A Gypsy's Tale

[Lalaith Va'lash]

A Gypsy's Tale: The thoughts, stories, and collections of Kali.

  *The cover of this book is plain, with no writing.  Its an average looking journal that is bound and latched tightly closed with strips of raw leather.  There are many papers and pages and other odd things stuck within the pages of this book, including a small stack of papers  just within the cover of the book*



****

[Lalaith Va'lash]

*From the floor in a room in the Leilon Arms Kali groans slightly as she turns to her side and is met by the viscous dark spikes that grace the black amour, which covers the arms and hands that are tightly wrapped around her waste. She shakes her head slightly as she lifts it from the floor, her thoughts a bit clearer now after her previous state of drunkenness, she manages to slip free of grip and stand, only stumbling slightly as she steps over empty wine bottles. Carefully she pulls back her matted and tussled red hair as she stares into the dieing fire in the hearth, watching the smoldering red embers fade to dust. Her mind seems to race at the symbolic nature of the burning embers as a curious and roguish smile plays on her soft red lips. After a moment, while beginning bite her lip slightly, she glances down at the figure on the floor that she was once beside, she quietly exits the room trying to keep her bracelets from making any noise which would wake him as she does*


*Picking up pace as she goes down the stairs of the inn, Kali finds herself in the inn’s office. Rummaging through her pack, undoubtedly seeking an Ale to cure her headache, she fumbles across her old journal from when she first came to Hlint. Raising an eyebrow at it, she leafs through the pages a moment reading her entries, before tearing a few pages individually from the book. She tosses the old book in the fireplace and watches it burn, curiously. She exhales slightly as the journal is taken by flames, flaring up suddenly as the fire hungrily consumes the pages of the peculiar book. The light of the fire seems to reflect, dancing wildly, in her intense emerald green eyes, as the corner of Kali’s lips turn up a little bit in a sinful smile. Then, finally tearing her eyes from the energy and destruction of the fire, Kali begins to scan the books on the shelves in the office*


*After pulling several books off the shelf, Kali finds a particular one with seemingly blank pages. Carefully she tucks the torn pages from the other journal into the front of this book. Sitting at the desk, she picks up a quill and begins to write*



*Written in Elven in smooth script across the first page*


Il laam laanilman.




*After a blank space on the page*


Years have past now from the time when I first set out from the comfort of the caravan and their teachings and support. Much has happened to me in that time, and yet, nothing as well. Once more I find that my blood begins to intensely boil as I watch myself causally idling in one place and look at what I am making of myself. Its not that this place is bad in any manner, on the contrary it is more like home than I ever imagined it could be, but within my depths I know this is not what I was searching for when I left the caravan.

The stories that I seek grow few and far between as something seems to wrench at my very being to take me away from this place. The feeling, which grows stronger by each passing day, is only amplified by events and people, as I watch as a spectator what happens to myself and to those whom I may have even cared more for had the circumstances had been altered.

In three days time I will leave this place once more. During the next opening of the inn I will gather my things and slip into the night to travel the lands as a stranger, objectively embarking on a new journey, a new start.




*Kali lays her quill down quietly as the ink of the final words she has penned begins to dry. Carefully Kali pulls a small leather pouch from her pack, from the pouch she produces a small stack of used looking and peculiar cards. Kali closes her eyes briefly a moment and the places three cards face down in front of her on the pages of the open book. She turns over the first card*

*The first card, a look into the past*


*The card is right side up to Kali. The image on the card is the picture of an earnest and patient looking women dressed in light soft billowing robes. She is leaning on a humble looking quarterstaff at her right side and carries a small book in her left hand. Her face is turned upward to a non descript constellation of stars in the sky*


*Kali writes in her book*


The high priestess of Aragen:

Intuition, wisdom and secret knowledge. This card is overturned in this orientation when something remains yet to be revealed. It also represents the hidden influences that affect one.

This is the story of my past. All the while when I was young, I listened and watched, mostly unaware to those around me as they spoke. They speculated on the gift in which I had then, to call magic from sound. And true to gypsy nature they grew curious when I seemed to be different than some of them, I could hear them whisper though. The elders of the elves in our caravan even spoke of possible creatures of power within my ancestry that could be the source of this, my ability to create magic from song. I’m convinced this is the ancient history, and recent past this card speaks of, it is not the first time I’ve seen this card for it and it will undoubtedly not be the last.


*Replacing the quill once more Kali carefully turns the second card over*


The Second Card, reflections of the present



*The card this time is upside down to Kali. This card is the image of weight scales on the front of the card. The gold plated scales are tipped slightly in one direction, in this orientation they are leaning away from Kali. The scales are drawn over top of a map of the continents of Layonara*



*Kali picks up the quill and begins to write*

The Judgment of The World.


In the reversed orientation the scales represent the delay of completion. Sometimes it is from a fear of change, or simply the inability to bring something to a satisfactory end. Often, despite appearances to the contrary, this card strongly indicates that there are large events that have not yet come to conclusion. It’s also known to represent loss and separation, though not always permanent, as well as hesitation and even guilt at times. As the second card, these are my present times. My first journey from the caravan was abruptly interrupted when the dragon had summoned me, and I ended up in Hlint. Since then I feel as if nothing has been brought to conclusion. Though I’ve had many experiences and though I’ve found much in those times, and been a part of many stories this card confirms to me the delay I’ve faced, in whatever is to come. I am unclear however of the separation that the card may speak of though, is this the separation from My knight in shining armor, that I will now face as I start anew my search or is it the separation we already faced before I even leave? Is this the separation we now have from our little secret, or the guilt I should feel for doing as I did? It could be the separation I take as I prepare to leave the Leilon Arms for a time, leaving Derrick in Quin hands, and leaving the inn in the hands of Derrick, Quin and Jharl. It could be the separation from Derrick, or Quin, or anybody. Or the card could speak of a loss. The initial loss or separation of the caravan, or simply it could be the loss of my journey, the separation from myself and the path that I once tread.


Whatever it speaks of, I no longer have it in me to idle any longer. Something pulls too strongly to worry about whom I should and should not be separate from.


*Kali glances down and touches the third card gently*


*The Third Card, The fortune of what is to come*


*Kali watches the back of the card a few moments, but does not turn the card over. Carefully she places the first two cards back in the stack. Not looking at the third card, she leaves it in the pages of the book and closes the book. Binding the book in a leather strap, she latches it closed and places it aside on the desk. She exhales slightly, with thoughts of what she may find echoing in her head. She hums lightly a mysterious melody to herself as she kicks back in the chair, and fondly looks around the inn*

Three days,
 *she whispers, and then speaks in Elven*

 Il laam laanilman.

......

[Lalaith Va'lash]

*A campfire crackles gently as the chilly wind sweeps past rocks to where a group of adventurers has taken camp, and gives the fire a new breath.  Camped around the slowly dieing fire is a group of five, each tired and sore from their last encounters, each finding peace and rest in their own ways.*

*The first, on first glance appears to be a human male.  Dressed in greens and browns, the colors of nature, his hooded head lays gently on his pack as he quietly rests.  Brown feathered wings extending from his back wrap gently around him as he seeks shelter from the cool winds.*

*The Second figure, a human female, lies quietly on a bedroll, her packs and her sword not far from her slender, delicate but tough and strong looking hands.  Her head rests on what seems to be her own finely crafted Armour, her blond hair cascades over the Armour and blows gently in the wind as she sleeps*

*The next figure, a smaller figure is that of a male halfling.  Curled up by the fire he seems to be munching quietly on what appears to be a fish sandwich.  Small crumbs drop from his bread as he eats, and he murmurs quietly to himself.  Watching his even breaths one might almost think he was asleep, despite the fact that he is eating.*

*Across the fire from the halfling a fourth figure sits half in shadow propped up against the rocks.  Still wearing his black and deadly looking spiky armour, its hard to tell if the dark hooded figure is actually asleep.  With his hand resting gently on the hilt of his sword, despite his slow and restful breathing it seems as if he could be ready at a moments notice for any vial creature that may challenge the groups rest.*

*The final figure is that of an elven female.  Her fiery red locks are pulls back into a pony tail allowing one to see she is quite awake still compared to the others.   She lays on her stomach on top of a small bedroll, her head resting on her hands as she watches the burning embers of the fire, and thinks about the tales that have been told this crisp dark eve.*

*Smiling a bit as she lays watching the fire, Kali pulls out a journal from her pack.  She glances around at the other four who camp with her a moment, before unbinding the leather straps and opening the book.*

*As she turns the pages of the book she glances briefly at the card she left in its pages, but decides that it is not quite for tonight, and leaves it in its place, turning the page*

*She begins to write*

“Day three”

“The Great Rift.”

“Many of story have I heard of this place.  But never have I had the chance to see it for myself.   Such creatures that are here...  And such a story...

*The fire pops loudly as it burns causing the Khana who lightly rests across the fire from Kali to stir.  Kali looks up from her book, watching her quietly in the firelight until she settles back down.  Khana does not wake, and Kali goes back to writing*
 
"In truth though we have barely scraped the surface of what lies within.  Barely began to understand the tale, which from the depths of this very place has grown and flourished into a story of deception, revenge, greed, and hate, as many such tales often do."

*Kali glances across the fire at the winged male resting quietly in natures colors.  She watches his chest lift and sink in a steady slow rhythm as he rests*

"Tonight Plenarius told us the tale Shalic Layour.  A king whose thirst for an ultimate form of power and control, brought him to do the most despicable of things.  "

*Kali glances up the wall of rock that surrounds them in their safe haven, her thoughts alive with all that lies beyond, and all that has happened in this very place before*

"A king who met his demise here in this very place, in these depths and this very darkness at the hands of one he thought ally."

*Kali’s eyes travel back to the fire briefly, the reflection of the light dancing with the intrigue that is displayed in her emerald green eyes*

"A king .. whose soul is said to still walks these lands now, but no longer as Shalic Layour, a king, but instead returned in the form of a Lich.  Said to have been raised by Sinthar Bloodstone himself, and promoted to general of one of his armies.  He is the one who they now call Drezneb."

*Kali shivers slightly as tiny goosebumbs overtake her bare arms when a strong wind picks up and blows down the rocks to them.  Closing her book and binding it, her eyes glance to the dark figure at her right who is leaning against the rocks*

*She smiles to him, thinking he is sleeping as she tucks her book away in her pack*  

“We will be heading out soon”
 
*The dark figure reminds her quietly, opening one eye and watching her from under his hood*  

“You should take some rest”  

*She rolls her eyes playfully then smiles to him giggling quietly*  

“Of course Derrick”  

*Kali whispers back as she makes herself comfortable in front of the fire.*
*****

[Lalaith Va'lash]

*Four days later, seated on the docks of Hurm, Kali watches the waves of the sea come to and back again, kissing the land and rocks of the shore with their salty sprays and then retracting back into the waters depths.*

  *Just by looking at Kali one can clearly tell she is in a weakened state.  Her packs cast to her side, Kali quietly watches the waters passing rhythm as she reflects on her own recent passing.*

  *A ship captain appears, climbing from below deck to call for boarding on one of the boats in the harbour.  Kali rises slowly picking up her packs, and makes her way to the small boat tied to the docks edge.  Despite her weakened state Kali walks with her usual grace in her step and looks at the world with her normal curiosity and zeal in her emerald eyes*

  *With a flirtatious smile and a few hushed words to the captain, Kali boards the ship and heads below deck for the duration of the trip*

  *Sitting in a cabin below deck, Kali pulls out her journal.  She unbinds the leather from the book, and upon opening it begins to write*

  “Day Seven”
  “Bone Dragon”
  “Though the results could have been better, I could not be more excited about what I witnessed the day before last.”
  *Kali glances out the a small round window in the cabin, smiling slightly as visions of a battle replay in her mind*

  “After our group overcame the obstacles that hindered our exit from the Rift we made our way stumbling into the sunlight, half of us were ill from the vial poisons of our foe, but all of us were grateful at the sight of daylight and our breaths of fresh air.  It was a battle not to be forgotten at the time, but unknown to us, the day certainly became more memorable later”

  *Kali pauses a moment, smiling in thought*

  “Soon after we all were rested and recovered, the five of us began our travels again.  When we had not gotten very far, Plen made mention of a dangerous and powerful creature who took rest very near to where we tread.  As soon as he said it was a Bone Dragon...  my pulse raced, and I knew we could not leave this place without first seeing it.  Plen mentioned he really didn’t think there was any way to see the creature, without provoking a battle, but I didn’t care what it took, I had to see it....”
  *Kali’s green eyes flash with memory as she writes*

  “Fairly easily convinced of a course of action, we all prepared the best we could in case viewing the beast provoke battle.  Plen was right of course, and not too long after the Bone Dragon came into view, we were deep in a fierce battle.  Bone against sword and claw against spell the group raged war on the attacking monster until it became apparent that none of us were going to survive.  Plen gave the call to run, and he alone continued to fight with the creature, leading it back to its resting place.  He would sacrifice himself, to save the rest of us.  The call had come too late though however, and as Plen fell the Dragon turned and took down Kahna as well, and then came after the rest of us three.  Following Derrick, I managed to get out of the creatures line of sight, running as fast as I could, and not looking back until I reached Dalanthar.  When I did look back then I realized BB was missing.  I feared the worst and knew that BB had likely fallen to the Dragon’s power as well.  An honorable death for any halfling.”

  “As Derrick and I began to catch our breath in Dalanthar we heard Khana scream in the outskirts of the town.  It seems that her first run with the dragon only left her near death, and unconscious.  Then, when the bleeding stopped and she had come to, she met the dragon again in her travel to the town.  This time with a more deadly outcome.”

  “Derrick and I ran deeper into the town, seeking shelter and a plan.  We ran into Gloin then, and informed him of the Dragon.  However, immediately upon hearing of Plen’s death the Dwarf jumped up to aid him, and he too ran straight for the Bone Dragon and met his death.  So much for our warnings.”

  *Kali shakes her head a bit as she writes*

  “The remaining two of us waited, hidden behind a building on the west side of town.  I remember trying to catch my breath at that time still, but between running, and the excitement of the creature and the battle, it seemed an impossible task.”

  “As night fell though, and I eventually could breath normally again, Plen returned to us, thanks to the power of the bindstones and likely Katia’s guidance. Telling us that we couldn’t allow the Dragon to remain in town to cause more destruction than it had, we prepared again, for what was to be the final battle.  I was eager to get another look at the creature... I got that and more though...”

  “After preparing for battle Derrick and Plen went for the creature, trying to fend it off and push, or lead it rather, back to the outskirts where is belonged.  I watched from the side, realizing my rapier was no match for such a mighty creature.  I soon realized Derrick and Plen were not to match the creature either, for even as they tried to push it back, they both fell to power of the bone dragon”

  “Standing on the crest of the hill, I watched the dragon attack Plen.  The Dragon then began to advance further into town, myself almost unnoticed to it.  I heard myself calling to the bone dragon to get its attention, and the creature then turned its mighty head in my direction, I began to run.  Without much of  a plan.. I thought I could at least lead the dragon around for a while, and out of the town...  But, whoever said large creatures move slow...., was obviously wrong.  For just as soon as I rounded the corner outside of town, the beast swooped down from the skies to attack me.  Just a glance of the Bone Dragon was all I got that time, then the pain shot through my body like a thousands swords ripping their way from my head to my toes....  I felt strangely warm.. then cold, and everything went black...
 
*There is a soft knock on the door to Kali’s cabin.  She looks up briefly and smiles a bit mischievously before adding one last line to her entry*

  “When I awoke, I was in Hurm.  Again the bindstone had brought me back..”  
 
*Kali grins a bit at the closed door as if she was expecting sombody.  She closes the book and binds it, standing slowly, Kali makes her way to answer the door*    

[Lalaith Va'lash]

*Many days Later, Kali sits near a campfire on her own.  Her head tipped back, Kali’s emerald eyes trace the constellations of stars in the sky.  The night is clear, and cold.  She hums lowly to herself as she sits there, her red locks blowing somewhat in the wind.*

  “Well, here I am...”  *She speaks with her normal spirited demeanor*
  *Kali continues to hum a bit to herself... unrolling furs below her to shelter herself from the cold ground below.  She stokes the fire a bit and then pulls out her journal.  After unbinding , she lays out on her stomach atop the furs and she writes into the book*

  “Day Fifteen”

  “Dregar”

  “Days, a week even.. or more.. I’ve spent my days traveling this land.  Walking great distances even before the sun rises, and resting when it is highest in the sky and at it’s hottest.  I’ve even been finding the little luxuries of lakes and ponds and the shady paths I once traveled as a child.  In my search... “
 
*Sparks fly up from the fire drawing Kali’s eyes away from her book briefly. Then as if finishing her previous thoughts only in her head, she begins writing on the next line*
  “On the paths I tread, at times I see wagon tracks, deep grooves set into the softening soil.  The paths of the others like me.  But are we so alike?”
 
*Kali’s emerald eyes flash in the firelight, an intense look building deep within the green sparkle as she seems to rewalk memories of her past*
 
“I was never quite the same as the rest, at least... that is how I felt.  Perhaps its never been any more than an overactive curiosity and a little bit of gypsy luck that’s drawn me to my path... I do feel its more than that though..”

  *Kali lays her pen to the side and closes the book with one hand.  She watches the crackling fire intently.  She stokes it a bit again with a small stick, causing the flames to grow in size lighting the area about her, and lighting up her face and her eyes.  She spends the rest of the night in quiet solitude until the last ember of her fire dies.*

  **********

[Lalaith Va'lash]

*Kali sits minding her own beneath the tall tree in Hlint. The early morning sun peeks up into the sky burning off the nights dew while sending crimson and gold streaks across the horizon. Kali unbinds the leather from her journal, and opens the book across her lap on her soft lavender dress, she writes*

 “Day Twenty~Six”

 “Hlint”

 “Scarcely even a month has passed and I find myself back in this town”

 “So much for a new start” *Kali whispers as she wrinkles her nose a bit in disgust at the page in her book *

 *She continues to write*
 “It was not all bad though, coming back, I ran into Acacea and Plenarius, Khana, and some others. Plen was telling of a dream he had. It had halflings and Dragons in it.. That is not so strange? Perhaps the part about halflings may have been a bit. However, often myself when I sit idly my mind wanders itself through tales of the latter. Always.. the many sinews of thought, intertwining, combining, dancing into tales of those epic creatures…”

 *Kali looks up from her writing and realizes the town is again coming to life. Adventurers and patrons begin exciting upon the Wild Surge Inn, many whom seem to have had too much to drink the night before are cursing at the lateness of the morning, or the brightness of the sun as they leave their night’s save haven. Others come in the creaking gate, stacks of furs in hand as they head to the craft hall. Hlint slowly begins to buzz.. The wagon master commending an adventurer and handing him a worn pair of boots as prize, Captain Garrent telling some young dandy to come back when he is more experienced in the ways of war. *

 “Hlint” *Kali muses slightly in a whisper*

 “The Leilon Arms should be having an opening soon. I may as well stop in and have a drink, before I continue on my path”

 *Kali smiles a bit as she closes and binds her book. Tucking it safely into a lion bag strung across her back as she stands. She brushes herself off, gigging a bit and smiling to the adventures she passes. Kali makes her way back to Leilon once more.*

  *****

[Lalaith Va'lash]

*After the pages weathered by the years gone past, fresh ink graces this page of Kali's book*

I've watched days turn into nights as the shadows cycle through endless shades of grey, thusly indicating when that great volatile orb should be rising and setting in the distant sky.  I've watched nights become cold and looked up to the shifting shadows, wondering if Ausir or Orn might dip down into the sky far enough to make an appearance from behind their deathly veil.  I've called out into the night, a single voice, piercing the quiet creatures' sounds in the untamed lands that I sometimes dwell... The only answer is the perpetual winds in the obsidian skies that sound like the beating of great wings. Could it be?

I've laid watching the dieing embers of campfires as I try to coax the last of their heat from already burnt wood, before I slip away into quiet reverie.

No demons can haunt me here.

But as I awake to the cold rains drizzling from the dreary skies, the harsh reality that is this place sinks into the pit of my stomach and begs me to really listen:

The world continues to move day to day outside my escape, the stories ever continuing and changing rapidly, almost too fast..  and yet

.. my story remains but a dull murmur in an otherwise crowded world.