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Post by enchilada on May 22, 2019 10:37:44 GMT
A sense of normalcy had washed over Dhaunmyr’s life like the first strokes of a watercolour painting. It wasn’t something he was entirely sure he had been ready for? In some ways, preparing for everything to settle into a normal life. He wouldn’t move around, he wouldn’t do anything more adventurous than perhaps try a new recipe at home. Which... maybe he still had some movement left in him. Maybe it wasn’t completely over, though. He wasn’t letting Kara go out anywhere without him. Of course they had they had their own daily schedule, but if she went out to kill things, or whatever, he was going out with her.
For peace of mind, partially, but Dhaunmyr did feel like he needed to leave, sometimes, stretch his legs, and focus on something bigger than normal life. Bigger than having a house and having a job, and making friends who weren’t friends specifically for some kind of benefit. Some kind of favour. To make a friend who they were friends with, advancing in social ranks. That was part of the normal life that he was okay at, but, at the same time, it really made him feel pretty lonely in the busiest of scenes. So he was focusing on something that was almost better solitary, although still a fine way to pass his time with his one friend that remained.
By himself, Dhaunmyr had set up against the wall. He had a sketchbook in one hand, and a pencil in the other. With determination, he stared at the crowd, eyes dancing over the first morning rush between home and work. He himself was in a similar state, but with far less rush and far more relaxed sauntering.
There — the hood. The way the dress flowed and — her movements were almost familiar to him.
So, there he was, shortish white hair about one side of his face, the other slicked back, hard. His manicured nails following the lines of his pencil, finally finding a subject worth spending the time to depict. He leaned forwards, pendants rattling around his neck and chest, everything so gaudy but so perfect together, completely supposed to just be. His blue eyes were hard, as he stared. Something in his mannerisms was a little more imposing than he meant it to be, the result of fifty years of learned behaviour.
(Please make a DC 10 insight roll)
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Post by authenticet on May 22, 2019 10:40:40 GMT
p3MYryXo1d20+41d20+4
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Post by authenticet on May 22, 2019 10:59:28 GMT
Zephyr was half concentrated on browsing the books in front of her, her attention was instead being drawn away from the bookseller and towards the figure of an obscured, frail, white haired man off of the side of the street. His own attention was intent on the work in front of him, his eyes darting between canvas and herself as his slim hand traversed over it’s surface.
It made her uncomfortable, violently so. Pulling her grey hood further down her head she semi-walked, semi-glided over to the man, his skin, a dark purple was sunken in, and his purple clothes fit him perfectly except around his arms where they hung loose; she stopped just behind him so she could see the subject he had been painting.
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Post by enchilada on May 22, 2019 11:23:18 GMT
He was busy capturing a memory of movement — scratching the graphite into the page, making darker areas just a little darker. When making studies such as this, you had to be quick. These subjects did not stand still.
They were also unaware, and that was more of a delight. It made their poses more natural, their stances more appealing. It was better practice. He’d gotten Kara to grab movement before, not faces yet, but gestures, walking — she understood such things, he thought, because of her practice, the way she twirled and moved with her glaive. Her movement was first hand in pencil and first hand in sight.
And then she wasn’t so unaware anymore.
Shit.
A quick sketch, ready to eventually be refined and changed into a clear painting, perhaps scaled up and made slightly less accurate. That was, of course, something he excelled at — a somewhat ethereal unreality that made his paintings just feel like... more.
“Ah, um. Good morning?” He asked — a breathless, excitable voice, marked as foreign by the attempted masking of the accent of the drow. But Dhaunmyr was not a drow, he was a dark elf, so he hid it for that reason. Drow were too proud to try and ‘become’ those who lived in the Realms above. “Is there a problem?” For all his confidence, it was clearly projected. His hand had begun to shake.
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Post by authenticet on May 22, 2019 11:42:07 GMT
Zephyr’s initial discomfort faded. He seemed so fearful of being identified as a drow, understandably so, yet it was so obvious when looking at his skin and long ears. His voice, shaky, betrayed his discomfort-she could no longer conceive herself talking down to him and making him feel smaller than he seemed to be.
“Do you often choose to make studies of those who are unaware?” Zephyr responded leaning against her quarterstaff; the sound carrying on the gentle breeze which followed her, tousling the drow’s hair. She smiled cocking her head to the side, “I can’t say I enjoy the feeling of being watched but you’re not doing anything wrong so I can’t complain too much.” She pulled her hood back showing her face. Her eyes, dark grey, refused to break contact with the drow and the two plaits which tumbled down the front of her chest and landed at her hips were made visible, adorned with flowers between the braids. “Do you want to walk?” She nodded over to the market where she was hoping to go before she’d been interrupted.
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Post by enchilada on May 22, 2019 12:00:58 GMT
“Well — you — it’s one of the better ways to practice.” Dhaunmyr laughed out, nervously. But she reassured him fairly quickly, and he gave her a more genuine smile. Dhaunmyr tugged his coat around himself a little tighter, slipping the pencil in one pocket and closing the sketchbook, tucking it under his arm.
He was a little surprised by the braids, but they weren’t terribly out of place. And then she wanted to walk. So, she wasn’t angry with him at all. Good. Okay. Dhaunmyr offered her a hand, but in such a way it was unclear if he meant to lead her with a grasp, or shake hers. He had taken a deep breath, and centered himself, before he extended the hand. Now he could play pretend a little.
“I am Dhaunmyr Vivacity, my dear, and, you have just found the most interesting person in the world with whom to walk. May I ask the name of the beautiful lady who asked such a favour?”
The quiver in his voice was gone, he was confident somehow. Eilistraee save him-
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Post by authenticet on May 22, 2019 13:28:00 GMT
Instinctively, Zephyr recoiled a little trying to surpress a wince that wanted to find its way across her features. As harmless as he seemed, she could almost feel the minutes dragging. At least he had some semblance of confidence now. Although it was difficult to tell whether or not that was worse. She couldn’t find herself disliking him however, and he never seemed ill intentioned. More amusing than anything else. She took his hand, feeling the boney structure in her own and gently shook,
”Zephyr..”. She paused, giving herself a short moment to laugh a little, “Pleasure to make you acquaintance, and I hope that you, Dhaunmyr, are as interesting as you make yourself out to be-although I can assume you will be.”
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Post by enchilada on May 22, 2019 18:01:31 GMT
“How lovely to meet you, Miss Zephyr!” Dhaunmyr returned, with a grin. There were two people, no, three, who had given him no last name by which to call them, and he was alright with that. He wouldn’t dream of calling dearest Kara by Miss Bellringer in anything but jest. Then again, they were so close — but that did not mean he couldn’t manage with even strangers. It just meant he had to try a little harder to shake off traditions — ones he reminded himself were not important to him any longer, even if it didn’t help so terribly much.
“Oh of course! I wouldn’t dream of causing anybody boredom. But before we get any deeper into that — may I ask where you were headed today? I wouldn’t desire to distract you from it, although to join you and make conversation would certainly be a delight.” He just needed a moment for the pendulum to swing from extremely terrified of the woman in front of him, to overly confident in a more detrimental way, and find its way to the middle, if such a place existed. When there was purpose to conversations, of course, the middle was available. When there was not, it was hard to focus either way, let alone find a ground that allowed a healthy amount of both.
But, for normal life...
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Post by authenticet on May 22, 2019 18:29:13 GMT
"There's no need for formality - just Zephyr is okay, don't worry," Zephyr started smiling up at him gently, "I would quite like to find some books you see."
She knew very few people in the city, and this man seemed to make an interesting first companion; even if it was just to find a book. Upon getting close to him she found his blue eyes to be quite cold, not unkind or malicious, just hard. His nails - neatly manicured, his hair - carefully slicked, and his clothes - neat and mostly fit. He outwardly appeared to be a well put together man - although she assumed that she'd witnessed how that 'togetherness' never seemed as clear-cut when a new face appeared. She found herself continuing to talk at him,
"Is there anywhere you'd recommend? Or any books you'd recommend? Nothing arcane; I just want to find something," she took a breath searching for a word, "stimulating. I find the subject of living and life to be quite an interesting one."
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Post by enchilada on May 22, 2019 19:15:36 GMT
“Just Zephyr? I assure you — you know what? You’re right. Just Zephyr.” He could do this, it would be okay. She wasn’t coming back into his life, and he wasn’t going back to hers. It would be okay, for once, if he just acted like a normal person. That’s all he wanted to be anyway.
But, now they were introduced... and now that he knew she had a fine understanding of culture, at least, for someone more everyday than he, Dhaunmyr was excited to show her that his mannerisms were not all that normal at all. Not the drow ones, or the scared needy dark elf ones, and not the ones he made up to be this fantastical figure to fling himself so fast into friendship circles that did not warrant him being there, other than as a fun little accessory to an arm or to a conversation.
“Ah! Books — can one desire too much of a good thing? This I doubt personally and completely. Books have been a sole companion to me for all too long in my years, but, never have they aged a day. Dependable as the moon, or perhaps you prefer to hear me say — dependable as my good merchant’s word — such a wonderful choice in pastime. And I do agree on the whole stimulating front, although, a good deal of those on the topics of magic and its usage are more entertaining than one may initially be lead to believe. And, some will say, if you pay enough attention to the books, even if you are not gifted with the years of study, or it residing in your blood, or the boon of something otherworldly, you can pick up a thing or two.”
Dhaunmyr snapped his fingers, and in the palm of his hand, a small rainbow appeared. Then, he closed his fist, and it disappeared.
“Definitely not something naturally available to my race, nor is it taught by the priestesses, however, it’s a fun party trick.” He looked from his hand to Zephyr, smiling. “Let’s go, then, I shall endeavour to find you the perfect book today. And if I do manage it? Well, that will be fine for me.” Dhaunmyr chuckled.
“Show me onwards, and if I find a route more useful that you missed, perhaps I shall mention it, or, well... I prefer not to head into areas where I am more alone and less public. ‘Tis a shame beyond measure that some people cannot understand that I have never meant anybody any harm in my life. I live here as much as they. But, the course of truly living never did run smooth. On, on, I shan’t encourage you to dwell on the topic of my being what I am.”
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Post by authenticet on May 24, 2019 16:22:17 GMT
"Yes it is unfortunate how some people can be sometimes." She said simply, falling quiet for a moment before gesturing for him to walk with her. She thought for a second, trying to think of the route which would be the busiest to keep Dhaunmyr at ease.
Beginning to walk with the man, Zephyr followed her original route into the market and weaving in and out between the oncoming flow of people trying to get to work. The general air of the city now seemed quite chaotic compared to the earlier hours of the morning - she watched as people darted in and out of buildings, as merchants rushed to ensure their wares were set up in time and as a few young children ran around in the paths of various disgruntled adults, much to the dismay of their parents.
Zephyr couldn't help but note how loud and vibrant Waterdeep was compared to where she'd come from. The high mountains were quiet and serene - the monk temple was deathly silent. She'd travelled, true. But Waterdeep still had a bustling nature in the morning rush hour that she couldn't say that she was entirely used to.
"That's an interesting trick you've got. What type of books do you have to read in order to pick things like that up?" Zephyr asked as they neared the market, the chatter and shouts already becoming incredibly audible from where they were.
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Post by enchilada on May 24, 2019 18:11:43 GMT
“Oh, that? Specifically that was a little trick that comes with my way of fighting. You see, I study in the way of a particular kind of elven archery, the words for it fail in common, I find, but, what I want most, is to return to the way my ancestors lived before being driven beneath the surface. I hear that particular kinds of secret nature-worshippers are able to perform the same thing, I suppose we have similar interests.” Dhaunmyr smiled.
“The forests, the trees, the protection of them. How wonderful it would be to truly go back to the ways it should be... but, that’s not to say similar tricks are not possible with a little quiet study. Although, I can’t show you them. I am able to see magic, and get rid of it to a degree, amongst other things. Mainly, I use magic in a way that isn’t quite spells, but I’m sure if I showed you how I can force an arrow down a curved path, the guards would have me detained before I could make a single excuse.”
The sounds of the market were of course familiar to Dhaunmyr. He worked there every day. Or, he worked there most days, or... he worked there when he did not feel like lazing around all day. It was easier not to really think about that, how much better off he would be if he wasn’t nursing a hangover every day.
But, life was for living, no?
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Post by authenticet on May 25, 2019 16:55:00 GMT
"Elven archery?" Zephyr's eyebrow raised, "You don't look like much of an archer." She eyed the skinny man who was looking rather proud for a moment.
"I guess though, looks can be deceiving. And maybe not within the city walls, but I'd like to see you curve an arrow, seems like an interesting trick."
She shrugged it off, looking around the market for any place which sold books before her eyes found their way to what looked to be something like a bookstore on the other corner of the market. With Dhaunmyr in tow, she made her way towards it. The market bustled, for so early in the morning, it was so full of people. It was difficult to keep one's mind on task here she found. She couldn't help but get ever so slightly distracted by a plump woman wearing a simple light blue dress - which was covered in flour - selling an assortment of an unknown baked good. The guards who's eyes were expertly trained on the various comings and goings - and the other guards who looked to be catching up on a nap against the wall of a butchers. A young man off to the side with bells on his wrists and a lute in his hand playing a song which she couldn't quite hear over the sound of the woman next to her shouting about some, quite frankly, excellent deal on fruits.
"Tell me - I'm new to the city - is there anything here you'd recommend for me to do whilst I'm here?"
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Post by enchilada on May 25, 2019 18:47:23 GMT
“I was worried you’d say I don’t much resemble an elf! Haha. Well, I shall tell you one thing. Looks are incredibly deceiving, especially in a place as diverse as Waterdeep. Sometimes, adorable little children are actually thieves who will turn around and mug you on the spot. And, on occasion, the more brutish looking are the most delightful to be around — if you will, allow me to talk a little on the topic of one such person. His name was Edward, oh and he was the most darling half orc you’d ever meet! He and I got on remarkably well. Too well. We don’t speak anymore. Oh! And another, he was rather lithe looking, but still a little sinister, and, yet, he was incredibly gifted magically, and physically. Odd night, with him. I do pray that today will not resemble that encounter, and yet, I fear to jinx it.”
Dhaunmyr was used to the noise, the busyness of the market, darling darling Mrs. Crabappleson, one of the guards with whom he had a little arrangement — that being, if there was trouble, he asked for that guard, and just allow the process to take its course. You could get it worse if you resisted, even if someone stole from you, not the other way around. But he trusted him. A polite wave, and a little giggle. He was also quite handsome.
He was, himself, familiar with the bookstore, he often visited it, even just to browse instead of a real lunch break. Dhaunmyr waited until they reached the door, holding it open for her, to answer Zephyr. It was just so loud. “Well, you’ve already found the best place for daytime, since I’m here, and, also, it’s just a good sort of... introduction to the Waterdeep. There’s a bit of everything. That said, perhaps you’ve already seen enough of here. Perhaps taking a stroll around the parks of the City of the Dead? Hm? After you.”
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Post by authenticet on May 27, 2019 10:57:20 GMT
Edward the charming half-orc with what seemed to be an unideal ending to an otherwise good friendship? Lithe man with a knack for magic and a regrettable ending to an evening? She couldn't help but frown for a moment; pondering what he could mean. It didn't seem to be threatening. It didn't seem to be too pleasant either. Either way it wasn't too difficult to realise the Dhaunmyr probably had a few interesting stories to tell.
Zephyr thanked him and walked through looking to browse the shelves for anything related to stories of Kelemvor or the nature of life and death. Tracing her fingers across a few of the spines as she did so,
"City of the dead?" She asked, her interest piqued, "What exactly is that?"
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