Giving up... (anyone)

[Kelwindre Shadowheart]

Kelwindre walked into the tavern, content that Avaren was far too large for her. An hour of wandering had led her everywhere, from the residential areas of the city to the beautiful gardens, but no where had provided a clothing store, the one place she desperately needed to find to blend into the very regal-looking population.

She walked to a table in a shadowy corner and took a seat. The barkeep soon came by, asking what she wanted. "Just a drink and some food," was her response, adding, "preferably nothing too expensive," at the end of it. The barkeep walked away, and within moments brought her a tankard of ale before rushing off to behind the tavern's bar, no doubt hunting down some food. Kelwindre just looked at the tankard, letting her finger slowly circle around the brim of the mug before finally taking a drink of the strong ale.

"Should have never left," she said to herself, still looking at the tankard. She felt alone and lost in the city, and together the feeling wasn't at all good. She sighed and took another drink, trying to tell herself that it would end up fine, and she'd figure out her way here, but despite her best efforts, she couldn't help but doubt that feeling.

[Kaldaka/Traveller]

Kaldaka rarely came into the bar, but tonight she felt like it. You never know where you'll find a client, she reminded herself as she slipped in. Going up to the bar, she ordered a drink and the bar-keeper got it. She smiled slightly at the askance way he looked at her and shook her head slightly, wrapping her hands firmly around the pottery mug of mulled wine as she strolled over to a table in the shadows. Approaching the girl (Kelwindre) that sat there, she said in her low tones, "Would you mind if I sat there?"

[Kelwindre Shadowheart]

Kelwindre looked up from her tankard, quickly examining the person in front of her. She seemed innocent enough...well, actually, far from it, Kelwindre couldn't help but feel this stranger was actually involved in some...darker...activities, but Kelwindre still felt that she was safe; it wasn't like she had much to steal, short of the staff she had stolen earlier in the day, which would catch only a few coin at best.

"Take a seat," Kelwindre said, trying to make her voice sound confident enough to hide any feelings of despair that may have been with her. She took another drink from her tankard, wondering where the barkeep was with her food before looking at the the stranger in front of her. "Pardon any disrespect," Kelwindre said, not sure whether or not the stranger was some kind of aristocratic elite or just some person, "but may I ask your name?"

[Kaldaka/Traveller]

Kaldaka slid into the seat and took a sip of her wine before setting it down. Her eyebrows and smile quirked, and she said musingly, "Well, I don't....." looking at the woman again, she said more firmly, "Call me Traveller. Most people do." Her smile twisted slightly and then faded out as she coolly assessed the woman in front of her. "You don't look too happy," she said calmly. "May I know why? And may I know your name?" Taking another sip of her drink, she wondered why she felt so interested in this person. It was as if for some reason she was supposed to do something about it.

[Kelwindre Shadowheart]

"It's nothing, really," Kelwindre said, before she could form a more concrete denial of her problems. "My name's Kelwindre Shadowheart," she introduced herself, ever so quietly. As familiar as her name was to her ears, she was afraid it'd sound foreign to the residents here. "My problem, well..." her voice drifted off as she pondered the consequences of being honest. "The city's huge," she finally said, deciding on a half-truth to explain her problem. "I need to find a clothing shop," she said timidly, tugging at the crude looking green shirt she wore, nothing like the dress of the people she saw in the city.

Of course, the clothing shop was the major physical problem she had, but her true problem was she felt completely bewildered by the city and its inhabitants, and moreso than that, it seemed the people were going out of their way to make her feel uneasy and unwelcome, at least the couple of people on the street that she had talked to had. The Traveller seemed different, sure, but Kelwindre was sure that was a fluke, that she was somehow the exception to the rule...

[Kaldaka/Traveller]

Kaldaka listened as she sipped her wine, her face calm and expressionless. "It is a big city," she said with a shrug, "But it doesn't take too long to find your way along. Let's see..." she mused, half to herself. "A clothing shop?" Wrinkling her brow, she thought about it for a bit. "Well, I know there's one around her somewhere. Oh yes! Here, I'll take you to it after we've had some food." Suddenly she raised her voice and called out, "Oy! Innkeeper!" The man bustled up to them and said, "Yes? What do you want?" as he wiped his hands on his apron. "Hmm... some beef stew for me if you please, and a refill of my wine.. what do you want Kelwindre?" she said pleasantly, turning to the girl.

[Kelwindre Shadowheart]

Kelwindre smiled slightly, happy to find someone who wasn't so unwelcoming as the other people she had met. "Anything's fine," she told the man politely, and rather shyly. She then turned to the Traveller. "So, what is it that you do here?" she asked. "I mean, if you don't mind answering, I'll understand if you don't want to."

[Alezand Jozlyn, Allaine Knight]

walking over, Alezand appeared a short time later with the stew, wine, ale, and a huge bowl of chowder. "Here you are, it's on me. Pardon me, but I overheard that you needed to find a clothing shop, and perhaps a guide." Alezand inquired, smiling gently. "Oh, sorry, I seem to have lost my manners. I am Alezand Jozlyn, at your service. And you are?"

[Kelwindre Shadowheart]

Kelwindre looked up from the table as a man approached, and although looks could always be decieving, the man seemed quite hospitable and kind, even from afar. Kelwindre couldn't quite figure out why, maybe it was the warm smile or the way he walked that looked relaxed and yet confident, but she felt that he wasn't going to be rude.

And when he arrived and spoke, placing the food on the table, her assumptions were correct. Kelwindre smiled shyly as he began, saying the course before them was on him, and her smile became even more shy, and even a little embarassed, when he offered his assistance. She was almost caught off guard when he asked her name, her mind already going through the possibility that the people in the town may very well be kind and considerate, and those she had met earlier were the exception to the rule, not the kind people she was in the company of now.

"Oh, um, Kelwindre," she said quietly as she nodded politely. She figured she should still bow, or make some semblance of a bow, to maintain the utmost respect: it was easier to honor someone too much than to get someone angry by honoring them too little. "Kelwindre Shadowheart," she added, giving her full name, though again very shyly, for fear of being shunned or otherwise marked as an outsider, before she had a chance to prove herself. Still, for some reason, she felt that neither the Traveller nor this Alezand would hold that against her any more than they'd hold her red hair against her. "Thank you for your generosity, Sir Jozlyn," she said, again making sure her voice and physical mannerisms held great respect.

"Um...I'd say your guess was pretty much correct, that is a pretty good explanation of my plight," she said quietly after taking a sip of ale, her hushed voice quickly summing up her experience in the city so far into one line for fear of boring the two with unneeded details. After all, how much could they really want to hear? The fact that the two seemed older, more experienced, more understanding also kept Kelwindre quiet and reserved, for reasons she couldn't explain, but could best be explained as almost intimidation, but not quite.

[Kaldaka/Traveller]

A slight shadow passed her face, but it cleared when Alezand came up to their table. She had seen him around a few times, and he seemed fairly nice. Relaxing, she leaned back in her chair and let them talk for a little bit as she ate. As they were done talking, she put down her spoon and shoved aside her bowl of stew. "I'm asumming you don't have a place to stay, is that correct?" she said to Kelwindre. "If so, I would be happy to have you at my house. I'll take you there after we get some clothes if you accept that offer. What do I do around here?" Again her face shadowwed for a moment. "Well, I'm in training," she said with a shrug.

[Kelwindre Shadowheart]

Kelwindre smiled politely again, honored at the two's kindness. "That would be wonderful," she told the traveller, "but I shan't be an inconvienence more than a day or two." She told herself that would be the case, she'd either find a place for herself to live, or she'd live someplace nearby the city; living and sleeping in the wilderness was nothing new to her, so it wouldn't be hard. "Thank you," she added, thinking herself lucky to have found two such kind souls. She took a sip of her ale and a bite of her meal, finally starting to feel a little more comfortable, although still feeling very shy, and moreso than that, still feeling like an outsider to it all.

But, Kelwindre thought to herself, at this pace, I won't be an outsider too much longer; or at least, I won't seem like one.

[Kaldaka/Traveller]

Kaldaka smiled as she finished her beef stew and pushed away the bowl again as she picked up her wine and took a sip. Putting down the cup of wine, she said, "Oh, that's all right. I really don't care about that. It can get fairly lonely feeling at my house sometimes." Leaning back in her chair, she continued, "I'm sure you'll enjoy it, and you can stay as long as you want. You can at least make it your base for finding a house or an apartment."

[Kelwindre Shadowheart]

Kelwindre nodded and took a sip of the ale, definite in her assumption that the ale in this tavern was much better than the ale she had managed to get in her village; it was much more of a commodity in the village, and thusly rarely ever "wasted" on the likes of a girl anyway.

"Sounds like a plan," she said. She looked around at the taverngoers and smiled, happy to think that she'd look like one of the adventurers soon. Well, maybe not too soon...she doubted she had much more than she'd need to get set up: armor and weapons of her own were probably a ways (and a few jobs) off. But someday, she reassured herself, she'd look like one of these adventurers. She took another sip of her drink and smiled at the two with her. "Enough business for now," she told them with the happiest smile she had since she had entered the city, "Let's talk about something else...say, something fun, like training, or maybe some epic battle you've been involved in." She laughed a little at her excitement, feeling confident that she'd be able to make it in the town. "Actually...maybe we should start with the basics of this city first." She looked down at the table again, slightly blushing from what she gathered were simple questions. Her being in the village had made her outside the loop as to the happenings in the city, though, and thus she had a lot of catching up to do, no matter how embarassing the questions were.

In short, she knew she had to ask, her future probably depended on this knowledge. "Things like...who's in charge? Who are the people who hold the cards, who have the influence? Or is it just a matter of following the gold?"

[Kaldaka/Traveller]

Kaldaka leaned back in her chair. "Let's see. Well, King Ricard Pendergast is leader of our people." Her eyes twinkled. "Let's see.... are you going to be a mage or a warrior or an.... assassin? Because I can tell you where to go whichever one of those you want to trian for. It's not that expensive, if that's what you're worrying about."

[Kelwindre Shadowheart]

Kelwindre listened patiently and nodded. "Looking at the city, the King must be good," she said, more to herself than anyone. "Anyway, I'm planning on wielding a blade, I didn't get my family's adeptness with magic, I can just handle it a little bit..." She raised her hand, and focusing on most likely the easiest spell ever invented, muttered the word candeo, and snapped her fingers, producing a spark at her fingertips.

"Anyway," she said, thinking she should practice the little magic she did know sometime, "I'm not sure what I actually want to do towards that end." She sighed a little and sunk in her chair. "Everyone I ever knew always told me to be some kind of noble paladin, leading people, helping the innocent, and all that, but I don't know if I have the strength or the charisma to be one of them." She smiled a little, looking at her fingers. "I could be an assassin probably, knowing my speed and dexterity, and my...experience with sneaking around, but...I don't think my parents would be proud."

She stopped for a second, it had been a while since she had thought about her parents, her real parents, slaughtered ten years ago. She quickly shook off the memory. "Archery, spears, I've really handled all of them, and I like most of them, well...assuming I can ever get them in my size." She smirked a little, it was no small feat for Kelwindre, who was shorter than the average person, to handle spears and bows made for people a good foot taller than her. She looked up at the traveller. "What is your specialty? What are you training to be?"