Campfires and Creatures[Rezren]

[Clyde Sullins]

3 Summer 512 : Wilds a bit from Ravok Clyde was always keeping busy. So many things to do, and so few days in which to do it. He had been planning to make and sell a item of magecrafting this season. But really, wouldn't finding something to enhance it with be better, than just the base enhancements? There were plenty of things out in the wilds that they might find. And a bit of its blood, would make the item enhanced against that thing. So, Clyde had called in one of the many favors Rezren owed Clyde, for saving his life, and along with his dog Rye, was heading out of the city of Ravok for a night trip. They walked along, hiking out of the city, going through the occasional bit of woods and trees. The thump of his staff as he walked, and it pounded the ground every few steps. "So Rezren. Did you bring what I asked you to bring? And your weapons of course, you brought them to? You would be of little use to me without them... Are you ready to spend a bit of time out in the wilds?"

[Rezren]

Clyde’s summons was fairly unexpected but not quite unwelcome. Rezren did owe Clyde his life and working off that tremendous debt would be a welcome experience. After a short boat ride, they were in the wilds surrounding the lake. Maneuvering over roots and uneven ground was a bit annoying, but the task was overcome after a bit of getting used to. In the end, he was only stumbling every few minutes. The staff’s thumping created an almost meditative rhythm than helped dull the tedious travel. Rezren wondered why the Reimancer would really even need him out here. It certainly didn’t make sense to have him around for his sword and shield when the mage thought so lowly of him. The mercenary was bold enough to wonder if he had been chosen as company. He toyed with the ideas that Clyde was merely lonely and in need of a human friend. Rezren dismissed such thoughts though, feeling he was being a bit too courageous in his assertions. The dog Clyde brought along, Rye, walked close to them. It seemed well-trained and, between the dog and the mage, Rezren felt pretty safe traveling into the unknown territory. He responded to Clyde’s first question merely by holding up the vials. They were both easy to obtain and cheap. He was quite pleased with his own success in obtaining the vials and hoped that he would be able to complete the next part with as much success, ease, and speed. The second question warranted a wordless response as well. He merely rested his hand on his sword hilt, which was something he did often as it made him feel quite official. The third question was the one Rezren figured was the most fit for a response. With a respectful tone, though not as respectful as the night he had been saved, Rezren answered, “I don’t spend enough time in the wilds. I’m looking forward to the experiences this little outing will offer.” The words were true. The opportunities and adventures that the day offered had him creating fantasies in his head that had little hope of actualizing. He tried to keep things short. He would let Clyde dictate the conversations out of fear and respect. If the mage wanted to talk, then he would. After a few more minutes of walking, Rezren slipped up and defied his previous vow of silence, “Why exactly are we coming out here again?” He bit his tongue when he realized what he had done, but the question was mostly harmless. It could only help their little journey if he was informed.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde walked along, his dog at his side, and his new "acquaintance" along also. For awhile they walked in silence, but eventually Rezren broke it, apparently uncomfortable without speaking. He had given Rezren a small easy task to do before meeting. Something he could have done on his own, but he enjoyed sending him to do it instead. Sort of like a errand boy, he could have do things he did not want to. It also solidified his control over him, that even something so simple, the swordsman would do for him. Though he would have to make sure he understood, not all of his tasks would be so easy. He did think his comment on being excited to spend time out in the wild, would be enjoyable. Really, they had invented cities for a reason. But it seemed in his line of work, he often had to spend time out of the city, and so it made sense to work on his wilderness skills, to get better. "Well, I hope you were smart enough to bring supplies out with you. Or else you will be having fun, while sleeping on the cold hard ground." Clyde himself had brought along stuff, and knew to come well equipped for a trip. He had a tent and a bedroll, his winter blanket, a lamp with some oil, and a few candles. He also had some fresh water to drink, in his waterskin, and his engraving kit, in case he got bored. He could pass some time engraving some rocks or something, to get better at using it. As for food... Well hopefully they could find something... There were small beasts and such out. Clyde simply gazed at the man, as he questioned why they were coming out. Well he supposed he would have to explain it to him at some point. "I need to find something... Perhaps some kind of deadly beast or what not. Kill it, and gather some of its blood. For what, is my own business. So I figured camping out in the wilds for the night, with a campfire to draw in there attention, should get something to attack us. We are not to far from Ravok, so it should not be to bad." Clyde simply walked along, trying to find a good spot... Once he found a nice level area, with a clear view around them, and a few trees within walking distance, with plenty of downed wood and twigs and such, he stopped. "This will do fine... I suppose we should start preparing some firewood."

[Rezren]

Rezren continued to walk. Clyde’s voice was comforting in an odd way to the mercenary. It was a reminder that he was on the good, or at least neutral, side of the powerful man. His words were equally discomforting as they reminded him of his lack of preparations. He had wondered why Clyde was carrying so much more than him and now he knew why. He had brought hardly anything besides a little food, water, and the vials. Luckily, Rezren had dressed as warmly as possible given his limited wardrobe, but the foreboding words of the hard ground and cold night made him shiver a little. He began to speak in order to give some excuse to hide his lack of foresight, but after a series of partial syllables, he fell silent. It was summer so the night wouldn’t be too bad and a fire would also help ease his discomfort. Still, he didn’t want to give Clyde the smug satisfaction of correctness. Perhaps some excuse would come later in the night that would justify his lack of equipment. Rezren fortunately had quite a bit of time on his hands for the night was not yet upon them. Clyde’s explanation was satisfying enough. As usual, Rezren enjoyed the vagueness and mystery surrounding part of it. It left room for his imagination to fill the gaps in ways more interesting than the truth. The mage’s privacy was equal parts intriguing and frustrating. The swordsman wasn’t entirely educated when it came to magic, but he imagined the blood from some deadly monster could be used for a great deal of interesting and powerful pursuits. Rezren started to wonder if he was there as bait... While the idea displeased him, the fact of the matter was that Clyde pretty much owned him. He tried to push the idea to the back of his mind, but the thought of being gobbled up by some horrific terror wouldn’t leave his mind. Clyde suggested that they start finding firewood and Rezren nodded before heading off to gather up branches and pieces of wood. After rounding up a sizable amount of smaller twigs for kindling and perhaps to cook food on, he went on to gather bigger pieces. Despite the respect he held for his sword, he decided that cutting wood wouldn’t necessarily taint its edge. It would just be carrying out another sort of duty. He hacked apart some of the larger fallen pieces that were too heavy or too bothersome to carry whole. It seemed like an impressive pile of wood by the time Rezren had finished chopping and gathering. He wondered if perhaps cutting wood was Clyde’s purpose for him, but he decided to not dwell on his purpose any longer. Questions about his purpose in life had only led him to sorrow. “How much more do you think we’ll need?” The mercenary asked after carefully approaching Clyde.

[Clyde Sullins]

It seemed Rezren was of the amenable sort, willing to go around and help gather firewood. Clyde assisted to, gathering sticks and such, after setting down his pack were they would make camp, and gather the wood to. He did not end up getting near as much as the other, but got a decent enough amount, considering he did not have to help at all. Though he was a bit surprised when he saw him using his weapon to cut wood. "Now don't go using that to much, not for that. You'll end up with a dull edge, and a useless blade. I don't suppose you brought anything to sharpen it with did you? Just be careful, I am sure you will be needing it good and battle ready." But soon enough, he was wanting to quit, finding out if they had enough wood. They had a decent pile of logs, a heap of sticks, and some small stuff that would work well as tinder. "I suppose that will work. Hopefully it will last through the night. We certainly don't want it dying half way through the night, and having to go searching for wood. And I need as much flame as possible, for when the fight comes. Using real flame is cheaper than making it." Of course, Clyde did not expand on this, nor did he explain how he would be needing this flame. In reality, it was simpler to gather natural flame, and much less costly djed wise, than it was to create flame out of res, of similar size. He might be able to fight for a bit, and do a few impressive spells, but if he was going to fight for long, he had to use the natural elements he could gather. That way, he could fight much longer, and with much less risk. Though that limited him to using whatever flame existed that they made, and then to relying on earth to fight. Anything else he would need to create. Clyde spent another quarter of a bell gathering wood, just to make sure they had enough, and then set to making a small fire. "Well I will get a small fire going, which we can build up later. Why don't you try and find us something to eat, maybe a few rabbits or something." Although come to think of it, the swordsman did not have a bow, or anything really to hunt with... But he would let him try his luck, and see what he could do. Perhaps he would surprise him with some great hunting skill.

[Rezren]

Rezren held up his sword proudly despite it being the source of Clyde’s reprimanding. He had considered the dulling, but dismissed the concern. “It is made out of cold iron and I spent quite a bit on it. It keeps its edge better than normal swords. I could cut wood all day and this blade could cut better than a normal old sword,” He said proudly. The facts of the statement were questionable, but the fact of the matter was his sword would be fine for fighting later, and the wood wasn’t going to be cut any other way… He didn’t respond to Clyde’s comment about the fire. All this talk about Reimancy was far out of his knowledge. He figured that the mage wouldn’t want to explain to one so unacquainted with magic and the mercenary didn’t really care enough on top of that. Asking about fireballs and explosions was just bound to raise more questions. Rezren figured it was good for Clyde that they would have fire and that’s all he really cared about. As long as the conflicts ahead went smoothly, he didn’t need to know or say anything more. When Clyde asked him to go hunt, his stomach sank a little bit. He didn’t have any experience hunting or any weapons to do so effectively. He figured he would give it a shot though. He had killed people before. Animals shouldn’t be much harder… Maybe he would be lucky and find something freshly dead. Rezren wondered how freshly dead an animal would have to be to eat it. As he pondered such philosophical questions, he wandered off into the woods, “I brought a few rations of food if this doesn’t work out. I probably won’t be long.” He stayed close to the camp. Rezren had heard too many stories to wander out too far on his own. With sword in hand, he stalked through the trees. Every once and a while, he would hear something flee or scurry away, but the prey was always alerted to his presence before he could get close, let alone see it. He was a little frustrated but wasn’t too hard on himself. He had never hunted before after all and was ill-equipped to do so. He figured that he might be able to find something if he ventured further from the camp, but he didn’t want to risk it. Rezren began to look up in the trees and saw a few bird nests higher up. He tried to climb up to get to them but the smaller branches didn’t support his weight and he fell down to the ground below. He attempted to reach another, but the results were the same. The mercenary finally managed to climb up to one just to see that it was empty. There were no eggs to eat… He imagined it was the wrong season. He returned back to Clyde defeated. “Like I said, I brought rations from Ravok,” Rezren tried to hide his annoyed tone. “Lousy critters always running away…” He swung his sword through the air a few times in frustration.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde simply smirked a bit, as the swordsman went on about his weapon. Telling him what it was made of, and how much he had spent on it... Well he knew a bit about metals, from his time magecrafting, and he knew for a fact, isurian steel was far better than any iron... Also lighter... And cost, well that said little. For all he knew, he over payed, and got ripped off. While Rezren set to work on hunting, Clyde set to work on the fire. He started with some things for tender, bits of leafs, and some tiny twigs, which were dry, and would easily catch. He bent low to cover it, and blew on it, letting a small bit of gaseous res come out on his exhaust. Once he floated it into the tinder, he ignited the res, transmuting it to flame, and catching it ablaze. He soon added some bigger twigs, and some more twigs, slowly adding bigger ones. By the time he could add a small log to the flame, he felt sure it was good enough for know, and would be fine on its own for a bit. Who said Clyde didn't have any wilderness survival skills? Sure, he didn't exactly light it the proper way, using flint or whatever as most, but he made the fire, and got it going, and would keep it going... He did love fire... Caring for it was one of his oddities, ever since he was small and first learned reimancy. He would always feel a connection to flame, even now that he had moved on to other elements, and was learning to use them. By the time he had a decent bit going, Rezren returned. Empty handed... Well, he was not completely surprised... Clyde added another log to the flames, and then looked around. Since it seemed they had nothing else to do, Clyde waved off his dog, ordering him to go get himself some dinner. He could easily get enough food to feed himself, though not enough to feed Clyde. Though, since the dog ate food raw, he would still have to go through the dicey affair of cooking... As Rye scampered off, Clyde set to work on setting up his tent. And looked over at Rezren. "So, tell me, what brings you to Ravok? What is your purpose in being here? I am sure you have some long tale or other, of why you fight, or try to prove yourself. Regale me with a tale of you, to pass the time."

[Rezren]

Rezren watched as the dog wandered off into the trees. He wondered if Clyde was sending him out to get food for them or just sent it out to feed itself, but that would be answered later. The mage had started a fire while the intelligencer was out on his futile hunt. Luckily, his companion didn’t seem too angry or disappointed. It could have been taken as an insult, but pride would only get him killed when it came to the reimancer. Clyde started to set up his tent, which reminded Rezren of his lack of such shelter. Clyde was generous enough to give him a way to distract himself in the form of a question. He obviously wouldn’t be completely truthful for safety purposes, but he would stick close to the truth just in case Clyde had some sort of magic that could detect falsities. The mercenary also understood his acting skills were a bit weak so sticking to mostly truthful statements could help avoid any suspicion. He pondered a moment to decide where to start and then figured that he would start with why he came to Ravok in the first place. Rezren took a place near the fire and spoke softly while he stared into its fiery depths, “My mother actually brought me to Ravok.” He gave a sad, short laugh as he remembered his mother and the absurd details of their flight from Syliras. He figured that favoring Rhysol in his retelling was safe. Clyde didn’t strike him as the Rising Dawn type and the mage was in Ravok for a reason. “I think my parents were spies for the Ebonstryfe or Black Sun in Syliras. The knights killed my dad and my ma brought me here,” he said earnestly. It was true. He figured that was the most likely reason for the knights hunting down his parents and their fleeing to Ravok. “She died a while ago. I’ve been fending for myself since then. I will get revenge on the knights that ruined my life…” Rezren strayed from the truth here. While he did harbor some disdain for the knights, he disliked his parents just as much. In truth, a part of him still wanted to be a knight. “I seek vengeance and I see joining the Black Sun as the perfect way to do it,” he continued. This was also partially true. While in Ravok, the idea of joining the Black Sun or Ebonstryfe had grown on him slowly. With his dreams of knighthood seemingly out of reach, joining their ranks seemed like the closest he could get to his dreams. “Pretty standard stuff I guess compared to some people…” Rezren admitted thinking of Clyde and his abilities. His statement was meant to act as a partial question. Clyde could use it as an opportunity to talk about his past or let it slide. The mercenary was pretty happy with his handling of the situation. If Clyde was aligned with Ravok’s general ideals, Rezren’s story would probably be at least neutrally agreeable to the mage.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde listened, as he set up the tent, not looking at Rezren as he did, focusing on his work, but still listening and taking things in. Once he had the tent up, he unrolled his bedroll inside of it, and threw in his pack, taking out his engraving kit, and messing about with it, though first making sure he had his staff, lest it be thrown into the fire by mistake. Rezren certainly did have a tale. Clyde wondered how much of it was really true, or how much he was glossing over facts... He smiled to himself, deciding to tell a bit about himself, if nothing else to shock him. Though it seemed he was on better terms with his mother than Clyde, even if Rezren's were dead. As far as he knew, both of his parents were alive, and safe back in Syliras, working away day by day for the city he despised. "I suppose our tales are not so different then, as they both started in Syliras, in varying ways. Though I expect my time there was not as pleasant. You would not be to bad off, or have to hard a time, a swordsmen and mercenary. Me, a mage, well you know how Syliras is with magic. I was an exile and outcast from the moment I first worked djed. " Clyde smiled, reminiscing back for a moment, to his childhood... His initiation into reimancy, which was still a bit foggy, but clear in the fact of how painful it had been, and how lucky he was to not have been killed in it... His time spent alone outside of the walls, trying to practice away from prying eyes... From knights that would kill him on sight for what he could do... Looking back, he realized the only happy bits to his childhood was his time spent working djed... And that it was only by a miracle he had not been killed, or died in the wilds... "My parents wanted me to stay safe and dumb in the walls, leave magic alone. Become a blacksmith. Ha! Well you see how that turned out. I am here, and working to become a Stryfe. It is only a matter of time." "I also would see those cocky knights brought down a peg. If you think they ruined your life, imagine what they did to me, a mage. Consider yourself lucky." The time it had taken for them to talk, had been enough for Rye. He came wandering back into camp, a small rabbit in his mouth. He settled down next to Clyde, outside of his tent, and began to chew on the raw dead rabbit, content with his meal. Clyde grabbed up a smooth rock off the ground, and took out one of his engraving tools... He worked to cut into the surface, holding it like a quill, bringing the tip down over the surface... Repeating the process over and over, till he had a small indention engraved into it. He slowly worked to expand it, making slow slash marks on the surface, and cutting it down, sweeping around. Circling it around, so that when he was done, he would have engraved a simple circle into it. Though all he had know was a small indention, that curved a bit. Engraving was slow work. "Well, I suppose we have little else to do but wait till night. What do you normally do to keep busy?" Clyde asked, it pretty clear what he did. He then turned to his pack, and took out the winter blanket, and tossed it to Rezren, before returning to his task. "That's better than nothing." OOC: I will accelerate it to night, on my next post.

[Rezren]

The mercenary listened intently to Clyde’s story. His gaze shifted from the fire to the mage as he soaked in the biographical tale being woven. Rezren found it fitting that their pasts would begin in Syliras and end in Ravok. Despite their different personalities, skillsets, and life, they both ended up in Ravok at the docks that one night. Their fates had forced them together against all odds. The discrimination and oppression poor Clyde must have suffered saddened Rezren. The mage’s harsh attitude and salty exterior seemed partially justified or at least explained by the rough past. The story of parents trying to direct the life of their child sent nostalgic pangs through Rezren’s heart. His parents had tried to teach him magic and punished him when he couldn’t do it. The contrast was amusing even though the results were similar. Why did parents always try to shape their children? He kept himself from wasting too much time pondering such a question. Maybe he would know one day if he ever had a kid. The mercenary watched as Clyde began to engrave a rock. He didn’t agree that Clyde had it much harder when it came to the knights’ wrath. He imagined if his mother hadn’t been so quick that they would have killed him as well. Being a follower of Rhysol and a reimancer seemed equally as incriminating to Rezren, but he wouldn’t challenge the mage’s opinion. It didn’t matter enough. The intelligencer hardly cared about the past. Looking back did nothing and couldn’t be changed. He preferred to face forward and hope to change his future. Clyde was kind enough to offer a blanket. Rezren had a hard time believing that the mage wasn’t growing friendlier to him, but he pretended to deny it in order to avoid disappointment and stay on the safe side. “I keep busy usually by gathering intelligence or information that could save me in the future or be of some value…” Rezren said quietly, his mind still thinking about Clyde’s life. “That is when I don’t have any mercenary work to do…” He added. “I guess I can’t do that out here. I guess that my mind can get a break for a night. Who knows… maybe it will be a nice change…” He gave a small laugh. “Thanks for the blanket by the way. Your generosity is most welcome,” he said after making eye contact with his companion.