Elizabeth Caledonia "Calamity" Ashe (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hipshoots) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
felldenlogs2019-09-17 08:36 pm
hipshoots) wrote in felldenlogs2019-09-17 08:36 pm
Entry tags:
[QUEST] CLOSED
WHO: Ashe + NPCs
WHAT: Ashe must successfully escort the Jarl from their room in the Temple to the Jarl's Keep in Luxuriae. No harm must come to the Jarl over the course of this escort mission.
WHERE: The Moon Temple, Luxuriae, and the land leading to and from the mirrors
WHEN: Mid-month
WARNINGS: None
"Don't you give me that look." Ashe stops in front of Bob's head where it sits perched on her desk. Sometimes she'll turn him in to face the room like he is now; other times he's given the relaxing view of the farms and fields outside her window. As a silent omnic, Bob can't give her his opinion on the view or on anything else, for that matter. But in all the years they've been together, Ashe fancies herself able to read Bob's mind accurately, and it's not like he can tell her any different.
Moving to sit on the bed, Ashe then releases a sigh. "It's gonna be a cake walk. They got magic mirrors here, remember? So it's a quick escort mission and then I'll be back. It'll be like I wasn't even gone." Bob blinks at her, and she shakes her head. "I am not lugging your heavy head around with me anymore than I have to. It's not like you're capable of being bored." Maybe she's just trying to justify this to herself so she doesn't feel guilty for not bringing him. No one wants Bob back in fighting form more than she does, but this place doesn't have omnic parts, pure and simple. So he'll have to remain just a head until this war's over and they can get back home.
"Look, I'm gonna be late." Jumping up from the bed, Ashe grabs her hat and her rifle. "See? I'll be safe." The hat is put on and she heads for the door before stopping herself and turning back to cross the room once more. The rifle is set aside and she carefully turns Bob's head to face out the window again. "There you go, Bob," she says in a soft voice that shows genuine care for him. He's been with her ever since she was a little girl, and this is by far the worst state he's ever been in. She can't help feeling for him, even when he can't feel for himself. His place is by her side and being her protector. Now she has to go it alone.
Once she leaves the room and locks it behind her, she heads over to the one listed on her message as belonging to the Jarl and gives a sharp rap on the door. Immediately, there's a crashing sound from inside. Not the sound of shattered glass or ceramics, thankfully, but of something heavy enough to make a thud.
"Oh! Oh my!" the voice inside declares before the door opens to reveal an older gentleman looking rather frazzled. "Yes, hello! You must be my escort back to the Keep. I am Jarl Steinar."
He isn't exactly what Ashe expects. The Jarls had sounded like high and lofty figures that didn't mix with the common folk, but this guy seems more... unique. Ashe inclines her head slightly in acknowledgement. She may be his escort, but she's not one to really bow down to anyone.
"That's me. Name's Ashe. Are you ready to go?"
The man knits his fingers together nervously and looks behind him. Following his gaze, Ashe sees a chair knocked over and a bunch of books lying open on the floor. They must have been stacked on the chair, and the chair was knocked over when she announced herself at the door.
"Almost ready, then," she clarifies before stepping inside and past him. It's not that she's impatient, but the end of this trip includes free access to one of the Jarls who can teach her a high level spell — if what her message says is the truth — and you'd better believe Ashe wants to cash in.
But now that she's inside, she sees just how much stuff this man has. Here she thought this was going to be easy. Clearing her throat, she asks in as even a tone as she can muster: "All of this is going back with you?"
"Y-Yes!" he states quickly, rushing back towards the books like her voice uprooted him from the floor. He bends to retrieve them and she lifts a couple herself to make the process go faster. "Research, you see! Very important research!" He pauses in his book collecting to look up at her with a hopeful expression. "You wouldn't happen to be interested in restoration magic, would you?"
"Uh," she begins, turning away to stow the books in one of his open trunks. "I'm not sure what it's all about. You could tell me about it, I guess."
Standing up, the Jarl pulls himself up to his full height, looking very determined. "Well, first off, restoration is a perfectly valid school of magic! And don't let anyone tell you otherwise!" Ashe lifts an eyebrow but says nothing. Apparently he's used to being debated on this point and feels the need to defend it from the get go. In fact, in the time it takes them to get him fully packed and out the door, then out the Temple doors, Jarl Steinar has already outlined what restoration magic does, why anyone who doesn't respect it isn't to be trusted, and has begged her to defend it should she hear anyone disparaging its good name.
The mile to the mirror feels like an eternity.
Luckily the Jarl is skilled enough in other areas that he can levitate his trunks and Ashe isn't reduced to his pack mule as well. Once they exit the city, he seems to calm down regarding the defense of restoration magic and the two are able to actually talk rather than the Jarl talking at her. It's taken a lot of mental fortitude to not snap at the man to shut up, but when she wants something, Ashe is determined to get it, and that magic spell for free is just dangling in front of her.
The view outside the city is scenic and postcard worthy. It's full of far more flora than Deadlock Gorge is, and Ashe finds herself admiring the vista much like she did out her window when she first arrived. Maybe it wouldn't be such a hassle to bring Bob out here sometime after all. But she's here to work and along the way, Ashe watches out for bandits and other undesirables who may be loitering around. Levitating trunks full of heavy tomes seem like a hard thing to steal so she's more concerned with someone trying to steal their money than the man's luggage.
"What about the other schools?" she asks, just to get him to change topics. "I really don't know much yet, but I'm wanting to learn." There are a few other people on the road, and she narrows her unsettling red eyes at them, rifle perched against her hip until they pass. Jarl Steinar isn't as enthused about the other schools (big surprise), but he does explain what each is and leaves her with the tantalizing: "And there are forbidden magics, of course. Not worth speaking of."
"Well, hold on," she protests. "Are they forbidden because they're illegal or something? I wouldn't want to get arrested for doing the wrong kind of magic."
Steinar titters out an amused giggle. It seems to fit right in with his nervous and jittery demeanor. "Don't worry; you can't accidentally learn that sort of magic. Only unsavory types would dare even teach it, so you're quite safe! Now, restoration magic; there's a school that benefits everyone to learn!"
Ashe just manages to resist rolling her eyes and keeps staring ahead where a group of three gawky looking travelers are walking closely together, hoods drawn up over their faces. Something about it doesn't sit right with Ashe. There's a sort of itch across her skin like a sixth sense, and she slightly positions herself in front of the Jarl, lifting the barrel of her rifle in a warning. But this world isn't hers, and the suspicious travelers have no idea what a rifle is. They get closer as Steinar prattles on, and one calls out in the breaking voice of a teenage boy, "What you got in those trunks?" Which makes the Jarl fall silent in surprise. He was so wrapped up in talking that he hadn't noticed the newcomers at all.
"Don't answer—" Ashe starts to say under her breath before she's interrupted by Steinar declaring, "Books! And clothes. Some parchment. But mostly books." Ashe nearly groans. The three hooded people put their heads together a moment, whispering to each other before the first speaks again.
"And what you got in your pockets?"
Steinar stutters a little in surprise and Ashe strides forward another step to block the Jarl from them, cocking her rifle.
"You get one warning. Move along." Her voice is smooth, yet carries a threat with it like a viper baring its fangs. Fitting, since her rifle is called just that: the Viper. The two people who have yet to speak each take shuffling steps to leave, moving into the grass to give her a wide berth, but their leader hisses, "Get back here," to them and them freeze.
"What are you gonna do about it?" he asks, reaching inside his cloak to pull a knife from his belt. Behind her, Steinar sputters out in shock. There's a reason he needed an escort back home. A mage who focuses so heavily on restoration and little else can't protect himself from the great wide world. But in contrast, Ashe's lips part into a dangerous smile at the sight of the knife. It's been awhile since someone threatened her and she'd be lying if she said it doesn't give her a bit of a rush. But the person doing it is clearly young and dumb, so she can't go crazy here. Well, not fully crazy. Just a little bit. The barrel of her rifle is tipped down just slightly.
"This," she replies casually before pulling the trigger.
The sound of the shot cracks through the air like a whip and the dirt in front of the bandit's feet explodes towards him. Everyone else shouts or screams and all three boys — because their hoods fall back to reveal who they are — take off running into the fields and as far away from Ashe as possible. She stays put and watches them go before putting the safety back on and dropping the barrel down towards the ground.
"Wha—" the Jarl begins, and Ashe turns, having almost forgotten he was there. "What is that?"
"Oh, just something from my world that came with me. It's what we use to protect ourselves since we don't have magic." Steinar looks a little flustered and pauses to take out a handkerchief to mop at his sweaty brow.
"It's a good thing you were here," he states, looking a bit pale. Ashe nods her head down the road in answer. "C'mon. The faster we get to the mirror, the faster you get back home and the faster you're off these dangerous roads." It could have been a lot more dangerous; that's for sure. But there's no harm in playing it up so the Jarl thinks she's his savior, right?
Luckily the rest of the way to the magic mirror is uneventful, and the Jarl is still so flustered that he's not much for conversation. Finally. She was starting to think that talking her ear off might become a real medical emergency as hers fell to the ground. Then again, if he's as skilled at restoration as he claims, he would have the skill to reattach them, wouldn't he?
In any case, the pair and the Jarl's trunks go through the mirror to the other side. Ashe has visited Luxuriae once already and found it to be her kind of city. She's still on alert, however, as a prosperous place full of high end shops is bound to have pickpockets or bandits waiting around the place, but thankfully the trip into the city is far less eventful than the journey outside the Temple. Really, the only thing Ashe has to worry about here is getting distracted by something expensive looking in a shop window. But again the magic spell calls to her and keeps her on track. It'd be funny if they did stop, because she's pretty sure Steinar wouldn't have the guts to stop her, but she doesn't want word to get back to the Priestess that she took a detour before the Jarl was safely inside the Keep. When they reach that destination, Ashe is more than ready to part ways with him.
"Now, the Priestess said I was to give you a pass to any of the mage jarls, and they are to teach you a high level spell, yes?" His chest puffs out a little in pride. "Would you care to learn a restoration spell?"
Ashe smiles and gives a little chuckle. "Oh, that's very tempting, I must say, but after what we experienced out there, I'm thinking of being able to create a big protector for when I'm out traveling." Something to replace Bob, since he can no longer have her back out there in the wild world. "I think you said conjuration could do that?" Jarl Steinar's shoulders sink and he sighs, writing her a note to go and see one of the conjuration jarls.
"Thank you for the escort," he says glumly, handing over the piece of parchment.
"Pleasure doing business with you," Ashe says, saluting him with the note in her hand before going to track down this other Jarl. Hopefully they aren't half as talkative as Steinar.
WHAT: Ashe must successfully escort the Jarl from their room in the Temple to the Jarl's Keep in Luxuriae. No harm must come to the Jarl over the course of this escort mission.
WHERE: The Moon Temple, Luxuriae, and the land leading to and from the mirrors
WHEN: Mid-month
WARNINGS: None
"Don't you give me that look." Ashe stops in front of Bob's head where it sits perched on her desk. Sometimes she'll turn him in to face the room like he is now; other times he's given the relaxing view of the farms and fields outside her window. As a silent omnic, Bob can't give her his opinion on the view or on anything else, for that matter. But in all the years they've been together, Ashe fancies herself able to read Bob's mind accurately, and it's not like he can tell her any different.
Moving to sit on the bed, Ashe then releases a sigh. "It's gonna be a cake walk. They got magic mirrors here, remember? So it's a quick escort mission and then I'll be back. It'll be like I wasn't even gone." Bob blinks at her, and she shakes her head. "I am not lugging your heavy head around with me anymore than I have to. It's not like you're capable of being bored." Maybe she's just trying to justify this to herself so she doesn't feel guilty for not bringing him. No one wants Bob back in fighting form more than she does, but this place doesn't have omnic parts, pure and simple. So he'll have to remain just a head until this war's over and they can get back home.
"Look, I'm gonna be late." Jumping up from the bed, Ashe grabs her hat and her rifle. "See? I'll be safe." The hat is put on and she heads for the door before stopping herself and turning back to cross the room once more. The rifle is set aside and she carefully turns Bob's head to face out the window again. "There you go, Bob," she says in a soft voice that shows genuine care for him. He's been with her ever since she was a little girl, and this is by far the worst state he's ever been in. She can't help feeling for him, even when he can't feel for himself. His place is by her side and being her protector. Now she has to go it alone.
Once she leaves the room and locks it behind her, she heads over to the one listed on her message as belonging to the Jarl and gives a sharp rap on the door. Immediately, there's a crashing sound from inside. Not the sound of shattered glass or ceramics, thankfully, but of something heavy enough to make a thud.
"Oh! Oh my!" the voice inside declares before the door opens to reveal an older gentleman looking rather frazzled. "Yes, hello! You must be my escort back to the Keep. I am Jarl Steinar."
He isn't exactly what Ashe expects. The Jarls had sounded like high and lofty figures that didn't mix with the common folk, but this guy seems more... unique. Ashe inclines her head slightly in acknowledgement. She may be his escort, but she's not one to really bow down to anyone.
"That's me. Name's Ashe. Are you ready to go?"
The man knits his fingers together nervously and looks behind him. Following his gaze, Ashe sees a chair knocked over and a bunch of books lying open on the floor. They must have been stacked on the chair, and the chair was knocked over when she announced herself at the door.
"Almost ready, then," she clarifies before stepping inside and past him. It's not that she's impatient, but the end of this trip includes free access to one of the Jarls who can teach her a high level spell — if what her message says is the truth — and you'd better believe Ashe wants to cash in.
But now that she's inside, she sees just how much stuff this man has. Here she thought this was going to be easy. Clearing her throat, she asks in as even a tone as she can muster: "All of this is going back with you?"
"Y-Yes!" he states quickly, rushing back towards the books like her voice uprooted him from the floor. He bends to retrieve them and she lifts a couple herself to make the process go faster. "Research, you see! Very important research!" He pauses in his book collecting to look up at her with a hopeful expression. "You wouldn't happen to be interested in restoration magic, would you?"
"Uh," she begins, turning away to stow the books in one of his open trunks. "I'm not sure what it's all about. You could tell me about it, I guess."
Standing up, the Jarl pulls himself up to his full height, looking very determined. "Well, first off, restoration is a perfectly valid school of magic! And don't let anyone tell you otherwise!" Ashe lifts an eyebrow but says nothing. Apparently he's used to being debated on this point and feels the need to defend it from the get go. In fact, in the time it takes them to get him fully packed and out the door, then out the Temple doors, Jarl Steinar has already outlined what restoration magic does, why anyone who doesn't respect it isn't to be trusted, and has begged her to defend it should she hear anyone disparaging its good name.
The mile to the mirror feels like an eternity.
Luckily the Jarl is skilled enough in other areas that he can levitate his trunks and Ashe isn't reduced to his pack mule as well. Once they exit the city, he seems to calm down regarding the defense of restoration magic and the two are able to actually talk rather than the Jarl talking at her. It's taken a lot of mental fortitude to not snap at the man to shut up, but when she wants something, Ashe is determined to get it, and that magic spell for free is just dangling in front of her.
The view outside the city is scenic and postcard worthy. It's full of far more flora than Deadlock Gorge is, and Ashe finds herself admiring the vista much like she did out her window when she first arrived. Maybe it wouldn't be such a hassle to bring Bob out here sometime after all. But she's here to work and along the way, Ashe watches out for bandits and other undesirables who may be loitering around. Levitating trunks full of heavy tomes seem like a hard thing to steal so she's more concerned with someone trying to steal their money than the man's luggage.
"What about the other schools?" she asks, just to get him to change topics. "I really don't know much yet, but I'm wanting to learn." There are a few other people on the road, and she narrows her unsettling red eyes at them, rifle perched against her hip until they pass. Jarl Steinar isn't as enthused about the other schools (big surprise), but he does explain what each is and leaves her with the tantalizing: "And there are forbidden magics, of course. Not worth speaking of."
"Well, hold on," she protests. "Are they forbidden because they're illegal or something? I wouldn't want to get arrested for doing the wrong kind of magic."
Steinar titters out an amused giggle. It seems to fit right in with his nervous and jittery demeanor. "Don't worry; you can't accidentally learn that sort of magic. Only unsavory types would dare even teach it, so you're quite safe! Now, restoration magic; there's a school that benefits everyone to learn!"
Ashe just manages to resist rolling her eyes and keeps staring ahead where a group of three gawky looking travelers are walking closely together, hoods drawn up over their faces. Something about it doesn't sit right with Ashe. There's a sort of itch across her skin like a sixth sense, and she slightly positions herself in front of the Jarl, lifting the barrel of her rifle in a warning. But this world isn't hers, and the suspicious travelers have no idea what a rifle is. They get closer as Steinar prattles on, and one calls out in the breaking voice of a teenage boy, "What you got in those trunks?" Which makes the Jarl fall silent in surprise. He was so wrapped up in talking that he hadn't noticed the newcomers at all.
"Don't answer—" Ashe starts to say under her breath before she's interrupted by Steinar declaring, "Books! And clothes. Some parchment. But mostly books." Ashe nearly groans. The three hooded people put their heads together a moment, whispering to each other before the first speaks again.
"And what you got in your pockets?"
Steinar stutters a little in surprise and Ashe strides forward another step to block the Jarl from them, cocking her rifle.
"You get one warning. Move along." Her voice is smooth, yet carries a threat with it like a viper baring its fangs. Fitting, since her rifle is called just that: the Viper. The two people who have yet to speak each take shuffling steps to leave, moving into the grass to give her a wide berth, but their leader hisses, "Get back here," to them and them freeze.
"What are you gonna do about it?" he asks, reaching inside his cloak to pull a knife from his belt. Behind her, Steinar sputters out in shock. There's a reason he needed an escort back home. A mage who focuses so heavily on restoration and little else can't protect himself from the great wide world. But in contrast, Ashe's lips part into a dangerous smile at the sight of the knife. It's been awhile since someone threatened her and she'd be lying if she said it doesn't give her a bit of a rush. But the person doing it is clearly young and dumb, so she can't go crazy here. Well, not fully crazy. Just a little bit. The barrel of her rifle is tipped down just slightly.
"This," she replies casually before pulling the trigger.
The sound of the shot cracks through the air like a whip and the dirt in front of the bandit's feet explodes towards him. Everyone else shouts or screams and all three boys — because their hoods fall back to reveal who they are — take off running into the fields and as far away from Ashe as possible. She stays put and watches them go before putting the safety back on and dropping the barrel down towards the ground.
"Wha—" the Jarl begins, and Ashe turns, having almost forgotten he was there. "What is that?"
"Oh, just something from my world that came with me. It's what we use to protect ourselves since we don't have magic." Steinar looks a little flustered and pauses to take out a handkerchief to mop at his sweaty brow.
"It's a good thing you were here," he states, looking a bit pale. Ashe nods her head down the road in answer. "C'mon. The faster we get to the mirror, the faster you get back home and the faster you're off these dangerous roads." It could have been a lot more dangerous; that's for sure. But there's no harm in playing it up so the Jarl thinks she's his savior, right?
Luckily the rest of the way to the magic mirror is uneventful, and the Jarl is still so flustered that he's not much for conversation. Finally. She was starting to think that talking her ear off might become a real medical emergency as hers fell to the ground. Then again, if he's as skilled at restoration as he claims, he would have the skill to reattach them, wouldn't he?
In any case, the pair and the Jarl's trunks go through the mirror to the other side. Ashe has visited Luxuriae once already and found it to be her kind of city. She's still on alert, however, as a prosperous place full of high end shops is bound to have pickpockets or bandits waiting around the place, but thankfully the trip into the city is far less eventful than the journey outside the Temple. Really, the only thing Ashe has to worry about here is getting distracted by something expensive looking in a shop window. But again the magic spell calls to her and keeps her on track. It'd be funny if they did stop, because she's pretty sure Steinar wouldn't have the guts to stop her, but she doesn't want word to get back to the Priestess that she took a detour before the Jarl was safely inside the Keep. When they reach that destination, Ashe is more than ready to part ways with him.
"Now, the Priestess said I was to give you a pass to any of the mage jarls, and they are to teach you a high level spell, yes?" His chest puffs out a little in pride. "Would you care to learn a restoration spell?"
Ashe smiles and gives a little chuckle. "Oh, that's very tempting, I must say, but after what we experienced out there, I'm thinking of being able to create a big protector for when I'm out traveling." Something to replace Bob, since he can no longer have her back out there in the wild world. "I think you said conjuration could do that?" Jarl Steinar's shoulders sink and he sighs, writing her a note to go and see one of the conjuration jarls.
"Thank you for the escort," he says glumly, handing over the piece of parchment.
"Pleasure doing business with you," Ashe says, saluting him with the note in her hand before going to track down this other Jarl. Hopefully they aren't half as talkative as Steinar.
(word count: 2,275)