Adrasteia_fey


<07/09/2014>

 

I begged in every town and village I could reach as I wandered all those years.  Usually begging was enough.  Occasionally a back alley exchange was necessary for a night's meal or a warm place to sleep on a cold, cruel night, but that isn't a tale for these pages.  What is important to note is that I traveled a circuit of all the towns and villages in the region, never staying more than a day or two in any one location if weather permitted, only earning enough to get me to the next.

 

In those travels I came to recognize those who frequently showed pity on me or who would look to take advantage of me, and separate the regular townsfolk from other travelers like myself.  Volgash, the dog who was a man as I previously divulged, had for years given me aid by coin or meal when our paths intersected, but he was not the only traveler I noticed a pattern with.

 

It took me awhile to catch on, but while most Elves completely ignored the poor blind girl, one in particular showed up often enough to peak my interest.  She didn't smell like the other Elves, nor did her steps sound like theirs.  She looked like them, mind, but in keeping up the blind act I'd never had a chance to truly study her face.  Her lavender and "something" scent preceded her on the breeze that only seemed to interact with me.  Once I learned to associate it with her, it would alert me to her presence in the town before she was close enough for me to see out of the corner of my eye, through the haze that is my sight.  I never lifted my head to follow her though, as that would give away that my blindness was not complete, and I had gotten very good at my pseudo-act.  At least, I don't recall ever doing so....

 

She wasn't in every town I hit and after a brief struggle with paranoia I decided she wasn't following me per se - our paths simply crossed.  Frequently enough to take notice.

 

Now and then, when she was not around, that "something" scent that always accompanied the lavender would waft past my nose, confusing me.  I was unable to place it at the time, and without the lavender I had no frame of reference for what might be causing it.  All I knew was that when I smelled that "something" smell it would soon be followed by a sense of being watched.  Normally I slept on a bench, outside a tavern, in the woods or on the road.  On those nights however, I would try to find a nice family, a stable, or if necessary a man, to take me in for the night so that I would not have to spend it under the feeling of that watchful gaze.  It wouldn't be until later that I understood the association of that "something" smell with the Elf-like woman and the feeling of being watched.  It wouldn't be until then that I understood, and no longer sought cover from it.

 

Note: More to come on this as Shar's journal develops, so they may proceed in tandem and without discrepancy.

 

GM Notes - I like it.  A nice tie in to the other players as well as John's write ups.  It's also making me think that Scent should be something your character can gain or has, given the Air Elemental side.  Nice!  750 xp

 

<07/15/2014>

 

As time went on I grew accustomed to the feeling of being watched by that "other" scent.  I had finally decided that the lavender elf, who was not an elf, had laid a spell or something of the sort to keep tabs on me when she was not around.  While I remained wary, I did not take offense.  She had never been anything but kind to me, and the sensations and emotions I experienced around her were not ones of warning or malice.  I decided I liked her, after a fashion.

 

Her mannerisms changed as time pushed forward, and I could tell she was on to me and my ruse of being completely blind.  When she stooped down one day and whispered she had food to share, she made a point of opening her cloak so I could see the steaming meat pie she'd stashed away in the folds of the fabric.  She doubtless could see the furrowed brow I was unable to keep at bay as I realized she knew.   I met that confirmation with mixed feelings.  She knew my secret, yet she'd been kind.  She was apparently willing to share a meal, but asked to do so out in the woods, away from the townsfolk.  What would she want, in return?

 

It didn't matter.  She'd obviously planned well, as I hadn't eaten since the prior morning, and even then it was slop from the local tavern, left over in the cauldron from the night prior to that.  I didn't want to go back to that tavern keeper.  He smelled sour in places I did not care to smell again.   I was hungry.  Besides, she likely couldn't do anything to me that various men hadn't done already, and so I waited an hour - just in case we were being watched, and then made my way out of town and into the woods.

 

I took my time, moving quietly as my personal breeze allowed me to, my feet barely touching the undergrowth along the forest floor.  I found her quickly - that lavender and otherly scent giving her position away long before I could see her.  I moved around her campsite for a good quarter hour, taking my time checking for traps, an ambush - something out of the ordinary.  When I was satisfied she was there alone and it seemed she was about to give up on me, I let my gentle breeze rustle the leaves at my feet to announce my arrival, and stepped into the clearing where she'd made her fire for the night.

 

We talked while I ate.  Shar was her name, and she apparently had eaten enough to be comfortable prior to our meeting, and so I savored the entire pie myself.  It turns out she had suspected I was not blind for some time, but had been unaware as to the extent of my severely limited vision.  Upon finding this out, she nodded, understanding how effortless it then was for me to convince the world I was completely without sight.  She let me know that she had set pixies to watch over me.  I figured she meant "spy", rather than something more benevolent, but simply nodded and let her continue.  I told her I knew she wasn't an elf, and wondered why she pretended to be one.  Convenience sake, for the most part, it turned out.  Her kind weren't well known in these parts, but elves were accepted as a part of the landscape, if not on an even keel with humans.  She did not shy away from me with the knowledge that I was an air elemental, and that elevated her standing with me immediately.

 

After our conversation, and the sense of trust that I was letting build despite my preconceptions about relationships, I decided to introduce her to Volgash.  I would let his simple, good natured ability to sense trustworthiness be the deciding factor in allowing Shar into my life, and told her where to meet me the following night.  

 

She had promised to keep my secrets, and so I would keep hers.  She would pretend I was blind, and I would pretend she was an elf.  The rest - as they say, is history.

 

Thus concludes the story of my meeting an elf who was not an elf.

 

GM Notes - Good conclusion!  I like it.  1050 xp

 

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