3. Nathen Wingates - Mystran Bard.

Nathen Wingates - Mystran Bard.


  • "Eye of the storm."

    The eye is the absolute center of a storm, hurricane or other [weather-related] catastrophe. When in the eye, the winds are calm and the sky is clear. 'A moment of peace when surrounded by chaos.'

    -Shadowy heart.

    _Maya always told him he hid his heart behind a mask of shadows. And for a good long while he had no idea what she meant. Sun bathed across the Peltarch streets, a golden armored, orange haired bard is seen on a bench on the commons. He twists the cog, – the cog of the broken crossbow across his lap. He sits there, pondering as he fiddles with his ranged weapon. His eyes absently distant, wandering his thoughts, his reflections of situations and ponderations.

    He still remembered her words... "Nathen is like wizard Ro, wizard Ro hide heart behind actions. Nathen hide heart behind words." She spoke those with a smile in the nars pass a few days ago. He shakes his head, rubbing his metallic finger across his brow with a tiny grin. He had no idea how many times he had begun visiting Norwick just to see the blonde barbarian, it's not like he'd been counting. "Nathen heart surrounded by shadow." For so long he had pretended to misunderstand, or just wait for her to continue on with something else.

    She was right, though, the bard figures, as he adjusts a spring on the trigger of the wooden ranged weapon on his lap, bright sunlight still beaming down on the orange haired man. The shadows Maya speaks of, to him, he figures, are caution, because a heart is easily broken.

    "Caution is key," he had taught himself that so long ago. Before the undead uprising, before the complicated senatorial race, before the coup, before the civil war. Without caution, a heart can be broken. A broken heart means a broken man… But what's love if but a game of caution? He wonders. Nothing at all.

    He attaches a cord to the shaft of the bow, then slings it down to attach it to the trigger piece. Caution is not the key, obviously. Sometimes it's best to take a chance, maybe extinguish these 'shadows' the barbarian lass keeps talking about... He rubs his face with a gauntletted hand, down his eyes, his nose, his smile. "Stupid bard, quit daydreaming. Your cross-bow's broken, fix it..." A murmur, before returning to his fiddlings and repairs.

    "Maya think Maya and Nathen need big adventure." She always did mention adventures. Advenures, the bard ponders as he prods at the twisted bolt-shaft of his weapon, create tales. And there's nothing more fun then sailing away on a boat to some far away land with your friends. Spinning a tale to sing about upon your return, around a table, a feast. But always with your friends. Your friends, and people you love.

    Love. Curious thing, he frowns thoughtfully. Holding the crossbow up and pointing it at nothing in particular, seeing if the shaft was straight, – but his mind still absent in ponderations. "Still thinking about love, Wingates? You sap, you've got bigger fish to fry. Quit fooling around." He tells himself, smirking on the inside.

    "There..." He twists a prog into place, a snug click. "Marvelous. Fixed." He smiles somewhat, weighing it before re-attaching it to his back. One less thing to worry about then, he decides, exhaling slowly.

    The undead and the missing children itching away at the back of his mind, his smile fades at the edges as his hand finds itself discretely holding his stomach. A sneer crawls across his face. Guilt. He shakes it off, closing his eyes for a brief second.

    Rising, he gathers his things and makes his way towards the Cerulean Knight Tower._


  • ''Numb.''

    _Exhaling slowly, I once again find myself slumped down in the commons and thumbing through a book on the shadow plane. Something about guilt that makes your innards squirm. My eyes flicker over each word calmly, I'm not smiling or passing some cheery comment, I'm trying to make things right. Commoners go about there day, most are just trying to forget about the shadow uprising, most are trying to forget about everything that happened.

    Wish I could forget, but I can't. The memory of those kids is branded into my brain – I can remember as if it were yesterday...

    ''Numb'' Part II; Remember.

    I was taking the kids to there elven classes, no big deal, just a casual day. Ruby was looking for Eowiel, and had wanted a tour, so I told her she could tag along. When we get there, Ruby has to leave. I say my goodbyes, so does Eowiel. I had only realised something was wrong a moment or two after we found our way to the lounge. A whisper? Did I just hear someone whispering? No. Couldn't be. It's the wind. Just the wind.

    I turn to face them, and to tell them to stay with Eowiel, that's when I see it; There eyes. Nothing. Empty, glazed, unfocused, something was wrong alright. Something was very wrong. ''Eowiel, … Are they alright?'' I pose my query, all the while keeping a baffled eye on the children. She doesn't have time to answere. The girl, probobly not older then 8 years old, jumps up and lunges at my neck.

    Eowiel casts a daze spell and the kid's grip loosens, not that it was ever that tight. She blinks a few times, timid, normal, just a kid again. She's confused, obviously, something made her do it. Something vile. Magic maybe? Enchantements?

    Eowiel and I discuss the matter after making sure the kids are easy breezily safe. We're still in the lounge, we're still talking about what could of got into the kids when we hear it again, -- another whisper? Am I hearing things again? The look on Eowiel's face makes me think otherwise, she hears it too. She has to.

    The entrance, the doorway; Darkness seeps from the tops of the walls down to the ground. Eowiel, the kids and I turn to face it, my hand hovers near my mace, Eowiel's near her rapier. Slowly, the shadowy matter slides down the walls, unto the floor, molding itself into form. A shadow humanoid, two legs and two arms, -- humanoid, but definatly not human. The girl manages to grab ahold of a pillar, the other two children, the boys, get pulled into the dark matter and dissapear. ''KILL IT!'' Eowiel and I charge. Vicious, hard to hit, it takes us a few moments to take the thing down.

    ...

    Two children missing, the girl's scared as heck. Eowiel orders me to take the girl to the guard house, a null magic zone, for safe keeping. She being my superior officer has nothing to do with my agreeing and following her suggestion. It making sense does, though. I nod, calm the kid down and make my way out of the college and into the night swept Peltarchian streets.

    Eli. Her name's Eli. We get to talking. She seems at ease now, alot less worried, alot less scared. Good. She has to be brave to recover what she just saw; At her age she could easily of been scarred for life. She tells me she's still a bit afraid. I tell her not to worry, I tell her she's safe, I tell her I can protect her. I hold her hand and we continue towards our goal.

    We're just about to enter the guard house before getting an unwanted visit. Shadowy matter, shaky, violent, it sprouts from the ground below us. It covers us, consumes us, something happens -- Her hand. I don't feel it anymore. My teeth grit together as I lunge out blindly in the dark to where I last felt her hand. The shadowy matter around me evaporates, I find myself lunging towards the stone ground with a thud. Nothing. She's gone.

    ...I told her she'd be safe. I told her I could protect her.

    ''Numb'' Part I Continued.

    A small shake of my head pushes the memories to the back of my mind. Stupid daydream. Stupid guilt. Clearing my throat, I look up from my book, look up at the ever busy commons. Closing the book on my lap, slipping it away, I pull myself up and exhale emptily. Zyphlin can help, that guy knows everything. I nod politely, if not absently, to the gathered people around the sundial and get up off my bench to make my way towards the college. Uncomfortably, as I walk, I rub at my stomach with my lip curled into a sneer, ''something about guilt that makes your innards squirm.''_


  • Journal Entry…
    …Wow, I found one of my old poems from the old days with Divinus. Guess I'll just stick that in here.

    (One very old, dusty poem sheet is found between two folded pages.)

    @f54c8e318d:

    Bardic Failiure.

    Dawn sets in with a morning glow,
    Let the blade seep in, nice and slow;

    You might be wrong, you didn't see it coming,
    Trying to settle the pain with pathetic humming;

    Finding love in all the wrong places,
    Falling for all the wrong faces;

    Beware the pretty ladies that you find,
    A pretty lady can hide an evil mind;

    Twist the hilt, get in there deep,
    Close your eyes, time to sleep;

    You are the bardic failiure,
    Write your last, blood stained letter;

    Past days tarrying the rest of your life,
    Last breath hanging on the edge of your knife;

    Whatever it was,
    Realise through the fuzz,
    It's all because;

    You are the bardic failiure,
    You don't deserve any better.


  • Journal Entry…

    _…Well. Things got pretty boring. Good thing, though, I think, is that we took our city back! Yep! We faught that bum, Koreth's, men and forced them to retreat west into the mountains. Hah! Stupid traitor, stupid senate meeeting attack.

    ...Still boring. Sis and Cotts are gone from camp, which just makes things even more dull. I got back into pranking again, I've been pulling jokes on Mery in the commons. She seems to enjoy them, so no harm done. We have a nice chuckle usually afterwards too. That brightens things up in the city.

    ...Visited Maya in Norwick today. She's captain now. I knew Jandor would promote her, heh. She's happy about it, I think. And good for her, too. I'm considering moving down there myself and away from all this bogus city stress garbage. Either there or Jiyyd._


  • Journal Entry… _…Call Blackrose spoke with me today. She's this doomguide of Kelemvor I know. She thought Kelemvor turned his back on her. She wanted to worswhip a darker god, a very unfitting god. Especially for a girl like her. I managed to talk some sense into her, though. I think I got through to her, too. I'm glad I helped. I spotted her praying to Kelemvor before the attack. That's the way.

    ...I've just finished gathering my things from the refugee camp. I'm ready to move back to the city. It's great we finally took our home back. Heh. I wonder what happened to that rat, Korreth. I hope Maya's alright. Havent seen her after the attack. Getting a bit worried.

    -Nate_


  • Journal Entry…

    _…I can't believe it. That moron! Roubanes went and transformed himself into an umberhulk in the commons. He scared off half the people there, and the guards had to attack him on sight. Me, captain Anakore, and a few others were there. I cast invisibility on myself and followed him, and found him lying down in a spot of grass in the giantspire in his human form. I dispelled my invisibility, and tried to talk some sense into him. Worst thing is, he knew what he was doing! He was doing it just for kicks! So we both use invisiblity and head back into the city for him to apologise, only when we walk in, we hear the guards talking about jailings, bans, and all that stuff!

    I lost track of Roubanes, who was supposedly invisible and next to me, and he probobly ran off somewhere safe -- The first sane thing he'd of done all day. I've got to find him before this starts having serious consquences._


  • Journal Entry…

    _…I spent the night talking with Maya. She showed me this special spot in the giantspire, it was sort of a grotto with stone pillars and high grass. It was beautifull. Anyway, we talked about far off adventures and grand cities... And kings, and warriors, and evil wizards -- with trolls and minotaurs. It was great. We stayed up till the morning without realising it, that's when she had to leave.

    ...Me and Roubanes had such an adventure today. Hah! There was this dark robed guy in the commons, who was obviously trying to tiptoe and hide from us. Talk about obvious, he was lifting his robes up and looking around all nervous like. Anyway, so we follow him. I manage to corner him, and ask him a few questions. He mentioned a 'her' and 'we' -- so I followed Zyph's advice, about how people can be stupid, and I made like I knew exactly what he was talking about.

    He slipped up easily enough, Roubanes kept cracking jokes, it was great and humorous -- until we figured out what the guy really was. The robed guy lead us to the docks, where we tiptoed around and avoided contact with commoners and all that stuff. It was actually sort of amusing. We went to the morgue, where he introduced us to his "boney brothers." These two dark robed guys, with skull masks on, guarding a door.

    They were three, they tried to ambush us, but, heh, me and Roubanes handled them easily enough. We stripped them of there robes and masks and head into the door they were guarding. It lead us to an underground passage way, that brought us to a crypt! There were more necromancer cult members around, but with Roubanes polymorphing into a skelliton, they thought I was a member if there little freak show. Talk about gullable.

    They let us into the deeper and, more important section of the cryptic underground of the morgue. We ran into two more freaky cultists, who asked me to go 'get the sacrifices' in the other room. They didn't realise who I was, probobly because of the skull mask and dark robe I had stripped off the first guard. Devious, I must say. Heh.

    We found the hostages down a certain hall, it was horrible. They were caged and scared. That's when a guard showed up and asked us what was taking so long. I had taken off my helmit to talk to the frighten hostages, so the cultist knew I wasn't who I said I was.

    Me and Roubanes just knocked him out. I took his key and released the hostages, then we faught our way out. When they were safe, me and Roubanes returned to kick some necromantic rear end. Hah! That'll show them to abuse the weave. Stupid necromancers._


  • Journal Entry…

    _…I've got to find a cleric to enchant Maya's boots. Maybe Eowien, if I trade her one of my enchantements. I've tried myself, but I don't know the proper spells. Endure elements, I think, is what I need. Ah well. I'll talk to Eowien first thing tomarrow morning if I can manage to stop fooling around and cracking jokes in the commons. Heh.

    ...I faught against Braeth for the first time today. His panther helped him alot, he said they were bonded or something. Needless to say, he won. It was a good match. He was almost as badly hurt as I was. Well, I'm probobly exagerating, he beat me to a bloody pulp. Heh. I faught against Zyph' again too.

    This time it was a very close match, probobly because I wasn't tossing my darkness spells around, hehe, I guess it's a more brave way of fighting anyway. Without all the hiding behind dark walls of shadows and waiting for the oponent to slip. Oh, Maya beat the crap out of Braeth. That was a fun match to watch. She's strong, pretty too.

    …I ate some apples today, but not any ordinairy apples. These were fresh! Yes! First time since I moved up from camp that I've found newly acquired, freshly plucked, off-the-tree apples. I gave the shop-keeper a few extra golds for them.

    ...Maya moved down to Norwick. I wonder why she doesn't want to be a defender anymore. It looks like an easygoing job. Oh well, she's probobly going to be better off down there anyway. Heck, I suggested she apply for militia captain, with that Rando fellow out of town and all that. I think she'd make a great town captain._


  • Journal entry…

    (You come across another torn page of Nate's Journal.)


  • _- … ... -Woosh- the end of Nate's morning star swung downward, Nate charging his upper body with it, "Nngh!" Zyph hopped up, -Crash!- it hit the floor causing a small dent. Midair as he dodged backwards, Zyph chuckled amusedly, strumming the harp attached to his belt and dissapearing in the blink an eye.

    Nate stumbled forward at the dexterious black leathered Zyphlin's maneuver. He gripped his mace tight, gathering himself and standing back, eyes narrow and peeled.

    Tap tap tap tap - Footsteps, right, left, no wait, behind? Nate growled raspily, lips pursed into a thin smirk. His voice still imbued with his cursed lyrics, shakey and imposing, "Chome ohn Zyphh! Stohp hidihng!"

    Tap tap tap tap - More footsteps, again he couldn't pinpoint the exact location. "Invisibility, clever bastard, he's waiting my curse song's effects out." Nate thought to himself, grinning on the inside.

    • Humming, to the side, the right! The sound of the hymn and the pull of the weave made it all too obvious. Zyphlin was humming a healing hymn.A glint in Nate's eye, instinct kicked in and he swung his morning star to the left, turning his entire upper body with it. "Mngh!" Contact, he felt the pressure on the edge of his swing, he'd hit the invisible bard right in the kisser, a lucky hit. "Gah!" The arcane wrapping Zyphlin shook and quivered a moment, letting Nate catch a glimpse of Zyph's reaction, just for a split second. The arcane rewrapped itself, concealing Zyph once again.

    Nate yanked his morning star backward, snatching it in the center of the chain, gripping his shield tightly with the other hand. The cursed song wore off, Nate's voice returned to normal, "Oh come on Zyph! You can't win like this and you know it!" Zyphlin chuckled invisibly. Anakore covered a yawn over in the corner, "This could take a while."

    • Nate took another moment to blink, only to open his eyes to the feeling of cold steel through the interlocking chains on his right arm. "Nngh!" Zyphlin's invisibility dissapeared, he hopped backwards assuming a defensive position, a thin red line streaking down the edge of his rapier.

    He gathered himself, using his weight to bring the tower shield in front again. His grip in the middle his morning star's chain tightened, he grinned, wincing slightly at the hit. "Nngh - Heh, nice hit! From behind as usual!" Nate's voice held a taunting undertone, still Zyphlin's defensive position didn't break. "Whatever works I always say." His bloody grin remained unwavering behind his dark helmit. Nate chuckled, ignoring the streak of blood running through the chains of his armored left shoulder.

    Something was wrong, the pull of Zyphlin's invisibility was still there, but Nate could see him. They circled, eyeing eachother, daring one another to make a move. A smirk spread across Zyphlin's face, he hopped back fading away from view. "Damn it!" Nate thought, "I knew something was off, he's using a sphere!" The invisibility sphere had allowed Zyphlin to escape without casting another spell. Anakore shook his head, turning to Chaevre and reminding her of his earlier statement, "Yep, could take a while."

    Zyphlin remained inside the sanctuary behind his invisibility sphere, watching Nate, calculating his next move. "This is getting repetetive you know, Zyph, honestly now, you need some new tricks." He chuckled sarcasticly, but still with a friendly tone.

    …Silence. No witty comeback, no snide remark. Nate furrowed his brow downward, shifting his eyes around the room. "Damn it, Sierra's here. I can't go losing in front of her. But he keeps dissapearing!" He thought, determined, taking a casual glance over to the hatted brunette sitting in the corner of the academy.

    He felt like slapping his forhead then and there, and he would of, if it werent for the weapon in his right hand and the shield in his left. Sierra was sitting there, arms folded lazily, head tilted forward, the brim of her hat covering most of her face. Breathing lightly, sleeping.

    "She's sleeping! I can't believe th-..." Nate couldn't finish his thoughts,

    • Zyphlin reappeared behind him, slashing his rapier across horizontally, "Hng!" Nate quickly lowered himself, gripping his mace tightly, looking forward at Zyphlin's shadow caused by the torch behind both of them on the wall. "There you are, back in sight already?" His thoughts raced. "Yeah your quick, but fragile, the quick ones usually are." Eyes fixed on the shadow, using it to get a feel of where Zyphlin was standing - which was right behind him. He dug his greaves into the hard academy floor. The outline of Zyphlin's body on the wall was still in the swinging motion.

    • Shoving his entire weight backwards, ramming into the black leathered bard now that his invisibility vanished. He grit his teeth, his morning star clenched tight in his right hand. "Oomnf!" Zyph staggered back, Nate turned quickly. His shield was first to turn, next came his torso, then finally, his morning star, in swinging motion. "Got you!"

    The edge of the star dug into Zyph's chest, he stumbled a step back, then on his knee. His rapier and dagger 'clinked' against the floor, he gripped his chest, breathing heavily. "Mnhg..damn.." A weak grin playing his lips with each breath._


  • "Arcane Vertigo, Part I"

    Don't you give up on it,
    Another one awaits you,
    Don't you give up on it,
    Break ahead, it makes you,

    One dozen years you've trained,
    But don't give up, it takes you,

    Go into the sky, the dust, and the dark,
    Go now, there's no time, to do, or to die,

    Fight, spells acast,
    Go into the night, be ready to fight,

    Fight, fight, fight.

    x-2

    _"You better be ready for this, Nate." Zyphlin grinned across the room, arcane mist still swirling around his ever shifting armor. Nate laughed loudly, running a gloved hand through his hair leading into a shrug and friendly smile, "Oh don't worry, I'm ready when you are Zyph." His smile was a bit too friendly. Anakore was in the corner, leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed, rolling his eyes at the small talk. "Hey, you two ready or what?"

    Zyphlin chuckled and nodded, "Ready when you are, Nate. I want to see the 'fighter bard' everyone's talking about." Nate glanced over, smiling still, with a nod, "Was born ready."

    "On my count then." Anakore grinned, Peltarch Fighter's academy fell silent. Sierra sat against the pillar, near Anakore, watching curiously. Chaevre was beside her as well, arms folded, watching without a word. "Five…" Anakore started the count.

    Zyphlin hopped from side to side, unsheathing his rapier and his dagger, light on his feet, his armor shifting to it's blackened cloth form. Nate was wearing his casual clothing, flexing his fingers outward, leaning down slightly to asssume a battle positon. "Four... Three..." Nate couldn't see it but he knew Zyphlin was grinning behind that black helmit of his. A confident glint flashing in his eyes. "I can win, all I need to do is figure out his battle tactic."

    "Two... One... GO!"

    ...

    "Koo vu duu perium!" Nate flexed his arms outward, shifting and wrapping himself with a cackling sphere, dissapearing. A similar hymn present the other side of the room, Anakore glanced over, Zyph was also gone. He rolled his eyes. "Typical."

    Hyms, arcane utters, sparks flaring and dissapearing in the blink an eye, the fighter's academy was dazzled in an array of lights. Both sources invisible.

    Inside the sphere, his fingers tense and his eyes determined, Nate Wingates uttered his usual series of hymns. He was strong, aye, but not strong enough. "Bull's strength" He needed to be fast, he needed help avoiding blows, "Mage armor." Along with all the others.

    Quickly, he ran into a corner of the academy, hearing Zyph casting still. He managed to tighten the straps to his armor on, adding one last layer of protection for his duel. He unbuckled and swung his mace out, brandishing his shield with his free hand. He ran back into the center of the fighting area, the invisibility sphere cackling around him. "Come on Zyph!" He called out in a friendly tone, smiling behind his invisible mask. "I thought you were faster then that!"

    He blinked, hearing the step behind him, feeling the rapier find a soft spot under a plate in his armor, "Gah!" the invisibility around Zyphlin's body swelled up and vanished. "Here I am!" He was grinning, as usual, hopping back and assuming a defensive position now.

    Nate's eye cought it, the arcane hyms and spells swirling around the two in a marvelous display of light. "As soon as I make a move, he's going to counter it..." He thought sharply to himself, circling the grinning Zyphlin, looking him in the eye. Holding his shield out towards him, gripping his mace in back, "Come on Zyphlin..," he raised his voice tauntingly, "Make a move..." he tightened his lips readily, "I dare you."

    Zyphlin's grin widened. Standing rapier high, dagger low, on his tip-toes, ready for anything as he circled Nate. "Fine, not going to give into wordplay, eh...?" Nate thought to himself, tensing every muscle in his fibre up.

    "Prepare yourself!" His tone raised, begining to become raspy, his grip on the mace tightened. "Hhhhraaaghhh!" His voice shook and twisted into a banshee-like scream, sending a shockwave towards the bard in black leather. The burning tension in his muscles eased, Nate cracked a low grin as the dark hymn he'd hummed stayed swirling around Zyphlin. "Nghh, damn that hurts!" Zyph replied, gripping his rapier tight, hopping back gracefully.

    "Lhhet's seeh hhow yhoo dhoo nhow, Zyphh!" The sharp raspiness in Nate's voice still lingering, smiling knowingly at the pain Zyphlin had just recieved. But Zyphlin wouldn't be beat so easily, he hopped back another step, avoiding the thrust of Nate's morning star, strumming a small harp attached to his belt midair.

    The fight had only just begun.

    ..._


  • Journal Entry…

    (You come across a torn page of Nate's Journal.)


  • Journal Entry…

    _…I got beat up today for trying to help a citizen who's shop was being raided by a bunch of asshole rebel defenders. They tied me up with shackles and gagged me for it, too. Then they just left with the sack of goods from the store. They're starting to get under my skin. Chaevre then said she could get the shackles off, but used a PolyMorph spell. She turned into a giant bug creature and shook me around a bit. The shackles broke, along with part of my pride.

    ...I got teased to the nine hells today at camp. Oats was pulling tons of pranks at my expense. I guess he's not such a bad guy for a druid. Witty and humerous. His jokes were pretty tastefull, though. Actually made me laugh afterward when he had painted the words "PADDLE ME" on the buttox part of my armor. Sneaky little elf he is, hehe.

    ...When I was sitting in the commons today, Eowiel and Demi started to throw rocks at me. At first I figured they were playing some sort of game or something, so I joked about it. When they didn't stop, Clandra suggested I give Eowiel a hug, which I did. Then she didn't stop so I just used invisibility sphere and got out of there.

    ...I dueled against Eo tonight. A fair match I guess. I won. Afterward she seemed upset. I guess it's because she's such a proud woman. I tagged along even though she dismissed me. When I asked what was wrong I didn't get a real straight answere, though.

    I went with her to a meeting with Rath who was already in a 'conferance' with two women in his room at the city hall. Who I suspect werent talking about city business. I wasn't too sure whether she was OK or not so I waited in the hall for about three hours, too. I ate a bunch of different fruit. A banana, an apple, and some grapes too. The grapes were good.

    When she came out she said that I was looking at the new advisor to Rath Ashald. She seemed to have cheered up, if only a bit._


  • Journal Entry…
    _…I met an Istishian today. I can't believe it, I havent seen one in ages! My old chum from waterdeep was Istishian, but the idiot never told me much about his god - which I thought was a goddess. Anyway, her Name's Yarian Roth. Roth, as in captain Anakore's last name. When I asked her about it she said her parents died. Strange, I doubt it's just a coincidence but I suppose it's possible. Nice girl, too, if not a bit wierd.

    ...Cotts was acting wierd today. She kept making strange comments and asking me to rub her back. It made me real uneasy, though, and I had to run off when she started talking all slow and sensual like. I think she was toying with me but I'm not too sure. I can't believe I ran off. Gods.

    ...Bah, my assignement was flawed. When I presented it to Eowiel it must have been off-topic. Which sort of bites my chops and busts my earlobes because I was sure it was dead-on. Maybe I'm not the great performer I thought I was. Next time I'll make it nice and precise.

    ...Oh gods those eastlanders are asking for it now. They're threatening the camp! They want to kidnap cotts, too, which really ticks me off. What if they go after Kaona too? I never did trust those heretic purple-armored mauraders._


  • Journal Entry…

    _…So many great things happened today. Well, great, is a loosely used term. I was accepted into the cerulean knights, for one. Clandra's my trainer, which is sort of awkward. She's a sharessian and she keeps trying to take my belt off or something like that. Important part is that I'm an apprentice and done with squire-hood. One thing, though, is the uniforms. The pants sort of ride up my rear and I have to keep tugging at them or else it becomes very uncomfortable.

    But this little tidbit is easily overshadowed because Divinus came back. She brought our little girl from Damara, too. Krystal's looking great, she's so cute. She even said her first words to me today, "Mommy loves Daddy". Terribly adorable.

    I just don't know how I'm going to break this to Shemaright._


  • Journal Entry…

    _…Lilly and her dark haired lady friend were talking in the commons today. I was sitting with Eowien along with Anakore. We ended up having a sparring match below the Ferret, me and Lilly. We agreed to allow magics and such to be used, so I used them. Her dark haired friend kept spluttering some nonsense about cheating, but we had agreed to the rules before-hand. Honestly now, what's a bard without a bunch of tricks?

    I won, it wasn't that hard. She couldn't hit me for one, even though I wasn't wearing my armor. I think she hit me once, but my barrier absorbed it. Anyway, I healed her and was very polite afterwards. She didn't smile, I think she felt a bit bad for losing. Guess I feel a bit guilty myself, I don't know why though.

    Anyway, soon after Eowiel and Clandra wanted to have a staff-fight. That's when Senator Rath wandered in with his usual body guards. He was looking for exitement, I guess. He sat down and watched Eowiel fight Clandra. As usual, he kept mispronouncing my name. "Nest" isn't even similar to "Nate". I don't know how he can possibly mistake them. Oh well.

    Eowiel won that match. Senator Rath said he was growing bored, so I offered Lilly a rematch. He gained interest this time, he even placed 500 golds on me as a bet. Even though he's a crude individual, he did place a large sum of money on my victory. That felt good, someone believed in a bard for once. I asked Lilly if I could cast a spell for this match, she told me to ask the Senator. He told me to go right ahead. So I did, I think I upset Lilly's friend, though.

    I saw this and figured that if she thought I was cheating by using one spell. I walked up to Lilly before the match and tapped the weave to enhance her strength. If that didn't make things even, I don't know what did. Before the fight begun she started growling and snarling for some reason. She was quite angry, don't ask me why. I took advantage of this, given that 500 golds were on the line, I used the usual stream of comments and taunts to catch her off balance. It worked.

    I won that match too, just not as easily. I think she was a bit angry afterward, though. I healed her and asked her if she was alright. Senator Rath was happy with his 500 coins. I'm glad, he did root for me after all.

    I hope I can organise my cast for his play soon._


  • ((Thankyou for the compliment 🙂 ))

    Journal Entry…

    _…I trained against a preistess of the Red Knight today. She was with Mariston in the commons, and she seemed interested after I mentioned the Iron Blade contest to him. I offered her a sparring match, fair and square. I lost. I don't feel bad about it though, she used some crazy rod to help her win. The spell was magic missle, and that rod seemed to have an endless supply of it. I suppose I should have mentioned that no items would be allowed, but whatever.

    I did well, I had her right where I wanted her a few times. But she kept asking her god for assistance. Every time I came close to knocking her out, she suddenly burst out and lashed back at me. Two or three times even. A good match, though. Tought me a lesson about knowing when to let your guard down and when to keep fighting. Never get over-confident, even when your oponent is right where you want them.

    ...The strangest thing happened today. I couldn't believe it but, we were simply sitting down and having a chat in the commons when it happened. This paladin named Alexander and his brother ran up to magistrate Barrim. Clandra was there, along with Daria and Devath. Alexander said he had followed two 'suspicious' looking mages with blue robes. I didn't think they looked that suspicious, it's not like they were dark skinned with red robes like those dirty thayvians.

    He reported to Barrim that they were talking about what sounded like an attack to the college. That's when I took interest. We went to the house that Alexander said they walked in, turns out it was only a senile old man who was hard of hearing. After that we decided to check out the college itself. Some poor frightened man ran up to me screaming, he clung to my feet sobbing and muttering about some ghost. I calmed him down.

    That's when the strange things started happening. We saw a burst of light coming from the left. When I examined the weave strings used to create it, it turned out to be a teleportation spell. Between you and me, that is a VERY strong spell. Then another strange thing happened, I heard the most carchy song. From nowhere. I figured it was Clandra playing a trick on me, since she likes to abuse her invisibility spell. But when I asked, she didn't know what I was talking about.

    We found some strange papers that the mage dropped and Clandra is researching them now.

    A strange day. I wonder if anyone else heard the music.

    It was beautifull._


  • Journal Entry…
    _I went on quite the adventure today. Some white armored men walked by as me, Anakore, Kalina, Demi, Mister Black and some smelly fellow named Dang were sitting in the commons. Demi spoke to them and found out that they saw a guard chasing a red-robed man into the sewers earlier. I'm telling you, those sewers stank more then that bulk of sweat and muscle, Dang. We decided to go check it out. As we ventured deeper into the sewers Demi suggested that the man in red robes could be one of the skinner's lackeys.

    ~The Skinner: I hate this guy. He's a seriously sick and twisted freak. He creates deadly machines by using the flesh and bones of dead creatures. Last time we squared off against him was some time ago in the kobold caves. He had massacred the lizards and had been putting there bodyparts together. Like I stated, he is nothing but a perverted, sick and twisted man.

    We continued deeper into the sewers until we ran into a HORDE of rats. I'm talking over two hundred or so. My cursed lyrics battle hymn worked well against them. It's good for battle but not much else. But I think I'm begining to master it.

    After the horde of rats we ran into a dark armored man. I asked him his name, as he took off his helmit I realised it was HeadMaster Zyphlin. He had heard what was going on and decided to take a peek for himself. He joined with us.

    We opened a strange looking door, finding a room full of explosives and spotting the mad-mage. Zyphlin tripped a trap before we could sneak up on the red-robed man. He was manipulating vials and bottles on top of some sort of alchemy table. After he spotted us, the lunatic cast the one spell perfect for our situation. And I use the word 'Perfect' with much sarcasm. He cast fireball and set the whole place shaking with a burning hot fury. We had to literally run for our lives with the spreading fire right behind us. Senator Black nearly got burned to death, but somehow he managed to avoid most of the rampaging flames. Zyphlin, at one point, started running VERY fast for some reason beyond me. Maybe a spell, maybe not. I decided it wasn't the best place to open a spell-book and browse through for speed spells.

    We made it out okay, but barely. I managed to swipe a raggedy dark red piece of robe from the debree afterwards. I handed it over to Kalina for research.

    Quite the adventure indeed._


  • ((::applauds:: Very nice! 😄 He won't be so lucky next time, though. :twisted: :elol: :fork: ))


  • Journal Entry…
    _–
    ...I faced off against Kalina today. I won. She was tough to beat, but I won. I'm so proud. Anakore says I'm going to be graduating soon. He made some joke about having to slaughter innocent people in order to be accepted. After I shuddered at the whole statement, Eowiel suggested I walk on burning lava coals or something. Sort of wierd if you ask me. I just shrugged it off, she seems to be a distant person anyway.

    ...I finished the last script of Rath's play. It was hard, but I did it. Gods I felt so tired afterwards. I could barely keep myself awake in the commons. Worse yet, some shadey looking characters were acting tough in the commons and refusing to lower there weapons. Talking back to a Senator, can you believe it? And when I asked a group of defenders for help, they refused. What kind of people is Peltarch recruiting? They wouldn't help there own senator. Some people are just jerks naturally I suppose. The shadey characters finally listened and sheathed there weapons after mister Evendur put up quite a fuss._
    –

    "Training - Arcane duel."

    -Fancy a spar?
    _Nate loosened the plates from his armor, looking over to Kalina with a polite smile. "Remember, fair and square." She smirked and nodded. Anakore folded his arms, standing next to Demi. The peltarch fighter's academy was the perfect place for there little arcane duel, Nate thought.

    "I'll use magic if you will." Kalina called over, closing her spell book and setting it aside with her pack. Nate shrugged and rolled his shoulder. "Fine by me, Kal." He had the perfect strategy in store for her. She was good at fighting, that much he knew. And she had just told him that she reached second circle. "Perfect." He figured, "She must not have broken her spells in yet." His eyes flickered over every one of her spells as he looked over, he was humming spells of his own.

    She was looking back at him, studying his mouth, the shape of his mouth as he hummed each note. "Hrmph, probobly identifying my magic." He thought, chuckling to himself on the inside. "That's alright" he thought, humming still, wrapping himself with the comforting embrace of the weave, "I can see each string she pulls, hear every arcane lyric she mutters." As always, to him, drawing energy from the weave was not only a privelage but an art, a gift. Music to his ears and paintings to his eyes.

    Mage armor, Cat's Grace, Bull's Strength, each one he identified with ease. Vice versa, he figured he would go with his usual combination of protective magics followed by the single offensive enhancement. He finished his last hymn and retightening his armor. He made sure he had a balanced footing before gripping his club tight and adjusting his shield.

    -Clever clever.

    "You ready?" Kalina called over, she wasn't wearing her usual splint armor. She stayed in the cerulean knights cloth uniform. "Why isn't she armored? What's she thinking?" He pondered to himself for a moment. "Yeah!" He called over from across the room, Anakore keeping his eyes peeled with interest.

    Kalina started murmuring and muttering, her fingers moving rythmicly and sparkling with a small light. "Here we go!" Nate thought, he pushed his weight forward and charged. Holding his shield forward, his club low and to the right. "True Strike!" The reason she chose not to wear her armor hit him as she murmured a certain word, "True Strike, That's why!"

    "Hitting me no matter what, Clever-clever…" He kept thinking to himself as he charged for the first hit, trying to cut off her spell. True strike was one of the more abusable spells in the first circle, especially for someone who uses the tactics of the cerulean knights and combines arcane with fighting. He swung his club downward, she hopped back lightly with unnatural grace. She grinned after murmuring the last word, clutching her axe from her belt, her spell being cast.

    She dodged his next attack before hopping up and turning her axe sideways, hitting him in the chest with one strong swing, knocking Nate down to the ground with a cough and sputter. He choked a moment from the axe swing, "Damn it, Wingates" he thought, rolling to his side to avoid her next attack. With a glint in his eye he saw the arcane mist surrounding her axe fade as he rolled, "Don't give up yet you bastard." His thoughts blurred out that moment, he pulled himself to his feat and dodged another attack, hopping lightly to the left.

    "She pierced my barrier" he coughed, thinking. "Ghostly visage never let me down like that before." He hopped back and began humming a lingering and depriving song. He saw her lose focus, just the slightest bit. She shook it off and saw he had hopped back a safe distance. "COME ON THEN!" He shouted from across the room, taunting her into charging. She smirked and begun to mutter the same series of words as she did before.

    His blurred thoughts once again became less liquid and audiable. "True strikes, she's casting true strikes and relying on the cat's grace to avoid my hits." He scowled on the inside, his eyes flinching. It had been too long since he'd felt pain like this before. He was so used to Mystra's comforting magics protecting him, yet she had managed to peirce through it, how? He shook these thoughts off.

    "That's it" He thought sharply "Enough playing around, I've got to stop her from casting that spell a second time!" He dug his metalic heel into the cement floor of the fighter's academy, zoning Anakore and Demi out, his eyes widened, focusing on Kalina.

    She moved her right arm outward a moment to create the proper movement for the spell. There, that was it. As he finally reached striking position, Nate's iron greaves scratched against the floor as he skidded to a stop. His club was lowered to his right, he moved his shield to the left and gave his arm an upward thrust, aiming for her hand.

    He grinned on the inside as he saw the arcane mist evaporate from her hand, her spell interrupted. "Now it's even" he thought.

    -Talking gets you everywhere.

    Wordplay is just as important as swordpaly, he remembered Khalomey's comment. "Come on then, Kal! Let's see what you've got!" He taunted, hopping to the left. Now he had her, he saw her lose focus and stagger with her next attack. "Now I've got you" he thought to himself as he hopped back.

    "You can't hit me without your little true strike spells now can you, Kalina?" he kept thinking to himself as he saw her get more and more frustrated. "I say I say! A nice try!" He taunted out loud, evading another attack.

    She stopped her attacks and he gripped his club. His eyes narrow and focused despite the serious axe wound in his chest from what seemed to be an eternity ago. "…She's going to cast again!" The grip on his club tightened as he saw her lips move, muttering the necessary incantations for yet another True-Strike spell. "Can't let her do that!" His thoughts blurred and turned to liquid once again as he crouched, lept a step forward and struck his club into her gut.

    "YES!" He thought. He felt the weave-strings twist and get tangled around her body, her spell had failed. "One more should-" His thoughts raced, once again losing it's liquid sound. He took the opertunity to land another clean blow, this time swinging his club down onto her lower back as she gripped her stomach blow. "Do it!" He finished his earlier thought.

    -"Changed."

    Kalina fell to the ground. Nate staggered back, breathing heavily but still standing. He loosened the plates to his armor and let them fall to the ground, along with his club and shield. "Damn…" He murmured, breathing heavily. "Good match." He staggered over, shaking a daze off and murmuring a hymn.

    "Dammit..." She scowled, getting up. "I don't need your help." He finished his hymn, waving his fingers in Kalina's general direction. Her wounds lit up a moment before sealing shut. He then murmured a similar hymn, only this time applying his hands to his chest wound.

    "Stop refusing help." Anakore chuckled from the corner next to Demi. "He talks too much." Demi stated. Nate shrugged at her comment, knowing that his wordplay is what snatched him the victory. He picked his armor and weapons up. "My my..." She said, watching him gather his equipment. She buckled her axe back to her belt and set her shield aside. "You've certainly changed."_