RP: A Fireside Chat
It's Gilday, Quintoos 23 16:56:02 1018. The full moon is up. The tide is low and ebbing. A chilly wind blows from the west, driving dark clouds before it and blotting out the stars in patches overhead. The air is clear and elsewhere they glitter brightly in the dark sapphire sky.
H01: Waystation
Nicolai stands in front of the firepit, arms outstretched with hands spread to soak in the warmth. He peers about at the shadowy corners as if looking for someone - or something. But he doesn't seem to find it.
Ga'Elian is sitting astride his griffon, the creature's feathers and fur as white as the driven snow. The ranger has been talking with one of the Waystation guards, but the guard is now walking away, back toward the building. The conversation seemed to have been all business, cordial enough, but with no fluff. Elian hops off his mount and walks over toward the firepit himself.
Nicolai nods in greeting, then glances at the griffon. "My, he's certainly grown hasn't he." He blinks and then squints. "Or is it 'she'?" He flashes a nervous grin. "I have to admit I don't see them up close very often - only from a distance at the Airstation or the like."
Ga'Elian smiles and looks back over at the griffon who seems happy for the moment to curl up in ball on the ground, tail thumping away, as he preens a wing with his mithral-infused beak He says, "Hello, there... Nicolai was it? It's been a while. Yeah, I guess Erithamiel's grown a bit since last we ran into each other. And, definitely male," he adds with a chuckle. As he reaches his own hands toward the fire, he says, "Some pretty crazy stuff's been happening lately. You heard about Rune, I take it?" <jotun>
Nicolai's smile fades a fraction. Then it broadens until it's even wider than before. "Nice - even have the accent down. Have you been spending much time among the giants and their kin?" he asks innocently. <jotun>
Ga'Elian smirks. "Not exactly. Maybe it's just a lucky coincidence. Actually, most of my time among giant-kind has been fraught with violent conflict," he says with a touch of social awkwardness in his voice. He reaches up to his throat and lifts the necklace he wears to show it more directly. "These are some of the teeth of the first giant I had such a run-in with, an ettin he was. A while ago, Yelrona even hired some bard to write a song about the kill." He rolls his eyes. "Anyway, I've been called Ettin-slayer since. Since then, I've battled three hill giants and a pair of ogre barbarians that were bodyguarding a mul'niessa sorcerer with ambitions to become a pit fiend. On the other hand," he continues a bit meekly, "I have had several occasions to go adventuring with some of your race--good companions all." <jotun>
Nicolai's eyes widen. "My great grandfather was an Ettin," he whispers in a hushed voice. Then his expression turns sly. "Hah - no no, just a bit of humor. Sorry. I shouldn't have. Filthy brutes. Nothing but fine upstanding hill giants in my ancestry, I assure you." He shrugs and then proceeds to change the subject so overtly that even unskilled in social nuance is likely to recognize it. "Anyway, back to Rune. I had a feeling this conflict couldn't last much longer. Still, who would have ever though it would end in...well, what did happen exactly at the end? Do you know? The tales were a little unclear."
Ga'Elian visibly relaxes again and says, "Well, the war was coming to a head. Besides the Iron Tide, the Wizards of Rune, the Alexandrian Irregulars, and a Charnese airship, a sizeable force of the Myrrish Skyguard and a host of Khazad-Duin had just made their appearances, when Arendt and the Runish Parliament were throwing challenges back and forth. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to most of us, the Wizards were in the midst of casting one doozy of a spell when none other than Heth himself appeared, filling the sky with his unholy stench. He battered the tall buildings to rubble, then... Whoosh! The surrounding countryside vanished, leaving naught but Mists in all directions, as far as anyone could see. Heth was nowhere to be seen, but his foul breath had already animated all the dead on the battlefields as wights. All anyone could do was forget their differences and battle the hordes of the unliving."
Nicolai gives Ga'Elian a measured - and measuring - look. "The unliving. I suppose everyone said it was only a matter of time before the unliving swept out of the cursed lands to drag down everyone on both sides. And Heth himself? My. I really don't know what that fool Arendt was thinking - turning away from Dragonier."
Ga'Elian shakes off a chill that has nothing to do with the weather, and says, "Yeah, he's like so many other would-be conquerers... more ambitious than careful. Heth is never a wise ally. He's too powerful to trust, and beyond fatal to underestimate. But these eyes have seen him now, and I'll never be the same again."
Nicolai tilts his head back slightly. "I must say I'm a bit impressed. And jealous. Or actually - well I can't decide. Surely a momentous tale especially given you lived to tell it. But it I can't imagine it was a given that you would survive." He shakes his head. "Heth. Do your skills as a tracker and a hunter even apply to such?"
Ga'Elian arches an eyebrow. "Well, I haven't particularly dedicated my focus against either dragons or undead, and I've never actually tried to fight a being so near godhood personally. Lets just say that better people than I have blanched in abject terror at the prospect. I, for one, am content to try to eliminate his minions, and leave battling Heth himself to the gods."
Nicolai raises his eyebrows in interest. "Do you mean to say there are rangers who have dedicated their lives to hunting the undead?" Nicolai glances briefly at Ga'Elian to make sure the latter is being serious, before he remembers who he's speaking with. "And you? Do you also have one particular type of prey you are dedicated to slaying?" His eyes drift to wards the giant-tooth necklace and a sly grin creeps across his features. "Other than my ancestors, that is?"
Ga'Elian nods. "Oh, there are all variety of hunters. Personally, I specialize in hunting magical beasts, but even more so the fiends of the lower planes. In fact, there is a pit fiend in a cage deep in the tunnels below the Engineer's Enclave that I encountered just last night. I killed one of his servants, a bone devil, but we're calling in some others to deal with the big guy himself. I hope Svarshan or Serene will take a direct interest in him."
"Diabolical." Nico says the word casually as if by rote. "I hadn't realized the tunnels were so, ah, expansive. A whole different land almost. A different realm."
Ga'Elian nods. "For certain. In fact, I really ought to be getting back for another guard shift down there. The brute laughed when I showed him my holy bow and silver arrows. If I end up fighting him, we'll see who laughs."
Nicolai raises a hand in farewell. "He who laughs last, often laughs loudest," he affirms, then turns back to the fire.