#These are clearly smarter creatures. They know how to use Guns and shit. What does this mean sociologically ? They Will Not tell us | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

carlycchapman24 · 4 years ago

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The Adventures of Celine Markus-Chapter 2

Celine woke up the next day, weirdly feeling stronger than the day before, but she shrugged it off, “Guess that’s what a good night’s rest feels like,” she said to herself and forced herself to climb out of bed. She finally got a chance to look around and see what her room was like, there was a tall, mahogany bookcase by her bedroom door and a plush, dark red chair next to it, with a small table on the opposite side of the chair. Her bed was a simple four-poster bed, but the covers were a purple and red pattern that reminded her of a mandala. Against the left wall, there was what looked like an early iteration of a vanity, which surprised her. There were also windows on either side of the bed with what looked like red silk curtains. She opened them and was greeted with a view of the sunrise over the docks. She smiled and pulled out her phone from her bag, mentally begging that it still works and isn’t dead. Thankfully it was still working, for the most part, and she took a picture of the sunrise. Finally, she decided to change out of her now wrinkled dress from home and into the clothes Captain Iseut gave her. The shirt was a little uncomfortable, since it was made of leather, but everything else seemed fine. After fixing her hair in the mirror on her vanity, she headed down to the main dining area, keeping the bookcase in mind, planning to browse it later. “Hey Mr Longfoot,” she greeted the Innkeeper. “Morning Miss Markus, what can I get you this fine morning?” The Halfling asked cheerfully. “Just some eggs and toast. Do you have coffee?” Celine responded, not expecting much just based on how primitive technology was here if they were so impressed by her phone yesterday. “Sure thing, one gold please,” Mr Longfoot answered. “Not a problem, is Singer Boy still sleeping?” Celine asked. Mr Longfoot laughs, “Is that what you’re calling him now? You know his name.” “Singer boy is fitting though, isn’t it?” Celine answers with a laugh. “You’re not wrong, I think he’s coming down now actually.” The Innkeeper answers and Celine turns around to see that he’s telling the truth. Stumbling down the stairs, his hair messy and still in his pajamas, is Arlech. Celine rolls her eyes and looks to Mr Longfoot who’s bringing out her coffee and breakfast, “Does he always do that? He acts like he owns the place.” “He just makes himself at home wherever he goes, I don’t know if he even has a home to go back to or if he’s always just traveling. If you two do end up traveling together, you’re going to have to get used to that.” “Oh yeah, that’ll go well,” Celine says sarcastically and begins eating.

Arlech plops down next to Celine at the bar and says, “Morning, already dressed and ready to go I see.” “And I see that you aren’t.” Celine responds sarcastically. “I see someone has come out of her shell a bit, considering you got here less than 24 hours ago.” Arlech says with a laugh. He motions Mr Longfoot over, “This morning’s special, if you’d be so kind, good sir.” “On it,” the Halfling answers and then calls out, “Edrich, morning special for Arlech if you would.” Behind the bar, Edrich sighs, sets the book he was reading down, and says begrudgingly, “On it sir.” As Edrich goes into the back, a group of people barge into the Inn and a sleazy, slimy sounding voice calls, “Where can an honest group of sailors get something to drink?” Celine cringed at the sound of the voice and as she looked over the motley crew, she immediately felt like they were sketchy. She tries to sneakily pull out her spellbook, planning to cast a spell called ‘Mage Armor’ on herself, just in case. Unfortunately to no avail, as a human-looking creature with long ears and dirty blonde hair notices and says, walking over, “And what do you think you’re doing, eh? You’re not gonna pull some fancy shit are ya?” Arlech, noticing the uncomfortable look on Celine’s face and the woman walking towards them, tries to secretly pull his dagger out in case things go bad. The blonde woman speaks, catching Arlech as well, “Now, now, no need for such violence, we’re merely just here for a drink.” “And why should we believe you?” Celine answers with venom in her voice, “You barge in here, demanding to have a drink, and don’t try and say you ‘asked,’ I could tell just by the voice of your buddy over there that you all would have taken something whether we wanted you to or not, and then act like you aren’t sketchy as hell and weren’t planning on fighting.” “What in the Nine Hells do you think you’re doing Celine, they’re pirates, they could tear you in half!” Arlech whispers. The dirty blonde looked on in surprise at the bright red head’s audacity at first and then burst out laughing, “Either you’re stupid or you have a death wish, girl. You don’t want to fuck with Captain Barks’ Crew and you most certainly don’t want to fuck with me.” “Try me,” Celine said darkly. “Gladly,” answers the woman, pulling out her pistol. She takes a shot at Celine and Celine falls down immediately, but forces herself back up and says with a smile, “A gun huh? That’s not quite fair, now is it, Blondie?” The woman blows the smoke away from her pistol and smirks, “Who said I fight fair?” “Good point,” Celine answers and fires off a spell called ‘Fire Bolt,’ only to still be unable to control her magic and hit the wall, causing the blonde woman to laugh. “I have to help her out, she’s going to get herself killed like an idiot.” Arlech says to Mr Longfoot, who answers, “No, no, let her learn a lesson here. She needs to learn how to pick her battles wisely.” Arlech sighed, “Fine.” After laughing, the blonde begins to walk off and say, “You’re not worth it, you don’t put up enough of a fight for me, you’re too weak.” This pissed Celine off and she growled, firing off a new spell she prepared that morning called ‘Magic Missile,’ two of which hit the woman while one broke the front window. Shocked, the blonde woman turned back around and said, “Maybe you’re worth it after all,” and pulled a giant sword off of her back. “Oh good, you’re learning.” Celine answered. The woman grins and charges at Celine, taking a swing at her with the sword, knocking Celine clean off of her feet, as her lifeless body falls to the ground. The blonde woman stashes the sword back into its sheath and grins, “Well, looks like I win. Now, about those drinks?” “Of course ma’am,” Mr Longfoot said, setting the crew at a table and bringing them all ale. Arlech sighed in annoyance and went over to Celine on the floor, whispering, “What an idiot,” before healing her. Celine sat up with a start, “Where is that blonde bitch, let me at her! I’m not finished with her!” “Yes, you are. Now how about you, oh, I don’t know, go be

a good little girl and stay doing, whatever it is you were doing.” The blonde calls across the way, causing her Captain and crew to burst into laughter. “Why you little-'' Celine starts and tries to run over to their table, only to be stopped by Arlech. “Hey, hey,” he said, “no, you already almost got killed once today.” “Listen to your little boyfriend, he’s the smarter one of you two.” The woman says, taking a drink of her ale. “He’s not-'' Celine starts, but is cut off by the woman, “Whatever you say.” Celine growls at the woman and shoves past Arlech, storming up to her room.

As Celine gets up into her room, she browses through the bookcase by her door to try and see if she can find a book to read. She pulls out a book titled, ‘Spells Every Beginner Wizard Should Know’ and begins reading. She writes down a couple of spells in her spellbook that sound interesting to her, one called ‘Burning Hands’ and another called ‘Ray of Sickness,’ and grins, “Perfect” she says to herself, then decides to take a nap. A few hours later, she wakes up and hears a knock on her door, “What do you want?” she asks. “It’s Arlech, may I come in?” Comes the Tiefling’s voice. “Go away, Singer Boy, I don’t want to talk to you,” Celine responds. “Oh, is that what you’re calling me now?” he says with a laugh and continues, “What if I told you I had food?” Celine’s stomach growled and it finally dawned on her how hungry she was, since she didn’t get to finish her breakfast because she just had to pick a fight with someone. She felt ashamed of herself and sighed, “Fine, come in.” The Tiefling walks in with a massive plate of food consisting of roast beef, vegetables, and mashed potatoes with gravy. The smell filled her nostrils and her stomach growled even louder. Arlech laughs, “Hungry are we?” “Guess so,” she looks at her phone and sees that it’s 1:45 pm, “Oh shit, I didn’t realize how long I had napped. Did those assholes leave?” “Unfortunately, no, they got rooms here. Apparently, their ship needs to be repaired and it’ll take a few days to fix it.” He says, setting the plate on the table by the chair. “Oh lovely,” Celine answered sarcastically. “Yeah, well, that’s life,” he sighs, then pauses for a moment, “I hope you know that what you did was stupid and reckless.” Celine puts her head in her hands and says, “Yeah, yeah, I already feel like a dumbass, no need to rub it in.” “What’s a dumbass?” Arlech asks, tilting his head. “Dammit, I need to get used to this new place,” she says to herself, then says to Arlech, “it means idiot pretty much. It’s just a more vulgar way of saying it.” “I see, well then yes, you were a dumbass. Did I use it right?” The man questions, “Yes, yes, now can we drop it? I learned my lesson, don’t go picking fights with random people here, I might get killed.” She replied with a frustrated tone. “Sorry, do you want me to leave so you can eat?” Arlech asks. Celine thinks for a moment and walks over to grab her plate, when she turns around she says, “You know what? No. Because if it’s true that you’re as well traveled as you and Mr Longfoot claim you are, since clearly, I need to learn more about this place, then who better to tell me about this place than you?” “I can tell you about more than that,” he says, winking, and Celine smacks him on the back of the head, “Stop it,” she says and then invites him to sit on the floor with her. “You’re no fun,” he says jokingly and sits in front of her. “Am I ‘no fun’ or are you just creepy?” She replies snarkily. “Touché,” he replies and then he begins to tell her what all he knows about Adamantia.

Several hours and another meal later, Arlech finishes telling Celine everything he knows, and she leans back against her bed to take it all in. “Well, alrighty then.” She says, still not fully able to process what she just heard. “It’s quite a lot, yes. Anyway, I’ll take these plates down and get ready for tonight’s show, are you going to watch or are you going to sit up here and let it all sink in?” Arlech asks, picking up the plates. “The latter I think, enjoy your show, you seem to like performing. Have a fun night.” Celine responds. “Well, if you insist, sleep well.” Answers the Tiefling with a smile, and then he heads downstairs. Celine gets up off of the floor, stretches, and then realizes that she hasn’t cleaned herself up in a few days. She heads downstairs and sits at the bar, motioning Mr Longfoot to come over, “Yes, what is it?” He asks. “Is there any place I can clean myself up a bit? I just realized how long it’s been since I washed up.” “There’s a hot spring out the back if you’d like to go there. There’s also a bathhouse two doors down if you want to get out of here for a bit, but you’ll miss Arlech’s show. It’s different every night.” He explains. “I already told him that I probably wouldn’t want to watch tonight. There’s a lot I have to process since he told me about this world and I’d like to have time to myself to do that.” She explains. “Well, all right then, enjoy your night Miss Markus. Maybe you can go check out the Solarstriders tomorrow or check the post-board to see if some of the other people around here need help.” The Halfling replies with a smile. “I plan on it, have a good night and enjoy the show, sir.” She responds and heads out.

When she gets to the bathhouse, she walks up to the person at the desk, a creature that was super small, but still some type of humanoid. The figure was a female with brown hair in a style that reminded her of Tracy Turnblad from ‘Hairspray,’ and she was reading some sort of book. She hesitantly tapped on the counter and the figure looked up, “Hello dear, how may I help you?” “Um, don’t take this the wrong way, I’m not from around here and people like you don’t really live where I come from, but what are you?” She asked, cringing at her own words. “I’m what’s called a Gnome, dear, and don’t worry, Gnomes aren’t the most common in these parts either. My name is Medda Fibavam, and you?” The Gnome asked. “Celine Markus, nice to meet you,” she says and pauses for a moment, “May I use your facilities?” “Of course, that will be two silver.” Medda answers. “I only have gold, is that okay?” Celine responds. “Gold is always welcome, dear. Now, you’ll head through this hallway and go on the side that says ‘Girls,’ all right?” Answers the woman, who hands her a towel, a key and a lock, and gives her 8 silver back. “Yes, thank you, ma’am, I appreciate it,” Celine responds, then rushes into the hall. “No running!” Comes the woman’s voice, who then says to herself, “Foreigners, Pelor help me!” Upon entering the ‘Girls’ side, Celine sees a room with closets against the walls, all open, “I guess no one’s here, good,” she says and stashes her Bag of Holding, her dagger, and her spellbook in one and locks it. Then she undresses and heads out the doors on the opposite side of the room, she unwraps the towel, and a cold sensation runs down her entire body in the evening air. She shivers, folds her clothes, and carefully dips a toe in the water, then quickly takes it out, “Jesus fuck that’s hot,” she swears, then she takes a deep breath and then fully steps in, both cringing and enjoying the heat from the bath. She took the time to think about everything that happened in the last twenty-four hours and what Arlech had told her this evening, after a moment she began to cry, realizing how truly far from home she was at this moment in time. She had her phone, yes, but what good is a phone when you can’t call or text a loved one and let them know what’s going on and that you’re safe. “My parents must be worried sick,” she sobs. Just then, a voice she recognizes enters her mind, “A little homesick I see? I know of a spell, but I don’t think you can learn it yet,” it was the Royal Wizard Maverick. Celine’s sadness becomes anger as she hears his voice, “You, you bastard, you did this, you brought me here! Where are you? I’ll kill you with my bare hands!” “I’m nowhere near you dear, and believe me, you wouldn’t be able to kill me even if you tried.” The old man responds with a chuckle. “Then burn in one of the Nine Hells,” Celine answers, an icy tone to her voice. “Ah, you’ve been learning, good, you’ll need that information. Though I don’t suppose someone as weak and unskilled as you will go there anytime soon,” He says snidely. A look of horror appears on her face, and when she doesn’t answer, Maverick says, “Oh yes, I saw that pathetic little fight of yours with that pirate, from a distance of course.” “How?” Celine asks and then immediately regrets it when he answers, “That spell I spoke of? I can use that to find you with ease,” a moment of silence and then, “When I said I’d keep an eye on you, I meant it, quite literally.” Celine shuddered in disgust but didn’t answer the man. She waited a moment, just in case she heard his voice again, and when nothing happened she sighed in relief and finished her bath and headed back to The Clydesdale Inn, needing to be let back in by Mr Longfoot, who had closed up after the performance, and headed to bed for an unsettled rest.

The next morning, Celine woke up early but stayed in bed until a knock was heard on her door. “Hello, Celine, are you all right?” Comes Arlech’s voice. “Go away,” Celine says, pulling the blanket over her head. “Oh, okay, I can’t walk downstairs in my pajamas, but you can stay in yours all day.” Arlech answers sarcastically. “Yep,” Celine answers, pulling the blankets even tighter in towards her body. She hears a sigh and feet storming off, thinking she was fine, she began sobbing like the night before. She cried herself to sleep and was woken up by another knock that came from the door, “Miss Markus, Miss Markus?” came the voice, Mr Longfoot. Celine forced herself to climb out of bed, lazily pulling her pants on, but not bothering to put a shirt on over her bra. She approached the door and tore it open, “Yes?” She said through gritted teeth, ignoring the look of shock and mild fear on Mr Longfoot’s face. “You know what, never mind, sorry to bother you, I didn’t realize-“ He said, averting his eyes. Celine sighed, “Did Arlech put you up to this?” “Y-Yes,” The Halfling said, flushing in embarrassment at seeing her without her shirt. “If he wants to bother me again, tell him to come up here himself,” Celine responded in frustration. “Right, yes, sorry to bother you, again.” Mr Longfoot answered and ran off. Celine slammed the door shut and plopped onto the chair next to her bookcase, rubbing her eyes and face in irritation. Moments later, Arlech swings the door open to see Celine sitting in the chair, his face becoming a darker red when he realizes she has no shirt on, “First of all, it’s late afternoon, you’ve been in here half the day. Second of all, do people, where you’re from, often, sit around without their shirts on?” Celine laughed bitterly, “You have no idea. Some walk around their homes completely naked, the amount of times I’ve glanced through the windows and seen a neighbor’s naked body is ridiculous.” “I don’t believe you, and not that I’m complaining, but can you put one on please?” He said, tearing his eyes away from the redhead. “Fine, don’t believe me, but what if I don’t want to put a shirt on? The important parts are covered, unless shoulders, collar bones, and stomachs distract you too much.” She answered sharply. Arlech sighed, “Please?” Celine grumbled, “Fine,” and roughly threw the shirt on from the Captain, “There, happy?” “Much better.” Arlech said with a sigh of relief. “Now, what do you want?” Celine said, crossing her arms. “We were going to check the post-board today, were we not?” The man said, raising an eyebrow. Her face went from angry to realization, “Oh shit, I forgot. I’m sorry!” “Did you have a rough night?” Arlech asks gently. “I don’t want to talk about it, come on, let’s go,” Celine says quickly, rushing to get her shoes on and grab her bag and spellbook. As she tries to walk out of the room, he stops her, “Hold on, no, what happened?” “I said, I don’t want to talk about it!” She answers back harshly. “All right, all right, have it your way.” He says, stepping aside to let her walk out. The two head to the post-board and as they get there, the Elf Pirate shows up at the exact same time, “And what do you two think you’re doing here?” Celine clenches her jaw, “We were looking for some jobs to take.” “You?” the Elf scoffs, “You couldn’t beat me in a bar fight and you think you can fight anything more than a simple spider? Gods have mercy.” “You’re a cunt, you know that, right?” Celine says, trying to hold in her anger. “And you don’t know what respect is,” The Elf shot back. “Why should I respect you?! You’re a fucking pirate, and pirates certainly don’t know what respect is!” Celine shouted. “I’m not saying you should respect pirates, I’m saying you should respect your superiors, and as I’m superior to you when it comes to fighting, well.” She said, glancing at her nails. “Will you two knock it off?!” Arlech shouted, which surprised both women, “There’s only one way to solve this, and that’s all three of us going to the Solarstriders and joining them, together,” the two women started

arguing with him and he said, “Now,” “Absolutely not, I’d rather die than work with this cunt!” Celine shouted and at the same time the Elf says, “As if I’d work with this weakling!” “Fine, if there’s no convincing you two,” Arlech says, “I’ll just drag you there.” He just barely manages to get ahold of Celine, but the Elf is too quick and gets out of the way, saying, “No way in the Nine Hells am I going with you and Weakling here. I’d rather go get a drink.” This gives Arlech an idea, “If you go with us, I’ll buy drinks for you and your entire crew if we get in.” The Elf smirks, “Now that sounds like a good deal, definitely enough to repay me for dealing with Weakling over there.” Celine sighed, “I have a name you know.” Arlech snickers, “Now that sounds familiar.” “Shut up.” Celine responds and she begrudgingly walks to the Guild with the other two.

They finally arrive, and when they walk in, they’re greeted by what was, in Celine’s opinion, the ugliest creature she had ever seen. It was a woman with long blackish-green hair, greenish-brown skin, and giant lower teeth that reminded her of tusks on an elephant, the woman spoke, “May I help you?” her voice was raspy and low and she glared over at the three of them. “Hello gorgeous,” Arlech said, “what’s your name?” The woman rolled her eyes, “You’re not the first one to try that, Half-Devil, now what is it you want?” Arlech backed up and rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed, “We were just wondering if we could join the Solarstriders.” “You lot?” She laughed, “Give me a break. Do you think we just accept people with no consideration for their talents, or lack thereof? You three don’t even look like you can take on a regular old Gnoll, let alone the type of creatures we usually fight.” “Please?” Arlech begged. “No.” The woman said and started to turn away when the Elf shot her gun in the air, leaving a bullet hole in the roof, and then she pointed it to the woman at the desk, “You’ll let us apply or we’ll destroy your precious Guild building,” The woman got up in the Elf’s face and said, “The only thing you’ll ‘destroy’ is yourselves if you do not leave this establishment right this instant after the damage you just caused.” “Ma’am, please,” Celine said, “if you let us pay for the damage by working, we’ll leave you for good.” “Get. Out. Now.” The woman said, shoving them out the door when a tall man with black hair in a buzz cut and with olive skin stepped out of a door at the back, “Mistress, what’s going on?” “Go back to the barracks Sidqiel, it’s none of your concern. You may be a Guild member, but you’re not the leader, and how I handle trespassers is none of your business.” He looks over the trio, “Were they trying to join the Guild?” “No, not at all, they-“ but the Mistress was cut off by Arlech, “Yes, yes we were, and your leader here treated us with disrespect and wouldn’t give us a chance.” Sidqiel was skeptical, but asked the Mistress, “Mistress Bula, is this true?” The woman sighed in frustration, “Yes, but they-“ but she was cut off by the younger man, “Mistress, if they were trying to join, let them. I’ll oversee their trial myself.” “No, they burst in here and didn’t even make an appointment, now please go train or something while I deal with these hooligans.” The Mistress said sternly. “Please?” Sidqiel tried again. The woman rubbed her eyes, “Fine, but they only get one chance, if they fail, they must leave the Solarstriders and never return or ask again, “Do you understand?!” she says to the trio and all three nod. “Good, now, let me see if I can find something,” she says and pulls out a large wooden chest, digging through it. “Hmm, nothin’ too fancy today, but a fishing village outside of Crisherton is dealing with Gnoll raids on the daily and there’s not a fighter among the villagers, so more and more villagers have been getting kidnapped or killed. They need someone to fight them off and bring a pelt back as proof of getting rid of them.” Never having heard of ‘Gnolls’ before, Celine whispered to Arlech, “What the actual fuck is a Gnoll?” “You’ll find out,” the Tiefling responded, making Celine instantly shut up and turn back to the woman. “You lot up for it?” The woman asked the trio, who all said yes. “Good, Sidqiel will join you on this, if you fail, you leave and never come again. You succeed, we’ll consider the damage from Miss trigger-happy over here paid for and you can join the Guild. The reward is entirely up to the chief of the village, now be on your way.”

They walk out, joined by Sidqiel, who says, “I apologize for the Mistress, she’s a bit, intense, but you don’t become a guild leader by being nice I suppose.” “So, you’re telling us she’s always like that?” Celine asks Sidqiel. “Yes, unfortunately. Now, before we head to the fishing village, we should stop and buy a few necessities.” The man said, it was then, now that she was closer to him, that Celine noticed he had heterochromia, but an interesting form of it she’d never seen. One eye was green, which was normal enough, but the other was a bronze color and metallic just like the metal. She tilted her head and Sidqiel laughed, “I see you’ve noticed my eyes. Quite interesting, are they not?” he smiles, but his smile doesn’t reach his eyes, Celine notices. “Yeah, I guess.” She says, starting to feel uncomfortable. “Anyway,” he says, facing forward, “let’s go get the items and rid this village of these Gnolls, I’m sure the Chief of the Village will award us handsomely.” The Quartet made their way down the cobblestone street to wherever Sidqiel was leading them, the silence amongst them only being broken by the Elf, “So where are we going? Where are we buying items and what’s the name of this fishing village? Or do you just expect us to trust you?” Arlech whispers to Celine, “Well that sounds familiar,” and they both laugh. “What’s so funny?” Snaps the Elf. Celine clears her throat, “Nothing, nothing at all.” “Enough,” comes Sidqiel’s voice, “If you need to know so badly, we’re going to a shop called The Glass Key, which has many magical items you all may need. As for the village, it’s called Tortoise Landing because Tortoises lay their eggs on the beach every year and return to the rainforest until their eggs hatch. Is that enough information for you?” “Yes, much appreciated,” the Elven woman’s voice says back sarcastically. They finally make it to The Glass Key and the four walk in, a Shopkeep that kind of reminded Celine of the dragons from Game of Thrones was at the front desk and greeted Sidqiel warmly, “Ah, Sidqiel! What can I do for my favorite customer today?” “Hello Myuustik, how are you doing today? I have some new recruits for the Solarstriders here, we’re off to fight Gnolls for their trial.” Sidqiel responded. The dragon looking creature looked behind Sidqiel, “Oh hello there! What are your names?” Before Celine could answer, the Elf says, “Our names are our business and no one else’s, now get us what we need.” “This one is quite sharp-tongued I see, she could almost compete with Mistress Bula with that attitude,” Myuustik said. “Yes, that attitude almost got them a restraining order from the Mistress herself after their, shall we say, abrupt entrance. Anyway, I believe we’ll be buying eight regular healing potions and some camping gear for their trial. Put it on the Solarstriders’ account please.” “Coming right up Sidqiel! Good luck to you all.” Myuustik said with a grin and went to the back of the shop. When he returned, he said, “Alright, so, two healing potions each for the four of you, four bedrolls, four traveler’s clothes, rations for five days, and two, two-person tents. Four-hundred and eighteen gold and five silver in total, on the Solarstriders’ account. I hope the Mistress can pay for it all.” “I’m sure she can, and if not, we’re likely to get paid more than enough to pay it back after the contract is done,” Sidqiel responds and off they all go.

As they approach the wall to leave, they’re stopped by guards, “Halt, what is your business outside of the city?” “This lot are new recruits for the Solarstriders, so if I were you, I’d let us through or Mistress Bula will be very upset that we didn’t complete the contract,” Sidqiel answers. “Show us proof or we’ll not let you out.” One of the guards said gruffly. Sidqiel pulls out the contract from his pocket and shows the guards, “Now may we leave?” The guards backed off, “Yes, you may, but be careful, bandits have been seen on the roads lately, and we don’t usually see them this close to the city, so something must be driving them from their hideouts.” “Duly noted, we’ll keep an eye out, right folks?” Sidqiel says, glancing at the trio behind him, all of which say, “Yes sir.” “See, already some sort of discipline. Have a good day my good sirs.” Sidqiel said cheerfully and the quartet walked out of the city. After walking a good five hours, the sun began to set and their stomachs all growled. “I say this is a good place to rest for the night, but keep off of the road. We’ll camp in the underbrush over there,” Sidqiel said, pointing out several trees and bushes off to the right of the group. “Do you really think it’s a good idea to stop?” The Elf said, rolling her eyes, “Why not keep walking as much as we can and then rest for the night?” “You heard what those guards said, right? The roads aren’t safe at night and there are bandits around here.” Celine said, annoyed that this girl in front of her had even thought of such things. The Elven woman sighed in annoyance, “Fine, whatever, I just thought we’d get this done quicker, but what do I know?” Sidqiel and Arlech sighed in relief about not having to interfere with the women fighting and Sidqiel said, “All right, we have two tents that can fit two people in them, I say we the guys in one tent and the girls in the other.” This caused a fight to break out, “You expect me to sleep with her?! Have you lost your mind?! We’d kill each other!” Celine shouted. “More like I would kill you, little miss weakling!” The Elf shouted back. Sidqiel rubbed his temples and shouted, “Enough! This trial is about learning to work together as a group because if you can’t work with a group, you cannot join the Solarstriders. Every contract requires a group to go because they tend to handle things far worse than bandits and Gnolls that can’t be taken on alone, like dragons for example, and I’m not talking Dragonborns like Myuustik, I mean large, vicious Dragons like Elder Dragons for example. Now, you two will sleep in the same tent or you can leave right now and never bother the Solarstriders again.” The two women begrudgingly agreed and Arlech handed them a tent. Once the camp was set up, Sidqiel pulled out dry meats and bread for everyone. “We have rations for five days,” he said, “I doubt we’ll need all of them as it’s a two day walk to Tortoise Landing and a two day walk back to Crisherton. Eat up, you’ll need your strength.” Celine hesitantly ate the food, wishing she was back in her world and could order Chinese takeout and watch trash TV instead. At that moment, she felt like something was trying to get into her mind, but as she tried to push it away, it failed, and suddenly she felt very watched by eyes that she could not see. Her facial expression changes without her realizing it, which prompts Arlech to ask, “Hey, are you all right? You look awfully uncomfortable.” Not wanting sympathy or to worry anyone, Celine says, “Maybe it’s because I’m with a person I don’t know, a person I hate, and a person who shamelessly flirts with anything with a pulse, if I can even call half of you people.” Knowing the flirting comment is about himself, Arlech says, “Hey, that’s hurtful.” “Good, I hope so. I’m gonna go for a walk, don’t bother me,” she starts. “I don’t think that’s such a good-“ the Tiefling says and Celine shoots back, “I said, don’t bother me,” and storms off. Sidqiel looks around awkwardly, “Is she always like that?” “Yes,” The Elf and Tiefling say simultaneously. “Right, well, I’ll

take the first watch, which of you will join me?” Sidqiel asks. “I will,” The Elven Pirate responds in a bored tone. “Okay, and you, Tiefling, what’s your name?” Sidqiel asks. “Arlech.” The Merlot haired man answers. “Arlech, get some rest, you’ll do the next watch with the redhead.” “Her name is Celine, and will do.” Arlech responds and gets into the tent.

Once she gets a moment to herself, Celine leans against a tree and slides down it, the bark leaving marks on her shirt. Just then, she hears Maverick’s voice in her head, “I see you’re outside of the city now.” “What the fuck do you want, you bastard?” Celine answers. “My, my, vulgar today, are we?” The Royal Wizard responds. “Who wouldn’t be when it comes to you?” The redhead said through gritted teeth. “People who know their place in this world.” Came the man’s voice. “Well, good thing I don’t know my place, then.” She answers. “Then learn it.” The Royal Wizard responded. When she didn’t hear another message from him, she turned around and threw a Fire Bolt at the tree behind her. She hit the tree and left a scorch mark on it, then headed back to camp. Back at camp, the Elf and Sidqiel are keeping watch, neither really see anything. They hear a rustle, but when they look over, it’s just a deer eating grass, which gets scared off when the two notice it. Once Celine gets back, they tell her to get some sleep and she mumbles to herself, “Gladly.” A few hours pass and Sidqiel and the Elf wake up Arlech and Celine, telling them it was their turn to keep watch. Arlech and Celine both force themselves to get up and they sit near the fire, looking at the surroundings around them, Celine still half asleep while Arlech is wide awake. “So, are you gonna talk about what happened last night or not?” Arlech asks the shorter one. “I said I didn’t want to talk about it. Do you understand what, ‘I don’t want to talk about it’ means?” Celine shot at him. “Yes, I do, but there are some things you shouldn’t keep to yourself.” Arlech responded in a frustrated tone. “And why should I tell you? You just met me forty-eight hours ago, and you think I’d be willing to tell you anything? Get real.” She answers, rolling her eyes. “I’m just trying to be a good friend!” He answers. “Well you’re not my friend, you barely even know me! Maybe consider getting to know people instead of mindlessly flirting with them all the time!” She whisper-yells at him. Just then, they hear a crunching sound, like a stick. When they turn their heads, they see five figures in the shadows, all with weapons of some sort in their hands. “Wake the others,” Arlech whispered as he pulled out his Lute. Celine rushed into the tents, waking both Sidqiel and the Elf up, “We’ve got company” was all she told them. The two hopped up and quickly changed and grabbed their weapons. The first figure approaches and when it comes into what’s left of the firelight, they see it’s a man with a scraggly looking face, with a scar over his left eye, he says, “Give us your gold and maybe we’ll let you live.” “How about no?” Celine says and pulls out her spellbook. “So be it,” the man says and runs up to Celine, trying to slice her in the stomach, and manages to do so. She clutches at her stomach and glares at him, firing Magic Missile at her attacker while a second figure comes out of the shadows, this one is a woman, and she fires her crossbow at Sidqiel. Celine hits her attacker with one Magic Missile while the other two go wide, at the same time, the bolt from the second figure goes wide and misses Sidqiel entirely. A third figure steps out, a man, with studded leather armor and a green bandana on his head, and he throws a dagger at the Blonde Elf and hits her. The fourth figure steps out, another woman, and she runs up to Arlech, trying to attack him with her scimitar. She succeeds and leaves a cut in his chest. Sidqiel casts a spell and a giant, translucent Morningstar appears next to the figure that attacked him, it hits her and knocks her off of her feet. The Elven Pirate pulls out her pistol and shoots at her attacker, but the bullet doesn’t come out and she whispers, “Son of a bitch” to herself. The figure with the bandana chuckled at her and pulled out his scimitar. A fifth figure steps out, male and shoots a crossbow at Celine, but it misses and hits a tree. Arlech pulls out his short sword, taking a swing at his attacker, but swings wide, then he tries to cut the woman in front of

him with his dagger, but she just barely gets out of the way, a smirk on her lips. The first man who attacked Celine attacks her again and manages to do so. Celine casts Mage Armor on herself to protect herself while the figure who attacked Sidqiel fires her crossbow at him again, but the bolt just flies up into the air and lands ten feet from Sidqiel. The man with the bandana throws a second dagger at the Elf, but it misses and he runs up closer. The woman who attacked Arlech sliced at him again, and hit him with ease, then backflipped away from him, but landed on her backside. Arlech looked ragged and like he was about to pass out. Sidqiel uses the giant translucent Morningstar again on the same woman and hits her again and now she begins to look ragged and like she’s going to pass out. The Elven woman stuffs her gun back in its holster and pulls out her Great Sword, running towards the man who attacked her and taking a swing at him. He glared at her with disdain and got himself ready. Celine’s second attacker shoots his crossbow again and hits her easily, immediately taking her down and she passes out. Arlech glares, casts a spell called Thunderwave and his attacker gets hit and she’s shoved ten feet away and is knocked out cold on the ground, then he runs towards Celine. Celine’s first attacker slices at Celine again leaving more cuts in her skin and suddenly her last breath escapes her body and she’s lying lifeless on the ground. Sidqiel’s attacker fires a crossbow at him, but it misses entirely again. Sidqiel laughs at the woman’s failure and gets ready to attack again. The man with the bandana slices at the Elven woman, and hits her, leaving a nasty gash in her arm. Sidqiel hits his attacker with the giant Morningstar again and kills her instantly. The Elf slices at the man with the bandana again, but he steps out of the way, which causes her to growl at him. Celine’s second attacker attacks the Elf with his crossbow but misses entirely. Celine’s first attacker slices at Arlech with his scimitar and just hits him before he can move out of the way and Arlech is knocked out cold, falling on top of Celine’s lifeless body. The man with the bandana makes a slice at the Elven woman and hits her, but she’s still up even if she’s not looking great. Sidqiel attacks the man in front of the Elf, but misses entirely. The Elf swipes at the man in front of her again and hits him. Celine’s second attacker shoots his crossbow at Sidqiel and misses completely and growls in a frustrated manner. Celine’s first attacker shoots his crossbow at Sidqiel and also misses completely. The man in the bandana throws a dagger at Sidqiel and misses entirely as well. Sidqiel tries to hit the man in front of the Elf again, but the translucent Morningstar just does not hit him. The Pirate slices into the man, but he steps out of the way too quickly. Celine’s second attacker shoots his crossbow at Sidqiel but to no avail. Celine’s first attacker tries again as well, no luck. The man in the bandana slices at the Elf instead and slices into her shoulder, causing her to fall on the ground. Sidqiel runs over to the Elf as fast as he can and heals her up, she gasps and gets up. “Why you son of a-, “ the man with the bandana said. “Elf, go to Arlech and heal him up as quickly as possible,” Sidqiel whispers to her. “My name is Daxina, and will do.” Daxina answered and ran over to Arlech. The man in the bandana gets a hit on Daxina as she gets out of his range, leaving a gash in her leg as she runs over to the Tiefling who’s out cold. Deciding Sidqiel is the biggest threat, Celine’s first attacker shoots his crossbow at him, but the bolt ends up in a tree. The man in the bandana slashes at Sidqiel, but Sidqiel steps to the side too quickly. Sidqiel then quickly tries to grab the man’s arm, but he moves it away too quickly. Daxina takes out the potion from her tent and pours it down Arlech’s throat and he awakes with a start, “What’s going on, what happened?” “Not now,” Daxina said, “we still have a problem.” Arlech looks over as Celine’s second attacker

shoots a crossbow at Sidqiel, finally hitting him and causing some sort of damage. Feeling hopeful, Celine’s first attacker tries to shoot at Sidqiel as well, managing to hit him. The man in the bandana grins and slices at Sidqiel, hitting him as well, knocking him out cold. Daxina slices at Celine’s second attacker, slicing into him like ham. The man she attacked, attacked her, but she jumped out of the way. Arlech then cast Thunderwave, knocking one bandit out cold and accidentally knocking Daxina out. “Sorry,” he says and runs to the man in the bandana. The second man who attacked Celine attacks him as he leaves and hits him. The man in the bandanna chuckles, “You really think you can take me?” “No,” Arlech said, “but I refuse to go down without a fight.” “So be it,” the assumed leader said and sliced at Arlech hitting him square in the chest, knocking him out cold. The two remaining bandits spit on the bodies of their victims and left, not caring for what they had if they had been that weak.

An hour later, a Tabaxi walked by, and she saw everyone on the ground. She checked their pulses and found all but one had a slow, steady heartbeat, “Oh dear, this will never do,” she said and healed the three she could heal, and they all sat up quickly and noticed her, “Who are you?” Daxina asked, still not fully there. “My name is Jolien, I’m a Druid, and I can see you all need help. The redhead, how long has she been dead?” “An hour,” Arlech answered her, looking down. “Well, then I think we’ll be just fine.” Jolien answered and walked over to Celine, cold and dead, Jolien placed a hand on Celine’s arm and said words that no one but Daxina understood, “Al’katar,” the others looked in confusion, “ ’Come back,’ she says,” Daxina translates, “Al’katar norvium,” the Tabaxi continues, “ ’Come back to the light,’ ” translates Daxina. The next thing they all knew, Celine sits up, gasps, and coughs. “Welcome back young one,” Jolien said and Celine screamed at seeing a giant cat in front of her. “Shh, shhh, don’t worry, you’re safe,” the Tabaxi says. “What the hell are you?!” Celine exclaims as she backs away on the ground. “My name is Jolien, I’m what’s called a Tabaxi, and I just brought you back to life.” “Excuse me?” Celine asks, stunned. “Yes, I just brought you back, you weren’t breathing.” The Tabaxi reassures. “I-I was dead?” Celine asks, still processing what she just heard, “You really mean that?” she asks, looking at the giant cat in front of her, which was still an odd sight to her. Before Jolien could answer her, Arlech and Sidqiel ran over and knelt by her and started asking what seemed like fifty-thousand questions, “Are you okay?” “Did you meet or see any of the Gods?” “Do you need help up?” Celine covered her ears and said, “Shut up, please! And back the fuck off!” Jolien lightly pushed the two men back and backed up herself while Daxina looked on in shock at everything that happened, wondering how a Tabaxi knew Elvish. Celine sat up fully and leaned against a tree, she inhaled deeply and sat for a minute, just in silence as the others looked on, confused. When she exhaled, she said, “So you’re telling me, I died, as in, actually died, and somehow I was brought back to life? That makes no logical sense. Especially in this world where it seems like it’s all early versions of weapons and furniture, compared to where I’m from. You wouldn’t have the equipment to even attempt that, my world doesn’t and it’s more advanced than this.” Jolien walked up, slowly, “Well, I don’t know where you’re from, dear, but with magic, we can, depending on how long the person or creature has been dead. What I used on you, the creature or person can’t have been dead for 200 or more years. You had only been gone an hour and it was the only one I had prepared, so it was quite easy to bring you back,” she turned to the other three, “and this question goes to all four of you. What in the Gods’ names were you doing out here in the middle of the night? These roads are dangerous at night nowadays.” “They were to join the Solarstriders, we were on the way to Tortoise Landing, the fishing village two days from Crisherton, for their trial. They’re having a bit of a Gnoll problem. These bandits, I presume, that attacked us were not part of it. They tried to attack our camp,” Sidqiel responds and Daxina adds, “Now, before you lecture us about getting beaten by simple bandits, there was this large man with them that seemed to be their leader.” “I would have done no such thing,” Jolien answers, “But that certainly explains it. If their leader was with them, that means something drove them out of wherever they were hiding.” “Do you think it might have been the Gnolls?” Arlech asks. The Tabaxi scoffed, “Gods no, a Captain or Leader of the bandits could easily handle a Gnoll, a small group of them even. No, it had to have been something big. I need to report this to the City Watch in Crisherton, but that will wait until tomorrow. You all go to sleep, I’ll keep an eye out for anything else.” The quartet agreed and climbed into their tents, going to

sleep with ease.

#OCs #Dungeons and Dragons #Story #Fantasy Story #5e #DnD5e #DnD #Celine Markus #The Adventures of Celine Markus

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vagrantblvrd · 8 years ago

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@miss-ingno

For 'Desert Rose’ I’m still stuck on an Indiana Jones-ish AU, and it sounds a lot like archaeologist/adventurer Ryan.

Someone hires Ryan to help them find this fabled gem going by that name and bring him a a page out of a centuries old journal from someone who claimed to have seen it while on a trading expedition.

He runs into Gavin when they get to whatever country the gem is said to be. He’s this charmingly scruffy expatriate who may or may not be flirting outrageously with Ryan. (For some reason he always seems to disappear when Ryan’s employer is around.)

There are shenanigans that involve people trying to kill Ryan and his employer and ~intrigue.

Gavin offers to help Ryan (”Out of the goodness of my heart, you seem a bit lost.”)

Ryan realizes Gavin’s smarter than he lets on, helping Ryan decipher clues leading to it. Offering up local stories about it being cursed and the gem’s bloody history full of betrayal and backstabbing and murder (so much murder) in Ryan’s motel room after a tiring day of escaping death by mere inches and cracking ancient riddles and the like, Gavin kicked back in a chair with a beer while Ryan goes over his notes and whatnot at the table, noises of the city filtering in through the half-open window.

Gavin saves Ryan’s life when his employer double-crosses him and it’s revealed Gavin’s a bit of an adventurer himself.

Has been tracking that rat-bastard for at least a month after he stabbed Gavin and his partners in the back. Gavin telling Ryan that he still has Geoff and Jack, that Gavin’s been ducking Ryan’s employer AND Michael and Jeremy who think Gavin’s lost it.

Convinced that his mentors/family are still alive even though they can’t be.

(They are, though. Gavin’s heard bits and pieces there, but he couldn’t get close enough on his own without spooking Ryan’s employer. No way was he going to put his lads at risk again, and Ryan’s little heart is like “Oh” thinking Gavin’s been using him this whole time. (Because yessss, I love that little trope.))

He promises to help Gavin, expecting that to be the last of him because he’ll have what he wants, so why would he want to stick around Ryan, right?

And then adventures in which they almost die a dozen times and manage to rescue Geoff and Jack and recover the Desert Rose - only for it to be lost down some bottlomless ravine or some such when Gavin saves Ryan from the his employer.

Both of them going their own way for a bit until Gavin shows up at Ryan’s door hoping to hire him to take Gavin and his bizarre family on an adventure in search of some treasure or other. (After a while and several countries later, Ryan finding that he likes Gavin’s weird little family more than he thought he would, he finally twigs to the fact that Gavin is indeed flirting outrageously with him. The others are like. “ARE YOU SERIOUS?” because for God’s sake, Ryan, Gavin has not been subtle in the least, you moron.)

====

‘Golden Rust’ puts me in mind of a FAHC AU where Gavin ~betrays the crew.

Or that’s what it looks like from the outsider POV.

It starts small, someone sidling up to him and offering him everything he could want - money, power, whatever - and the Golden Boy, he’s a fickle creature, isn’t he?

A job goes wrong, they lose the new guy. Some weirdo in a cowboy hat and eye-searing colors. A week goes by and something goes wrong on a heist. Mogar’s explosives go off too early, and half a block of Los Santos goes with him.

The Fakes go quiet for a bit, regrouping, and then they’re back. Frantic, desperate, almost, because the cops and other bottom feeders in the city have been having a go at them. (No one notices they don’t gain any ground, that the Fakes fend them off just as easily as they ever did, they just try and try and try again, weakening themselves in the process.)

Through all this there’s reports of infighting in the main crew, or what’s left of it. Bugs and hidden cameras and operatives who’ve made it deep enough into the crew to see it for themselves.

The Golden Boy who goads the remaining crew members into an impossible heist with his eye on whatever reward he’s to gain when the Fakes are no more.

Gets the Kingpin and his second killed when the cops, ones who’ve been bought out by Fakehaus (tired of bowing down to the Fakes time and time again) catch them in a blockade just when they think they’ve pulled the heist off. Trapped, outnumbered, no answer over the comms and they die when their car goes over a bridge into the river below miles outside of Los Santos.

The crew limps along after that for a week, two, more, and then!

The Vagabond, Ramsey’s loyal attack dog finds out what the Golden Boy’s been doing. All his careful machinations that killed the crew off one by one, and there’s a call, a meeting in a quiet location just outside the city. Old safe house for the crew from their early days.

The Vagabond drives out there to where the Golden Boy is waiting along with the vipers whispers promises in his ears, and it’s a bloodbath, isn’t it.

Over a dozen bodies and the Golden Boy and the Vagabond among them, and that’s it for the Fakes - or should be, but there’s a new leader. Woman with fiery red hair and the charming and charismatic man at her side, quicksilver smile and a clever tongue.

Smile on his face as he slits your throat, and no one knows who the real danger is when they walk into a room. (Rumors say they’re the ones behind the deaths of the Fakes’ founding members, that it was an inside job and Fakehaus does get more territory and whatnot with the Fake AH Crew under new management, so maybe there’s some merit to those rumors after all.)

====

The truth of course, is the others were getting old. Slowing down and there’s only so long you can keep ahead of the bullets headed your way, dodge that knife. They wanted out, and in true Fake AH Crew fashion wanted a fitting end.

(Jeremy just went along with it, telling them he wanted to wreck some shit when really, he would have missed his stupid crew. Also, Lindsay and Trevor task him with making sure the others keep a low(ish) profile, forgetting who they’re asking this of.They regret it almost immediately, but by then it’s too late.)

So when someone approaches Gavin, try to sway him to his side, he gets an idea. Brings it to Geoff and the others and they hatch a scheme -

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, really? Why don’t we just fucking rob a bank and get into a shootout with the cops?”

“Boring, Michael. So very, very boring.”

So they create this plan, a way to take out some troublemakers and get that blaze of glory ending they’ve more than earned.

Lindsay and Trevor set them up in some ideal location, some beachside city/town where no one knows who the Fakes are, and end up with little beach houses next to one another -

”Goddammit, I thought I’d seen the last of you.”

“Michael, that’s mean, Michael.”

- and live out the rest of their days (more or less) quietly.

(No one’s really surprised when Ryan and Gavin get a cozy little house together, given the way they both went out - “That was some betrayed lover bullshit and you know it, Gavin. Way to be subtle.”)

Geoff and the others mercilessly ridicule Gavin when it turns out the actor who played him in the movie about them titled Golden Rust comes out had to wear a prosthesis because his actual nose wasn’t big enough.

The guy who plays Michael is using a New York accent - “What the fuck?”

For some inexplicable reason Jack’s a gorgeous redhead - “Well, at least they got the shirt right? Also, nice rack, Jack.”

Geoff’s guy is some overacting schmuck with awful fake tattoos and a freaking soul patch. - “Oh my God. Why?”

Jeremy’s dude is - “Holy shit. Is that Peter Dinklage?”

Ryan’s actor is some guy with shitty face paint and a dumb mask who puts weird emphasis on certain words and clearly has no idea how to hold a gun, and dear God - “All right, chill out, Ryan.”

Really, it’s a turd of a movie but they have regular viewings of it every year on the anniversary of Ryan and Gavin’s “deaths”.

(It never ceases to amuse them about the speculation that something happened between Gavin and Ryan to kick things off, that something happened to sour their bromance.)

They also make a point to watch whatever terrible made for tv movies get made, and there’s an actual party when they get a documentary. (Lindsay and Trevor and assorted others come to visit because it’s an occasion.)

(That tiny little beach town eventually becomes THE destination where Fakes and various allies head to after they retire, and the locals either never realize or figure it out and just don’t say anything because they’re just so nice.)

#miss-ingno #made-up fic title meme #fake ah crew #fahc #freewood #technically not a fic #:D????#jfc frankenstein post or what am i right?#/o\#prompt fills

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