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I do hope you have time for a bit of a story..
Along the Road
Five years and no word or sign from her.. Isabelle shook her head as her mare calmly plodded on along the road. The cleric’s hand absently moved to the silver half moon hanger on the thin chain on her neck. She had never stopped wondering what had become of her friend Amber. She had made a promise that they would meet again, but the golden eyed woman had never come back to the temple. Not as much as a single word had reached her. At least, not the last time I was there. It had been a while since she had last visited the place, herself. More than a while, years even. She had been on her way home for a long , long time, but every time she thought she would actually get a chance to go there, something came up. People in need of healing or an adventurer to set things right. She’d had enough of being a hero. It came with too much bloodshed and attention afterwards. She needed some time for herself.
She realized her horse was no longer moving. “We’re not stopping yet, girl, come on.” She gently pressed her legs against the mare’s ribs, but after a few steps the horse stopped again, ears pointed at the road. “What is it, Shim?” The gray mare didn’t usually behave like this. Isabelle followed the horse’s gaze to see what was bothering her. “That looks like a boot. I agree that it’s a bit odd that there’s just one, as they do not usually lie around on the road without their partner or owner, but I assure you, it’s nothing to be afraid of.” Isabelle patted the mare’s neck. “Go on, it won’t eat you.”
Shimmer had other plans. She took two more steps forward and stood unmoving, snorting in the boot’s general direction. With a sigh, the half-elf dismounted. “I will slay this dangerous beast for you then, silly pony.” The mare hesitantly let the half-elf lead her towards the offending footwear, one ear flicking back and forth while the other stayed focussed on the lone boot.
“There, I got it. You’re all safe now.” Isabelle picked the boot up and showed it to Shimmer, who had suddenly lost interest in the thing and stared at the bushes on the side of the road. “What is it girl there’s nothing..”
But there was. A bare foot stuck from underneath a hazelnut bush, lying quite close to another boot that matched the one in the cleric’s hand. “Ah. Of course. It looks like we found who this belongs to.” Letting go of the reins, Isabelle walked around the bush. It looked like the owner of the heavy leather-and-chain footwear had crawled under there to find shelter. He might just have been too tired to set up a proper camp, but if he was wounded or worse, she could not leave him behind.
“Hello, sir,” she asked quietly. “Are you alright?” There was no answer, although the tall man lying face-down on a bed of fallen leaves and earth was breathing. “Hello? I don’t mean to disturb you but.. Oh, that looks like it hurts.” The hand still clutching the hilt of a big and – in her opinion – rather ugly sword was covered with blood. A closer look showed that there was probably a bandage or cloth or even a sleeve of a shirt wrapped around it, but is was so soaked with dried and drying blood that she couldn’t really tell.
When the stranger still did not stir after a few more calls for his attention, Isabelle decided to act. Despite his steady breathing, he seemed to be unconscious rather than asleep. To avoid accidents due to misunderstandings should the man wake up, she first took the sword from the man’s bloody grip. As soon as she had pried one finger loose, his hand relaxed enough to move the weapon away to a safe distance.
Before she did any healing, the cleric took a critical look at her patient. He was dressed in mismatched pieces of armour that covered most, but not all of his skin. The exposed parts of his body were smeared with blood. It was impossible to say if that came from the wounded hand, from other cuts or if it even was his own. He seemed to have been in a fight. Robbed perhaps? That would explain why he didn’t seem to have any possessions other than the sword and his armour. Still, he looked too big and strong to be a likely target for bandits.
Isabelle knelt down next to him and reached out to feel his pulse, but froze when she noticed a horn poking through the man’s unusually bright dark red hair. It took her only a second to find a second horn about a hand’s width away from it. “A tiefling.. Well, that explains a few things about Shim’s reaction,” she muttered quietly. She had been taught a few things about these humans with demonic or devilish blood. It gave her pause. They had a bad name, many of them were supposed to be evil. “But not all.” It was difficult to think of this stranger as evil, but then, unconscious people looked much like they were sleeping and with that, oddly innocent. With a shake of her head, the cleric focussed briefly on the wounded man. She didn’t sense any negative energy coming from him. Just a wave of.. pain. She shuddered.
With practised moves and a few spells and prayers, the cleric examined her patient. The hand was cut up rather badly, there were several other cuts and a rather impressive collection of bruises, but a lump on the back of the tiefling’s head seemed to be the reason for his irresponsive shape. Odd, according to her examination this injury seemed to be older than most of the cuts by several hours. “Whatever made you fight on with that must have been bad. I’ll do my best for you. I hope it’s enough.”
***
A while later, Isabelle watched the man lying under her own blanket from the other side of a small fire she had built for warmth and tea. He had turned to his side only moments ago, but other than that, he hadn’t stirred. The cleric felt a bit drained, even though she hadn’t poured everything she had into healing the tiefling, binding some of the wounds instead of healing them with magic. She told herself that was a matter of safety. Just like keeping the sword close to herself and the fire between them. That he didn’t radiate evil didn’t mean he might not be upset or confused when he woke up and that could lead to unpleasant or dangerous situations. She could climb on her horse and be on her way, of course, but it felt wrong to just leave this man here. Even healed up enough to be able to make it to the next town on his own. As long as he didn’t wake up, he’d be vulnerable and it would be a terrible waste of her efforts if someone came by and slit his throat for that sword and the metal from his armour.
And yes, the previous image was a detail from this scene. Different angle too, obviously ;)
Time to have som quick and simple fum with a beastie for Llola's render a month challenge:
The Moose is Loose
Another entry for the It's Raining Men fun.
Checking the Street - Yerai lookign out of the window of his inn room in a new town he only arrived in yesterday. I thing he likes what he's seeing.
@mori_mann - I don't know if you're already a published author, but if not you should at least consider putting your work on Amazon. Couldn't hurt to try.
Aww, thank you :) I never published anything. I am much better at starting than finishing ;) Although I did finish several co-writing stories with my best friend that we may decide to put up somewhere after editing at some point..
For now, I'll just enjoy myself scribbling bits and pieces. I might actually finisch something one day and move from there.
Your enthusiasm sure paid off, wonderful renders
Thank you! I'm trying. And still enthusiastic ;)
Just testing stuff. Yeah, I'm bad at that.
It looks like Isabelle found someone in need of healing. She's offering a healing potion, or perhaps leaving one for someone. I'm not quite sure.
When a rogue starts pulling the decorations out of your library and insists on having his reflection rendered.. Best just leave it here.
Happy holidays, all!
Holiday Reflections
Happy Holidays to you, too!
Happy Holiday's to you and yours Mori_Mann!
Thank you both! :D
Calion's Favourite Picture
Taken on a holiday to some warm and sunny place, a few days before he and Qua'laen were rushed home for.. let's call it family circumstances. Yeah, taht about covers it.
Made for Llola's render a month challenge over here in the art studio. You can still join if you want to :)
Last entry for the It's Raining Men contest :)
Running To Her
Even before he had finished reading the letter, Khith started to gather a few necessities. The letter said that she would come to the village to visit him. He could send her a message too - she seemed to expect that - but what if it didn't reach her in time? Or not at all. Would she come anyway? He was not going to wait. Not after all this time. He thanked the courier again and hurried to the stables to find a horse.
I Think I'm Beginning To Like You
About half a year after Khith joined the caravan he still ended up in the company of Yerai quite often, both when working and when spending time off. One time, they arrived at a small city in the late afternoon. When the camp was set up, evening started to creep in. Khith and Yerai were assigned second watch and decided to go have something to eat in one of the inns or taverns.
“Either something is bothering you, or you have a very unsettling way of trying to flirt with me,” Yerai said, putting his mug down.
“I’d never-” Khith stopped himself. He wasn’t going to let the rogue distract him and put words in his mouth this time. “Nothing’s bothering me,” he paused meaningfully. “I noticed something.”
The half-elf raised an eyebrow. “You noticed something.”
“Yes.” Khith grinned. “You and Lesita.” When his companion’s eyebrow only crept up a bit more, the elf continued. “You’re in love with each other.”
Yerai snorted a laugh. “What makes you think that.”
Khith took his time sipping his drink before answering. “I saw you go into her tent last night.”
“Yes, and?”
“It wasn’t the first time.” The elf crossed his arms, leaning on the table.
That made the half-elf chuckle. “You’re very perceptive, elf boy. I did go in there, but there’s no love involved.”
“I doubt you were reading her a bedtime story.”
Laughing out loud, Yerai shook his head. “No. We were doing something much more fun. You got that right.” Still ginning widely, he gave the elf an amused look. “Let me get this straight. There’s no love. Get that out of your head.” He leaned forward across the table, looking Khith straight in the eye. “I’m a passionate man, she’s a passionate woman. Why not help each other out and have a little fun?”
The elf tilted his head, closely examining the rogue’s expression. He could not find any hints of a lie (although he had to admit his companion was a master of deception when he wanted to be). Only amusement and a hint of smugness. “I don’t know,” he finally agreed. “Feelings just.. add so much to the experience.”
“They do?” Yerai leaned back to pick up his mug. “I always thought those just complicate things. A lot.” Looking at Khith over the edge of his cup, he smiled slyly. “But I assume you would know the difference.”
“I.. ah..” Khith shook his head, blushing slightly. “I just can’t imagine.. Without..” He moved his drink around, looking at the table.
With a quiet chuckle, the half-elf shook his head. “You know, I thought you were one of those stiff and boring too-good-for-their-own-good guys – and you are. But I’m beginning to like you anyway, elf boy. I really do.”
Raising an eyebrow, Khith returned the grin.
Just a silly conversation between these two. I liek to think this is the start of their friendship, even though they probably couldn't be different :)
In case anybody wondered (probably not, but there you have it anyway ;)) Yes, I'm still alive, and yes, I'm still rendering. Working on a project to have a kind of index for the stories that go with my characters and portraits to go with those. Two more to go. I may spam the images here, but with just the background summaries, for the links all go to the illustrated story bits over at dA. Putting links to the thread posts - where applicable - could work, but I'd never remember to get back here and update, so not going there.
Want to have a peek? It's here: https://www.deviantart.com/morimann/gallery/72135993/story-index
Introduction: Lesita
This lady demanded her picture taken, pretty much since she was mentioned in the story going with I Think I'm Beginning to Like You a few posts before this.
So here she is. Like Khith and Yerai, Lesita is a member of Chev's caravan. She drives one of the wagons and helps selling wares when they stop at a town. As a girl, she dreamed of becoming an adventurer and see the world. However, when her mother was very ill, she made a promise to find a safer career. This is the next best thing. Her mother miraculously managed to recover eventually, but Lesita kept her promise. She's also a good cook.
Very nice! am I correct that she will demand more pics and stories coming? :)
Well, she has this idea of her and Khith talking.. And then Yerai has some.. quite different ideas. Which I'm going to ignore.
LOL I think I may find Yerais ideas.... interesting ^^
You probably will, aye ;)
You're Sweet
Lesita's wagon closed the line today. The large bay gelding pulling it calmly plodded on after the wagon in front of him. Khith dutifully checked if nothing came up from behind. When there was no danger, or in fact anything of note, he walked back to the front intending to speak to Lesita about what Yerai had told him the other day. He took a breath and opened his mouth, but closed it again. Was he supposed to bring this up at all? It seemed like meddling in affairs that were none of his business. On the other hand, he didn't dare to trust that the 'arrangement' between the woman and Yerai was as the rogue had told him and he did not want Lesita to get hurt. She had been kind to him ever since he joined the caravan.
"What is it, Khith? You look troubled."
Startled, the elf looked up to find Lesita looking at him. "Oh it's nothing. I mean, it is, but I don't.." He shook his head. "It's something Yerai said the other day."
The woman tilted her head. "Was he teasing you again? I told him to stop that." She turned a little. "Don't listen to him, Khith. He doesn't mean to hurt you. Its just the way he is."
"It's not that. I think I know him well enough by now." The elf changed his bow to from one hand to the other to relax his fingers, then sighed. "I don't want you to be hurt by him either."
"Why would I be hurt by him?" An amused smile played around her lips.
Khith blushed a little. "I.. well.. I know he.. sleeps with you sometimes. And he said that to him that's.. just for fun."
"I certainly hope so. A bit of fun is all it is for both of us," the woman chuckled. "You're sweet, Khith. Thank you for your concern."
Breathing a small sigh of relief, he nodded. "You're welcome."
aawww Kith is such a sweetheart, and I can practically Taste the amusement coming from Lesita. Lovely image!
Thank you :) Glad her amusement is clear. And yeah, Khith is a cutie.
Ah yes, remaking characters while thinking of images to fit a challenge. Why not combining the two?
It was time to re-create Ellaira as a G8F, so here she is. A pale elf with a dark edge to her personality. And hair.
This originally started as a quick, silly thing made for dA's April Fool's thing. I spent too much time on posing to leave it at that, though. And I kinda liked the idea.
Illani at Work
Amazing renders as always mori_mann
Aww, thank you! I try :)
To New Horizons
It was good to be on the move again. Now that the seasickness had gone, Yerai decided that travelling by ship was rather pleasant.
He had amused himself during the year or so he had spent in Sharwa Bekilah, especially after discovering Deena’s Den of Delights, but his goal had always been to travel further north. Besides, someone with his.. talents, should not stay in one place for too long. It was too easy to outstay his welcome, so to speak. He didn’t think he’d ever go back to the last city before the desert, but it was nice to know he could if he wished too.
Satisfied with this conclusion, he stared out over the water, enjoying the wind in his hair and thinking of what lay waiting behind the horizon.
Simple quicky that came up during a conversation about stubborn and peculiar muses and what might get them to be helpful instead of wanting to work on seven things at once (so none get done) and/or presenting brilliant ideas when you're taking a shower. Or driving. Or in another situation that does not allow for taking notes. And later refusing to talk about it again, because they already told you, should have remembered, I go back to eatin hay/tossing acid/whateverthemuseinquestiondoesintheirsparetime.
Dimi here once stole a muse. And fell in love with her. That makes hima bit.. defensive when such talks occur.
Needless to say, the render needed all day to get to 35%, when I finally gave up. Graininess and all. Turns out I made a typo in the size. Resizing helped it dry up nicely. But don't tell anyone ;)
Not MY Muse!