. Going into that particular discussion would take an unnecessary amount of time and will require too many ‘z’s on Uillium’s part to really be of too much of interest. Don’t need more people falling asleep when Silvia and Fera don’t even sleep, so skipping a bit ahead then.
The tall grass quilting the silent night of the Salquedor Grasslands rustled under the gentile breeze stirring from the distant east. This night was darker then most though not pitch black. Wisps of slightly silvered clouds both hid and revealed tiny shimmering jewels set in the ebony arch of the sky making it so the stars themselves seemed to be shifting and moving about erratically. The slight waning crescent suspended above the world was the only apparent stationary object in the sky, though the clouds attempts to hide it were just as successful as not.
A lone figure stood among the brittle grasses. Her heavy layered clothing was missing a cloak or hood, but nonetheless was tugged by the east wind. The figure stood only to five feet tall, not that height had any meaning to her, not yet anyways. She was dressed in the proper traveling attire, at least what had been available to her, for a woman. This consisted of a leather and fur-lined caplet that wrapped about her shoulders and crossed in the front where it was pined together with a silver clasp set along the length with a small rounded and polished star sapphire and a slightly larger princess-cut onyx. Beyond her normal attire there was also a coin pouch, a water skin, rations, and a staff in her hand. The staff was actually a very useful tool to have and could function in many ways. The simplest was a simple walking stick to avoid falling in treacherous terrain. Another use was to tap it on a floor or the ground in order to find a place that may hollow beneath. It could be used to direct magic spells if she had bothered to learn any. Last, and not least of course, it could be used in self-defense. She had never used a staff in self-defense, there really hadn’t been a need, but she had read about many different uses and how it was often incorporated into martial art moves. She had read a lot on martial arts, there was an entire section on it, but she hadn’t ever really put any of it into practice.
Her liquid silver eyes gazed up at the moon, reflecting the light and allowing the owner of those odd eyes perfect night vision. “Isiltelpë…” She breathed, reaching her hand up to the shimmering crescent. She had read about the moon, even seen drawings of it, but this… there were no words for it. At it’s full no doubt it would be even more stunning. A shinning pearl set in ebony silk. A gust of wind interrupted her revaluations of authors’ words as it threatened to steal away the scrap of parchment she held securely, though carefully in her fingers. She lifted the bit of not quite yellowing parchment before her and glanced down at it. It was a simple map, and incomplete. A smaller copy of the one she had left behind in what she had come to think of as her home. She reached under the first layer of her skirt to retrieve the simple pine case and opened it to reveal her well cared for journal. Slipping the thin map between the paged she closed and latched the case before once more letting it hang hidden under the heaver leather skirts.
Besides, a map is only helpful if you have landmarks you can recognize on it. It named cities and forests, and even mountains, but Fera wasn’t near any of those places. She was in the middle of the Salquedor grasslands and all that she could really see besides plenty of grass was a randomly placed tree here or there that she knew couldn’t count as one of the forests on her map. Fera only knew she had to go east and Silvia had pointed her that direction when she started off. Keeping her eye on the horizon she had started her walk shortly after sunset, pausing for the first time atop of this rise. With determination more then courage, she continued on down the slope.
The walk was silent and altogether uneventful. Corpses of trees had to go completely ignored at the risk of becoming lost or loosing her path through the grasses. Bird and beast had to be left alone and occasionally she had to pause as to not step on or frighten some of the smaller night creatures. She wasn’t looking for an unexpected reaction and would rather let them be. Even when Fera came upon a sleeping Hippogryph, whom she had to go much too close for comfort in order to not loose her direction, she didn’t do more then pause to gaze at the oddly unique beast and store the image in her mind for later reference. Something part horse and part eagle were all together rare indeed. What with the Griffons hating horses so much that they will often go out of their way to kill one, rider or not. As she continued her trek across the open grasslands she noticed something, a slight change in the light from the sky. The sky before her changed tones. Shifting from the deepest of blues to a softer purple and gradually to a gentle blue. Curious… very curious. The colors became lighter and lighter until the horizon before her started to become too bright. A glaring spectrum of nearly every color seemed to spring up along the eastern horizon, the light burning her eyes if she even tried to look. It didn’t stop there though. The entire world continued to burn brighter and brighter and it wasn’t long before she could see absolutely nothing. She was blind, blinded by the light. How horribly ironic.
Now that she was completely unable to see Fera was forced to stop. She started this by laying her staff upon the ground before her so it kept her pointed toward the east and her eventual goal. Even with her eyes closed the light still hurt, stinging her eyes and causing tears to well up. She shielded her eyes with a raised arm as she sat on the sparse grass. She sat cross-legged and undid the lengths of dark brown cloth she had been using to keep her waist-length hair back. She then tied it over her eyes in a blindfold, the extra folds of fabric protecting her nearly permanently inftavision sight from the blinding light of the sun. As she sat there, feeling quite blind and very hopeless she thought back for some explanation. Some dead had something called day-blindness where they could see perfectly fine in night, but the abundance of light during the day was simply too much to see by. There was also the entire thing with vampires and daylight, where they were known to burst into flames on contact with sunlight. By now she would have known that she was a vampire, and it was not at all likely she was undead. It was very true that she had spent all of her remembered life in the darkness of the library, with nothing brighter then… the color white perhaps? So it was because she could see easily in the dark. Day-blindness had to be the explanation and she would go with that until a better theory was presented, not that there was anyone around to present any other sort of explanation.
Rest during the day then, a perfect time to meditate. Meditating was a practice she had gained from Silvia and she continued to use it even though it wasn’t a need. First she centered herself and ignored the pain her eyes still felt from the bright light of the sun, assuring herself that eventually she could adjust. With a few deep breathes, sitting up perfectly straight, and rolling back her shoulders to help them relax, she felt ready. First she focused on her breathing, though kept her ears alert to the world around her. An attack so soon on her journey brought the promise of ‘a bad road to travel’. Breathing in and then out, slow steady breathes that filled her entire lungs. Then she turned her attention to the steady beat of her heart and it slowed some also. Bit by bit her body relaxed as if drifting into sleep while she remained completely conscious. She then felt something, not physically, but emotionally. It was something all together quite familiar but completely alien in its own way. It was a need for revenge, a feeling that could be summed up as ‘how dare they!’ but it was fractures in a way or perhaps just only unable to focus in of something or someone to enact this revenge on. Fera knew this feeling. She had come across it before in such meditations. Gently she examined the feeling in yet another attempt to discover its cause and perhaps even the reason for such revenge. Something had gone wrong or simply was wrong with her life before coming to the underground library. Perhaps it was the cause for her memory loss that she wanted revenge on. She sat there, completely still in broad daylight contemplating revenge for some time. Long enough for a single creature to notice her, decide she wasn’t a threat that way, and to approach her.
She heard the sound of a single pair of hooves as they landed in unison and the flap of a pair of wings that accompanied it. Her contemplations could wait. This could cause a problem. The approach was not direct though and that made Fera relax some. It wasn’t an attack then. After walking about halfway around her in a curve, she felt and smelled the breath of the beast as it sniffed her. She carefully moved her hand under the heavier leather skirt to snag a bit of bread from her rations. Carefully she held open her hand, keeping her fingers all together and making sure her palm was flat. A large beak brushed her hand and took the bread. She felt the beak bump her hand again, searching for more food. Not finding any and not getting much more of a reaction out of her, the large creature got board eventually and left, throwing up dust and bits of dirt as it flew away as the sun was setting.
Fera didn’t know if the dimming of light was a shadow or the sun going down, so she sat where she was and waited for it to get darker. When she removed the protection of her blindfold she saw that the sky behind her was that light purple and all shades of blue. The stars shone brightly above her once more and the moon, seeming a bit thinner perhaps, once more took a prominent place in the sky. Getting up and dusting herself off, she looked around at the footprints around her. Hoof and claw marks were mingled, assuring her that it had been a Hippogryph, most likely the one she had passed last night. Such an encounter was full of promise. She had the feeling that her search would not be in vain. Once more the walk became rather uninteresting. Few things sturred in the night here. How long would this all take anyways?
The horizon started to lighten once again and Fera found herself dreading it. She didn’t like being completely blind when most other people and creatures could see quite easily. Then she saw something that she hadn’t really expected to come across. It was a wide stretch of dirt, a huge path that she was walking nearly parallel with. Setting her staff down once more to mark her way should she still need it she went over to the road and looked up and down it both ways. It seemed to be going roughly west and east, and a road meant civilization. Civilization meant a city and a city meant a landmark! Perhaps the map would prove useful after all! Feeling hopeful she went and retrieved her staff and started up the road in a run. The horizon was still promising a useless abundance of light and she would, most definitely, prefer some form of shelter. A city should be able to provide that and she felt she had the coin to pay for it. She didn’t reach any civilization before sunrise though and was forced to blindfold herself once more. She didn’t stop moving though. Instead she found another use for her staff. She followed the edge of the road using the staff to sweep before her in search of obstacles that could possibly trip her up. Traveling like this for some time she became increasingly aggravated. Annoyed she pushed past some taller grass by the roadside and sat down to rest her now aching feet. Removing her shoes she wiggled her toes. Walking for so long on such a hard surface was not comfortable in the least. Rubbing her poor feet she was glad that her shoes fit her properly and that she didn’t have any blisters. Still blindfolded she dug out a bit of food.
The daytime didn’t prove to be any more or less helpful then the first. That had to be a good thing then, right? No attacks or mishaps yet. She did hear a few wagons traveling along the road, but she wasn’t really in the mood to try and stop one. She had to put her shoes back on first in order to even attempt to halt one and her feet were just starting to feel better. She started to try another meditation, but was not able to do more then just relax a bit. Traveling like this was not working very well. She was a shapeshifter, wasn’t she? That meant she didn’t actually have to walk anywhere. She could try flying again. She remembered those wings that had started her on this journey, but… It probably wouldn’t work. The wings were simply not going to work. First of all she didn’t know the first thing about flying and nothing about landing that didn’t involve crashing. There was no place for her to climb in order to get a good glide going either. Atop of all that she would likely rune her clothes, much like she had ripped Uillium’s shirt. She didn’t want to rune the only clothing she had and walking around in ruined clothes made like hers was bound to attract unwelcome attention. It wasn’t worth the risk. Sore feet was a much better option in her opinion then the ‘wonderful’ things she could conjure up with her imagination. Deciding she didn’t like the idea of being a damsel in distress, Fera decided to simply stay put until the sun had set once more and she could see. Robbery, kidnapping, rape, imprisonment, and so forth was not really worth being found by a hero and sometimes the hero took years to come along. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t mind meeting a hero, she just didn’t like the means… that and she could simply be put down as ‘dead’. For some reason though, death didn’t really seem like too bad a option, and compared to what could happen to her it didn’t seem like such a bad thing. Perhaps reading all those war and hero texts had been a bad idea. She was thinking too much on them now.
Time seemed to slow down, dragging daylight on and on, but finally, the light seemed to lesson and she risked peering out from under her blindfold. It was still very bright, but the sun was setting. Looking around she saw only the tall grasses around her and her staff laying next to her boots. She peered in her boots to make sure nothing had decided that they would be a good place to sleep for the night. They were thankfully empty and she pulled them on, standing and stomping her feet to make sure they were on right. Feeling satisfied she picked up her staff, moved back over to the road, put her back to the bright sunset and once more begin to walk. Her feet were still a bit tender and she swore to herself that she wouldn’t run on a journey again unless she really, really needed to.
Things gradually became easier and easier to see as the world became darker and darker. She looked up to the sky and saw the moon was gone. That, in addition to how she was already feeling, was rather depressing. It would be nicer if something did happen or if she at least met someone. Then she saw a mark in the nearly cloudless sky, a dark smudge that didn’t seem to fit. Smoke. Spirits rising in the hopes of finally halving someone to talk to she sluggish steps took on a faster pace. It wasn’t long until she reached a slight rise in the road and a huge building appeared before her. Lights flickered forebodingly in the windows but the noise seemed pleasant at least. It wasn’t really a city though. It was just the one building with a lot of cleared land around it. It was all marked out with fences and paths. Smaller areas had strange almost human like structures on them without heads or with only a post for a head. Most had no arms, though some were armed with long poles and had large flat wooden shields that didn’t seem too strong to her. Many were cracked and some even broken. On one part, to one nearest her, was a long stretch of grass with little posts sticking up only a foot or so on the edge closest to the building. On the far end were blocks of grass with circles painted on them. The entire place struck her as quite odd. What was the use of a place like this anyways? What could all of that stuff be used for?
Feeling very out of place and fully expecting to be blinded by some bright light, she resigned herself to going up to the large front door and knocking on it. As she walked into the area her gaze wandered about the place, averted from the bright windows of the building. No wonder they put so much importance on light if they needed it to see. She paused before the great door, hesitating. The building was impressive with a large wing heading off to the east, huge compared to the one she just passed. What type of people would she find here? What did she have to ask of them?
The second question was easier to answer. First she would need to know where this was, besides the Salquedor Grasslands. She would then want to find out the best way for her to get to Lómëdor. If she was lucky, very lucky, she might be able to get a ride over to the city with someone already heading there. The question then became a completely different one then. How much was she in the Lady’s graces and what would that give and take be? Keeping all of this in mind she took a deep breath and reached forward to knock on the door.
The figure at the door that she senced turned out to be a girl, she seemed surprised that Umbra opened the door before she knocked. The girl smiled but suddenly turned away and blocked the light of the fire from her eyes. Umbra looked at her in surprise, she never saw anyone do that, not even Blade who was a vampire. She must not be able to stand the light like he can. She cocked her head as the girl lowered her arm but kept her eyes shut. Umbra steped out and closed the door so the light would not bother her.
"I'm sorry. I think I would rather risk the cold of another night then be blinded by something as simple as your fire."
Umbra nodded, I see, a person of the Night World. she thought. The girl continued. "I was actually hoping to know exactly what this place is called and what the shortest way to Lómëdor was. I'm in a bit of a hurry." she said. Umbra nodded and thought for a moment, then smiled. "Your location is the Outdoor Training Arena, within the Sequedlor grasslands. As for Lomedor, there is no "Short way." From this location at least. However, if you are in as much of a hurry as you say you are. Maybe I could be of assistance. I too am on my way there to meet a friend, if you wish you may come with me." she offered. She knew that there would be dangers in the morning if she continued. Bandits plagued the lower halves of the Grasslands where the road to Lomedor was. If this girl was of the Night world...Well it would not be a good thing.
She heard the door close and risked opening her pure silver eyes. Such a small kindness made her smile as she listened to the woman before her. "Your location is the Outdoor Training Arena, within the Sequedlor grasslands. As for Lomedor, there is no "Short way." From this location at least. However, if you are in as much of a hurry as you say you are. Maybe I could be of assistance. I too am on my way there to meet a friend, if you wish you may come with me."
Nodding she stated softly, as if she were speaking to herself, “Just south of Estolad then.” She paused in thought before venturing to answer the kind stranger. She met the woman’s gaze with her own magical one. Fera didn’t remember that it was a magical ability though, one that had allowed her to see in any light, and therefore had no idea how to use it.
“I would appreciate it. I really don’t know where I’m going exactly, but never being there would have something to do with that.” She said it lightly, attempting to lighten her own spirits. Walking on her own and falling victim to whatever haunted the area was not something she was looking forward to. She failed at cheering herself up. Perhaps she was just not the traveling type.
“I’m seeking out the library there for some research. A form of research at least. It’s all turning out to be a sort of mystery that I only seem to have a few pieces of. I just wish they were more useful clues.”
Fera didn’t really have a reason to tell this woman that, but she had been living a rather unusual life before now and the rest of it was lost to her. Things like knocking were a given, but formal introductions were for knights, nobles, and kings. The thought to introduce herself had never even crossed her mind. Sitting did though, as her feet were still a bit tender. Fera walked over to the wall near the door and took a seat with her back to the wall so she could lean on it.
Umbra heard the girl mutter something about Estolad. She shrugged and waited for an answer. She waited for the womans reply as she noticed her raven was awake and looking down at them. She looked back up at it and it ruffled its feathers and began to preen a few that were out of place. She smiled, Good bird. she thought as the woman met her gaze. She seemed decided, “I would appreciate it. I really don’t know where I’m going exactly, but never being there would have something to do with that.” she said.
Umbra nodded and smiled. "Alright. Since you seem to be a "Being of the Night World" by your reaction to the fire, I say we leave now. Just let me take care of a few things." she said opening the door behind her and took a small pail by the fire and dumped water on it. The room immediately turned dark and a loud hiss was heard as smoke drifted up and embraced Umbra's sence of smell. She gathered up her sword and slung it in its place on her back. She pulled her silver cloak on and walked out the door.
The girl seemed vacant when she told Umbra her reason for wanting to go there, “I’m seeking out the library there for some research. A form of research at least. It’s all turning out to be a sort of mystery that I only seem to have a few pieces of. I just wish they were more useful clues.” She smiled, "Well I have found many times that going to the Library to find information is one of the best places to do so. I have found much useful information on things there"
She gave a sharp whistle. Her Cerberus got up after giving a low growl of impatients, not wanting to get up but obeying the call of its Master. The raven glided down past the girl who leaned against the wall and landed on Umbra's shoulder. "Rumasak, we have someone who is going with us. Be kind to her, I don't want to hear anything about you misbehaving. Arella, keep a good watch, she is one of the "Night Clan" so we must make sure to keep her safe, especially in the day." she commanded. The raven gave a caw and the cerberus gave a low bark. She turned to the girl. "It is rude to travel when not aquainted. The Cerberus is Rumasak and the Raven is Arella. I am Umbra. We will begin when you see it to be fit." she said waiting for the girls reply.
Her wanting to rest was short lived as se saw the woman getting ready for travel. “Being of the Night” seemed to be an odd thing to all someone. The fire had been put out quickly enough though and seeing was not a hazard anymore.
Her mind racing for a moment in frantic thought she attempted to put together that rapid change of events. She hadn’t really been expecting to travel with anyone, let alone with beasts like these. She did find her gaze drifting toward the raven not soon after it’s decent from the rooftops. She really had no idea how to react to the three-headed dog, a Cerberus was a fierce beast in most tales…
"Rumasak, we have someone who is going with us. Be kind to her, I don't want to hear anything about you misbehaving. Arella, keep a good watch, she is one of the "Night Clan" so we must make sure to keep her safe, especially in the day." Fera blinked at being called “Night Clan” She didn’t know if she liked the name. It sounded like… something bad perhaps? She knew better then to judge first though and was about to ask what exactly was meant by the comment when she was addressed once more.
"It is rude to travel when not acquainted. The Cerberus is Rumasak and the Raven is Arella. I am Umbra. We will begin when you see it to be fit."
Still leaning against the wall she realized the mistake and promised herself it wouldn’t become a problem. “Oh, I’m Fera. Sorry, this is actually the first time I’ve traveled anywhere. I think we can go now though. Now is as good as any other time.” Pushing off the wall she stood again and patted the durst off her skirts. Looking to the east where the road twisted off in a crooked ribbon soon to disappear in the grasses of Lomedor. She still had her question though. “What do you mean by “Being of the Night” and “Night Clan” anyways? I’ve never heard of the term before.”