A forum for the Port Luskan role play

Alyra stands still in the darkness, waiting for her eyes to adjust a bit more; and more to the point, listening intently. It is dead silent, though, and the darkness does not ease with time. Next time I bring a torch, she avows to herself.

She takes a step forward, ready to summon her sword in an instant, then pauses and listens again. This time she does hear a faint sound, a brushing as of cloth or leather on stone. On high alert, she turns her head towards the sound. Almost instinctively she makes a few sounds of her own, soft "pings" which will let her know if what she faces is magical. Although the sounds are so soft that most people would ordinarily not notice them, to her ears they ring uncannily loud in the still, silent air.

There is definitely something in the corner, but this information comes from her eyes. She could swear something is crouching there. Willing her racing heart to steady, she moves slowly forwards. One more step, she tells herself, just one. But if it moves... She wets her lips in preparation to sing.

Ceri finishes scribbling - er, editing her name in the Guestbook, and then takes a look around. Alyra does not seem to be in residence, though there's a bit of a draft. "Where is that coming from?"

Peeking around, Ceri notices the back door slightly ajar. Thinking it rather odd, for a moment the bard stands debating whether she ought to walk away quickly in case it's a monster back there... and then her natural curiosity kicks caution to the wind and propels her to investigate.

_________________
Never tickle a sleeping dragon, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

Ceridwen mutters, "To peek or not to peek... well maybe Alyra is back there. Or it could be a monster." She ambles toward the open door.

"Okay Ceri, nothing scary about a garden. Helloooo back there! Anyone home?"

Alyra is currently on a hair trigger, determined to give the being in the corner in front of her every chance to prove itself non-hostile, but also determined not to die if she can possibly avoid it. Her intense focus is suddenly shattered by the loud yet tentative call of a familiar voice. Her reaction is somewhat predictable...

Once she has peeled herself off the cave roof, she takes up her stance again, but calls over her shoulder, "Ceri? Is that you?"

"Alyra?" Ceri calls back, "Finally a friendly face - uh, voice! You left this door open, can I come back there?"

"Um... yeah... sure. We seem to have a visitor. I'm just trying to determine what kind of visitor."

Alyra peers back into the gloom, trying to see if her "guest" is still there. With all the commotion, it's entirely possible... well, anything is possible. I am definitely out of practice, she thinks to herself, to let my concentration go like that.

Ceri heads out into the back garden, only to find Alyra nowhere in sight. "Uh, where are you?"

"In here," Alyra says helpfully.

Ceri's head whips around to stare at the vine-covered wall from which Alyra's voice emanates. After a moment of hesitation, she walks over and pulls the living curtain aside. Inside it is dark and most definitely a cave.

The darkness lessens slightly when Ceri pulls aside the vines, and Alyra glances back. "Great to see you, Ceri! And just in time. I don't know who's in here, but there is someone." Alyra nods towards the corner of the cave. "And I was trying not to um... well, I guess they know we're here now..."

Ceri blinks owlishly at Alyra. "Er, good to see you, but you don't expect me to come in there do you?" She looks over at the corner Alyra indicated. "Besides, I only see rocks...."

Alyra blinks at her, then turns back and peers into the gloom. "But I could have sworn..." Alyra takes a step forward, then another step, and examines the corner more closely.

"There was someone, or something, there, I'm certain of it. I knew I shouldn't have lost my concentration. Now we may never find out what, or who, it was."

Ceri gives her a sheepish grin, "Well shall we head back into open, well-lit territory then?"

Alyra looks at her, then looks back into the cave. "Wait, don't you want to help me find out who our visitor was? He - or she - or it - can't have gotten far."

Ceri blinks owlishly at Alyra and repeats, "You don't expect me to come in there do you?"

"Um... why not?"

"Because... it's a cave. And it's dark. And it's a cave."

"Oh." Alyra looks at her friend, not quite sure what to make of that. "Ceri... it's not like you've never been in a cave before... I mean, I distinctly remember on the old island of Port Solice, when we were fighting those things in the tomb in the mines... I mean, you were there... right?"

"Yes, and then the ceiling fell in!"

"Oh. Yeah... it kinda did, didn't it?" Alyra is not sure she actually remembers that part. "But... but we got out again that time."

"That time," Ceri repeats flatly, and frantically searches for an excuse.

Alyra tries to remember what happened the few times she was in the Dwarven Mine in old Solice. "Ceri, we fought the creatures that were in there - the statue, and the mummy, and... and the third one, whatever that was. The sand creature, I think. I was sure you were there then; and the ceiling didn't collapse..."

"What?" Ceri frowns, "I don't remember any of that!"

Alyra thinks hard for a moment, then sighs. "Well, I thought I remembered you being there. Maybe I am mistaken."

Ceri quickly changes the subject. "I've been thinking of starting a tarot reading table, but I haven't found a good place for my tent yet, much less decided if I really want to invite people to come by my personal space at any time. Could I borrow a corner of your bookshop and set up a table? Temporarily at least?"

"Oh, sure! I think there's room in the side area there, where I used to meet with the bards. Nice big table and everything. Want to go inside and take a look? I think our friend is probably long gone..." Alyra peers once more into the darkness, then sighs and turns to leave the cave.

"Wonderful! Thank you so much! I'll get started right away!" And suddenly Alyra is plunged back into green-tinged gloom as Ceri lets go of the vines and takes off like a bat out of - well nevermind.

Alyra finds her way barred by the sudden closure and reflexively reaches up to her nose, then grins lopsidedly. "I always do that. At least this time it wasn't a solid door."

Post composed from RP by Ceri and Alyra in consultation with Budster Bashly.

Ceri pauses just inside. "Wait, was she inviting me into the cave, or coming back into the bookshop?" She pokes her head back out, just in time to see Alyra step back out into the open air. "Uh, sorry. I thought you were insisting on spelunking... Shall I make us some tea?"

_________________
Never tickle a sleeping dragon, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

"Sure, Ceri," says Alyra as she comes back into the shop. "Tea sounds lovely, especially since Steph and I didn't get to drink ours." She goes to the side room and gathers up a couple of clean mugs and sets them on the table. "We had a um... another visitor earlier. I think it was a baby dragon, judging by the footprints it left all over.

"This is the room I was talking about, by the way. See? Nice big table, and a fire, and if you need space to store things, there's a cupboard over here."

"Oh thank you. It's perfect! I wonder if I should make an actual business out of this." Ceri digs around in the pouch at her belt, and pulls out a smaller pouch of tea bags. "Here I've got a nice blend. Where's your teapot?"

Alyra brings forth the teapot and mugs, and they heat some water over the fireplace while Ceri looks around the small room.

_________________
Never tickle a sleeping dragon, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

Hearing conversation inside, Lacy knocked on the door to the Book Shop, then entered quietly, finding Alyra and another woman that looked familiar.

“Greetings, Alyra” Lacy smiled, still grateful and happy that she could see her friend in this strange new place, “I’ve come to ask if you have any extra ink or if there is a place I might find some. I’m not sure if there are shops here?”

Lacy paused and smiled at the other woman.

“I’m sorry, you look familiar, but I’m not sure I remember you. Please forgive me. I’m Lacy. I lived in Port Luskan long ago, and there are so many residents that I don’t remember well.”

"Hi Lacy," Ceri says and offers her hand, "I'm Ceri, one of the bards. I was also in and out of Port Luskan and haven't been around for a while. I think we did meet a few times, but it has been an awefully long time." Ceri laughs a little, "Would you like to join us for tea? There's probably another mug around here."

_________________
Never tickle a sleeping dragon, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

"It's good to meet you again," Lacy grins slightly at Ceri and shakes her hand. "And thank you, I would love to join you."

Lacy looks in the corner where the tea things seem to be, and finding another clean mug, she pours herself some of the fragrant tea. She sips her tea slowly as she wanders over to look at the new sign on the door to the side room. Reading the sign, she turns back to Ceri, her face serious and thoughtful.

“What sort of questions do you do readings for?”

Alyra smiles as her two friends become reacquainted, but her thoughts are serious as she sips the tea. What was that in that tunnel? I know there was someone back there, even if Ceri didn't see them. And more to the point - where did they go? I am going to have to do some exploring.

When Lacy asks Ceri about the tarot, Alyra's grin broadens. Well she remembers her friend's readings for the port that were published in The Port Luskan Beat. Ceri sure knew how to take a serious question and put a spin on it - you could not read her column without a chuckle - or more likely, a belly laugh.

"All kinds," she interjects, before Ceri can speak. "And she's good. And the best thing is, she's fun." Alyra sets her mug aside, reminding herself that Lacy did have a reason for her visit. "And you wanted ink? I have plenty - what do you need it for? There's writing ink over here, several different kinds, of different colors and qualities. The best are the blacks; you can try them out if you want and see which suits you. I have some quills over here..." She gets up and pulls several quills and sheets of parchment from a shelf. "Then there's printer's ink, but that doesn't work so well for regular writing." She indicates a row of bottles on the shelf. "That's my favorite; I use it for almost all my writing. It's good quality and relatively inexpensive. But for you, of course, no charge." Alyra grins and winks, and sets the writing implements out on the table. "Have fun!"