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Messages - Cinnabar
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101
« on: March 30, 2009, 08:56:35 am »
24,000 True for the Exceptional Panther Cloak.
~ Caerwyn Ahrail'lan
102
« on: March 30, 2009, 03:21:04 am »
21,000 True for the Exceptional Panther Cloak.
~ Caerwyn Ahrail'lan
103
« on: March 29, 2009, 03:10:12 pm »
19,000 True for the Exceptional Panther Cloak.
~ Caerwyn Ahrail'lan
104
« on: March 27, 2009, 11:33:33 am »
16,000 True for the Exceptional Panther Cloak.
~ Caerwyn Ahrail'lan
105
« on: March 27, 2009, 10:05:21 am »
13,000 True for the Exceptional Panther Cloak.
~ Caerwyn Ahrail'lan
106
« on: March 26, 2009, 04:35:37 pm »
11,000 True for the Exceptional Panther Cloak and 10,000 True for the Diamond Ring of Cat's Grace.
~ Caerwyn Ahrail'lan
107
« on: March 26, 2009, 02:22:04 pm »
9,000 true coins for the Exceptional Panther Cloak and 8,000 true coins for the Diamond Ring of Cat's Grace.
~ Caerwyn Ahrail'lan
108
« on: March 26, 2009, 11:26:51 am »
I bid 7,000 true coins for the Exceptional Panther Cloak and 6,000 true coins for the Diamond Ring of Cat's Grace.
~ Caerwyn Ahrail'lan
109
« on: March 23, 2009, 01:16:07 pm »
Barring severe weather here, Caerwyn will be there.
110
« on: March 10, 2009, 07:47:29 pm »
Forty Thousand True for Ilsare's Firey Eye
~ Caerwyn Ahrail'lan
111
« on: March 02, 2009, 08:09:01 am »
Happy Birthday!
112
« on: February 28, 2009, 07:10:29 am »
Good Advice, Thanks.
I've also found that if one is careful to specifically close the chest before opening anything else (bags in inventory, another chest, etc), things seem to go smoothly. I started that as a firm policy several months back and haven't had a stuck chest since.
113
« on: January 17, 2009, 07:59:16 am »
Happy Birthday Bal! Hope your day goes great. 
114
« on: January 16, 2009, 07:44:28 pm »
Or, if someone were to cut out another's tongue (or force them to cut it out themselves) and then were to 'mercifully' heal them, would that render the victim permanently mute? I too would like some clarification on this point as it has specifically come up for me in a quest situation .. yep, he was a pretty nasty bad guy who threatened a PC with some pretty nasty stuff.
115
« on: January 12, 2009, 01:28:04 pm »
~ Augra 28, 1443
I fell today in Storan's Crypt and was visited again by the Soul Wench. My time in the world becomes ever shorter, and I don't have very many chances left; perhaps not even enough to accomplish some of the things I wished. I am greatly embarrassed that, try as I might, I cannot solo in Storan's. I will see what happens when, and if, I can afford better armour and weapons; as of now I simply can no longer afford the risk. This will have some serious implications to my practice of Alchemy but, should the guild pay up as they have promised, I'll be able to pay someone else to risk there lives there, perhaps Elinmire, a competent mage with whom I have had some dealings.
Early in Jenra, I spoke with Sophia. Her beloved, Jharl, had returned; she was no longer in need of my intimate company and I, as I have told Jaelle, am a 'one woman-at-a-time' man. Breaking off with Sophia has had some consequences which I hadn't expected but, knowing her, they do make sense. We still travel together occasionally and are cordial, if not as friendly as I'd hoped, but I am no longer the beneficiary of her wards in battle, unless she has some to spare after warding those with whom she is still intimate.
Barely two weeks later, Jaelle and I were questing together near Krandor, in pursuit further information regarding the troubles of the Legdinium family in Corsain. Frustrated with the lack of decision by many of the large party, I went forward to find the mad hermit that we sought. I missed seeing the runes on the floor and sank, incapacitated, inside what turned out to be a necromantic circle. I recall being frozen there, barely able to speak back a warning to the others, only to see a young cleric named Malina come into the circle to aid me. When she too sank, as I had, I remember thinking: "Didn't you hear my warning? What were you thinking?" And when that idiot Fehriel touched the skull and died on the spot, I had even more unkind thoughts. It was only when I emerged from the circle to see Jaelle fallen dead, that my sympathies returned. This 'selective' compassion has been growing in me for some time and, frankly doesn't feel all that wrong to me anymore. I carried Jaelle's body back out of the cave after the encounter, with little thought for those others that fell, save perhaps Malina, who, though misguided, did try to help me.
I carried Jaelle's body back to her home in Krandor, seeking Connor's advice and help. He whisked us through a portal to Leringard and rowed us out to the Temple of Mist. Jaelle stayed at the Temple of her Goddess three days (as did I), while they worked to revive her and repair what damage they could; it is still indeterminate how much lasting harm has been done by my carelessness. On returning to Krandor, we found that all the young children in the town had been visited with terrible dreams (each night that Jaelle was in the Temple of Mist), sent by the one who controlled (or was controlled by) the necromantic circle in that cave: the shade of one Admun Kretorin, executed as a necromancer 150 years ago. In these dreams, Admun's shade promised to murder each child he had visited through dreams, should the 'shard' he seeks not be brought to him; this shard is what we believe is contained as part of the brooch owned by Mirium Legdinium. Absent the guilt I feel for Jaelle's death, I would not care very much about having crossed Admun, were it not for the fact that three of Krandor's children, now threatened, are ones cared so deeply for and about by Jaelle: two of the the three children she sacrificed so much to rescue (Lissa and Liam) and her own child, Aislin, who has captured this heart I had feared long dead, as much as her mother has. While Aislin is not, and will never be, mine, she is one of a bare handful of children for whom I would still give my life to keep safe.
Sometime in the spring, I heard that Amanda had somehow been able to buy a house for her and Storold, a mere few doors down from where I have lived for a decade, an address she knows very well. Evidently, she did not feel the need to come to me herself with that!. The bloody woman will simply not leave me be; I will have to make some new living arrangements.
As the year has progressed. the relationship between Jaelle and I has deepened, but hasn't lost the pleasure of simply enjoying each other's company. Our most intimate moments are often in the most mundane of things: working together to train her new, hot-tempered, stallion; engaging in battle, just the two of us; resting comfortably in each others arms as we talk for hours at a time; some of our more spectacular arguments. *smiles slightly at the last* Our fleeting moments of passion are tender, warm (rather than hot), and often full of wonder, as each of us slowly re-learns how to trust in that again, albeit for disparate reasons. I'm told, by her, that we have become the subject of much rumor and some criticism; dear gods, do people really not have anything better to do than gossip and meddle? *shakes his head, sadly*
Just a few weeks ago, I traveled once again to the Temple of Mist to make an offering for their efforts in restoring Jaelle to life after she fell in that cave near Krandor. I surrendered one of my most precious possessions, a gift from Master Jin Lun Lee. I know my faith in Folian has been shaken these last few years, but I hope He will understand. I remember praying in His Temple, over a year ago: "It shames me to say that I no longer see the world as I once did and fear I may stray from your path a little from time to time. Please guide my steps so that I don't stray so very far as to lose Your grace entirely, as I search to find meaning in the world again and to make myself more balanced."
Life has become too short; from here forward, unless something will affect me or those people/things about which I care deeply, or there is an outcome that can potentially serve my ends, my days of trying to being friend to most have drawn to a close. I will continue to be true to close friends but will learn better how to smile and tell others what they wish to hear, though I'm sure my lowered tolerance for the meddlers and idiots of the world will cause the occasional flash of honest temper to show.
116
« on: January 12, 2009, 01:19:21 pm »
~ New Year's Day, 1443
The past year has seen a sequence of developments in my life, some better and some worse.
My education in the weaving of the Al'Noth has progressed to where the spells at my disposal, and their durations, have finally become of actual value to me in the field. I have also been able to learn how to cast the spells I use, without needing to rely on material components, a welcome change which frees me to experiment more.
The bloody guild still hasn't ponied up with any payment, and my patience grows increasingly thin with this. I find myself facing challenges in the field with inferior equipment, which, absent some regular income, I can ill afford to upgrade; I am between a rock and a hard place: I cannot afford rearm myself in order to collect the resources I need to improve my skills, nor can I afford to simply leave the guild unless and until I get the back pay due me. That coupled with my being shunned by most of my old friends (assumedly at Amanda's hands, given her continued delusion that I have been impugning her reputation), had me growing increasingly embittered as the year went on.
As a result, I came very close to succeeding in my efforts to turning my entire being to stone, but for the efforts of Sophia and Jaelle. Sophia and I became lovers for a time and she revived the passionate side of me I thought long dead. We both understood that our relationship had little to do with heart and in that regard she was safe for me. There would be no heartbreak on either side whenever we finally decide to end the affair.
With Jaelle, it was my mind and conscience that she touched, at least initially. As the year progressed, she and I came to be quite good friends. The more I see of her, the more I begin to appreciate her depth. We seem to truly enjoy each other's company, be it in the field or sitting quietly beside a fire, conversing as ones who have been close for much longer than we have. Somewhere in the spring, in Mai I think, she and I were at Corax Lake after a disastrous outing fighting giants. The subject of Amanda came up and I spit out all the venom I had been holding in for so long. Jaelle brought me up short (as only a good friend can, or will) and made me see that this whole affair surrounding Amanda and Daralith had poisoned me, nearly irrevocably. As summer passed into fall, Jaelle and I began to slowly take steps with each other that transcended those of mere friendship. Each of us, I think, goes into this with the full understanding that it may not last; our only expectations are that we will be honest with each other (about us at least) and that we will travel this road together for only as far as it goes.
In Oclar, Amanda came to me wanting to talk, again. *sighs with remembered annoyance* For the first time, she appeared to show some actual contrition for all that she had put me through. She went on and on about how much she had cared for me and how it was she that had made a mess of things between us. She confessed her poor judgment in listening to the words of others regarding me and what she had thought I had been doing to her. She then turned right around and professed concern for what people have been saying about what I'd supposedly become. She refused to elaborate but seemed insistent that all I needed was the love of a good woman and I could be happy again; she is so naive about so many things. I was firm about how I felt wronged but, taking Jaelle's advice, gave Amanda the absolution for which she had obviously come. I left her with the clear impression that I no longer held any ill feelings about her and that we might very well be able to be friends again, but, in truth, I doubt if I will ever be able to forgive her. The woman used me shamelessly for years to fulfill some illusion and only came clean with me once she had found a new illusion, elsewhere. I truly hope she does get clear of Daralith, but I doubt she ever will, at least not in her soul. I also doubt she will ever have either the sense or heart to realize what her meteoric rise to proficiency in weaving the Al'Noth has cost, both her and me.
Towards the end of Decilar, Amanda made a point of coming to me yet again: this time with the announcement that she and Storold had become romantically involved (hardly a surprise, given his history and hers). I can think of no reason why she would want to tell me other than to try to cause me more unhappiness, despite her protestations that her telling me was, once again, something she was doing for my own good. My dear friend, Ayana (one of my few old friends who has stood by me), was beside herself with anger at this, feeling much as I do as to the real reason for the announcement. I say they deserve each other: Storold gets the compliant flesh golem he's always wanted and Amanda gets a refreshed illusion of security. I think it's a toss up as to who is using whom more!
As the year wound down, Jaelle and I had become a good deal closer, spending a fair amount of time together. She and I saw in the New Year together and, at her suggestion, we came up something that might become an annual ritual for us: We stood on the pier in Leringard and, having bought two pairs of flowers, we each placed one of them in a flask, along with a private note. We then tossed our flasks into the sea in unison, as a small sacrifice to the gods for their aid and guidance in the year now ended. We each kept one the remaining flowers to remind us of the promise of the coming year. The note in my flask read simply "Today"; this was a significant indicator of where my interests have come to lie.
117
« on: January 12, 2009, 01:13:11 pm »
* Once again, in what has come to be a bit of a pattern, Caerwyn retrieves his journal, opens it, and sits to write, on this morning of the first day of 1442: *
My work for the guild continues, and is still unsatisfying, both in terms of helping me move on and in terms of remuneration; I have still not seen a single true coin! Five months ago, Barion Firesteed passed out of this world and the leadership he had provided to the guild for many years is now absent, a vacuum woefully unfilled. Decisions regarding pricing, inventory, and what's needed going forward have fallen to Tegan, though apparently, she has other things occupying her time. I do know two things for fact: 1) in the three and a half years I've been part of this guild, there has not been a single meeting of the membership and 2) the current staffing of the guild stands at a mere five members, with Lance Stargazer and myself as the only ones remotely active; I have a feeling that whenever it does come time to empty the coffers in a payday, Lance and I will be getting our mere one fifth, if that! If things don't improve in the next year or so, I shall be seeking a new situation.
A couple of months ago, Amanda contacted me, yet again, on the subject of my alleged denigration of her and announced her intention to give up her career (I would guess then returning home to her parents, as she had threatened to do once, long before this Daralith nightmare began). Evidently, she doesn't much like being ignored. * rolls his eyes* I sent back a sharp reply, indicating that I had little interest in what she did regarding that, but that she would be mistaken to try and blame her decisions on me!
The past few months have seen a change in me socially. I still cannot fully understand what has happened to make old friends like Iellwen stop speaking to me, but I have managed to find others with whom to travel: notably, Sophia, a Xeenite half-elven mage and, of all people, the sorceress, Jaelle Thornwood. I had occasion to be questing with Jaelle regarding kidnappings in Vehl and got to see a side of her then, that I had not seen previously. She exhibited a caring for these children (one of whom had been brutally slaughtered, another recovered, two others still missing) of which I had not thought her capable, certainly not to the degree that I witnessed. I still find it difficult to trust others, women especially, given all that has transpired in my life over the past half decade or so, but their company is pleasant and I do get to travel again. Jaelle and I are starting to become friends, I think, and Sophia and I... well we are forming a slightly different relationship. Sophia has many of Hedessa's qualities, but is somewhat darker of temperament; still and all, she's good company and an interesting time. These two women are exactly what I need right now, though for very different reasons.
118
« on: January 12, 2009, 01:10:12 pm »
* On New Year's Day of 1441, Caerwyn once again opens his journal to write: *
I joined the Orc Basher's Guild, shortly after Amanda and I had parted ways, and have tried to bury myself in work but it hasn't been cathartic as I'd hoped. As time went on, I too have become colder and more aloof; I've taken to making a conscious effort to turn my heart to stone; it will be a long process but numbness seems pretty appealing of late. Friendship, romance, even companionship hold less attraction for me than they once did; the pain of betrayals is not something I hope to feel again. In fact, the few new faces who have approached me over the last months have been met with polite indifference. I've been taking questing work where I can find it, but beyond that, and outside of a few of my old friends who will still speak to me, I'm finding I care less and less about the fates of others, save how it might advantage me.
The fact that I have yet to see coin-bloody-one from my association with the guild has me more than a little irked. It's been over two years and all I have to show for it is some new swords and a slightly better suit of armour. The worst part of it is that, as a guild member, I am prevented (at least publicly) from selling anything I may make directly, which has left me without any appreciable income, save what I can loot from corpses on the battlefield. I used to be a patient man, but this situation is untenable in the long term.
I've done some collecting (gratis) for Jilseponie Kendall, in anticipation of one day tapping her for tutelage on advanced archery. We met (after many years of not running into one another) on a few quests where we conversed at some length; she seems nice enough and we seem to get on well. She can be sharp, but I've not yet seen her be so with me, absent good reason; I'm thinking being instructed by her will be good for me. In some ways, I suppose I have the collecting I did for her to thank for my having taken up Alchemy, to which I find myself drawn, perhaps even more that working in wood; *smiles a little as he writes* I've taken to it with a vengeance! It dawns on me, that once I've expanded my skills in Alchemy, I might consider branching out into other concoctions; ones that have no market with the guild.
119
« on: January 12, 2009, 01:04:31 pm »
* In Oclar of 1439, Caerwyn retrieves his journal from its hiding place and blows the years of dust off the cover. Opening it slowly and with reluctance, he sits down to write: *
Amanda and I are no more. Back in the spring of 1438, mere months after showering me with expensive gifts, she informed me, matter of factly, that she no longer wished to become my wife. She still professed undying affection, but told me, in flat tones, that she had more serious matters occupying her thoughts which prevented her from being able to maintain a romantic relationship. She then wept her crocodile tears and I left, foolishly offering her a chance to try again, if and when she should find herself free from this nightmare in which she had allowed herself to become embroiled. *sighs as he writes* Serious matters indeed, but it was her, not I, who chose to ignore them for so long, until they became insoluble. I didn't credit it at the time, but I have since come to wonder exactly how much she was trapped by Daralith and how much by her own desire for power and wealth; as time has passed, I think it more the latter than the former. I'm sure that, despite my explicit and repeated warnings, she did not grasp how truly dangerous doing business with Daralith Del'Mar could be; I'm just as sure that, at least in the initial stages, she was blinded by the promise of what she could acquire through him. I also am now convinced that her gifts, bestowed months earlier, were intended as some sort of consolation prize for that which she had already decided, though she had the despicable taste to delay until the pond at Hlint. It seems we had very different definitions of how lovers should treat one another.
Barely a month later she sent me a letter asking if there wasn't some way we could still be friends and continue to travel together! After over five years of loving her, I sent a bitter reply to this idiotic suggestion informing her that the chances of that were slim; I did however (much to my regret now) reiterate my offer to see where we stood should she find herself freed from Daralith's influence, as she claimed she intended to be. We passed on the road a few times after that and I had nothing to say to her; I had lost any desire to even acknowledge her presence!. I then received another letter, this one of curt apology, in which she claimed to understand my feelings and vowed to not contact me again. Would that she had meant it!
I spent the next year or so wandering, largely alone. Old friends and total strangers treated me coldly, as if Amanda's troubles were somehow at my hands; had any known what I went through over the final two years with Amanda, I think they would have seen it differently. The silence imposed on Amanda (and by extension on me) by Daralith has left so much unknown to others regarding how it was that she and I had become so estranged: how I, as her intended, was expected to do something to save her from Daralith, while she lied ever more fluently to impeded my efforts at every turn; how she begged me to not do anything, as she kept insisting that she would 'handle it' or that he would simply 'get tired of her and move on'; how I struggled to keep loving her as she grew colder and more aloof, even as she continued to profess her affection for me; how I too had to become mendacious in my efforts to find a solution for her; how she ended up throwing away our affection for naught, since she is still involved with Daralith.
It was during this period, that Amanda came to me (despite her promise to leave me be), accusing me of spreading rumors about her turning evil and studying necromancy under a dark elf! She also revealed what had actually happened on her first 'anniversary' with Daralith: Evidently, she had attempted to intimidate him into leaving her alone, by telling him that 'someone' had noticed her previous wounds at his hands and had been 'asking questions'; the marked cheek and cut tongue that I (and others) noticed in Wayfare so long ago were the result (it seems my envisionment wasn't very far off). She also confessed that as a result of this 'silly mistake' of hers, she had given up my name to Daralith; I was dumbfounded at her accusation and livid at her stupidity, both of which will now have me looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life!
I have since found out from whence these 'rumors' came. Evidently, Verideth Lightbringer (to whom I had told my troubles shortly after Amanda and I parted) chose to share what I had told him (in confidence) with his twin brother, Aerimor, renowned for his hatred of both dark elves and necromancy. Apparently, it was Aerimor who told Amanda (and gods know who else!) that I had been spreading these rumors, feeling that this would somehow get she and I talking again! I had never used the words 'evil', 'necromancy', or 'study' in reference to Amanda with anyone! Verideth, like a very few others, including Storold Doesscha, knew (from me) that Daralith was the one tormenting Amanda and that I was furious at her having given up my name to him, but the words 'dark elf', or their implication, never passed my lips to anyone else. Verideth was abjectly apologetic to me about his breaking our confidence and swore that both he and Aerimor owed me a debt as a result, suggesting I say as much to Aerimor as well. I followed Verideth's advice, and while Aerimor seemed to agree, the next thing I knew, Amanda was speaking to me yet again about my alleged rumor mongering and telling me that she had made some agreement by which Daralith would 'never come after me'; gods only know what she has chosen to give up to him now, I can think of few things she has left to surrender! . It seems that the world is populated with meddlers, who feel it is in their province to interfere in the lives of others, be it Aerimor , Amanda, or whomever. I suspect that whatever Amanda may have agreed to for my 'safety' will now be to no purpose, as I'm sure these 'rumors' (and their supposed source) have now reached Daralith's long ears. I hope Aerimor's precious sense of balance is worth it to him; he has ended up by having me endangered and virtually friendless. He is also now on my list of those to be repaid someday.
* Caerwyn jams his quill back in the inkpot, slams the journal shut. Blowing out the candle, he heads for the nearest inn and a stiff drink *
120
« on: January 12, 2009, 10:19:22 am »
Greetings Argali,
I would have an interest in at least some of those. Send me a note (//PM) with your asking price.
~ Caerwyn Ahrail'lan
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