Serinda and Forman

[Andre]

(Four years prior to the start of the campaign , 347 AC .. the island of Southern Ergoth )

The back study in her father's bakery/place of residence had often proved useful... Serinda could use it to study and keep an eye on her father at the same time.. she didn't see him remarrying anytime soon and without a wife in the picture she'd taken it upon herself to keep an eye on him... she loved him dearly .. but like most women Serinda was of the firm opinion males needed to be watched for their own good if nothing else.

She'd grown used to tuning out the sounds of shop talk between her father and the customers.. she turned the pages of her spellbook, engrossed, ... there was a clever binding on the cover marking it as a treatise on elven history complete with several "fake" pages inside to that effect, a gift from Aurian .. she hated to deceive her father but hated the thought of the headaches that would erupt from arguing with him over her chosen path in life even more... Serinda flipped a page.. she was so CLOSE to cracking this spell, she could taste it...

" COME ON.. MINOTAURS MAYBE? I HEAR THERE'S A LOT OF MINOTAURS SAILING THE SEAS TERRORIZING THE COAST ! " the voice was loud, brash... so loud it cut right through Serinda's practiced concentration ... shaking her head in irritation she blew a lock of golden hair out of her eyes and tried again.

" No minotaurs " came her father's irritated voice in response " There was an attack not too long ago but it was repelled by the army , you just missed it."

" NO ! " the loud voice groaned in dismay ... Serinda was finding it increasingly hard to concentrate

" Yes " replied her father, his voice sounding more angry by the moment " So if you don't want to buy anything -- "

" HOW ABOUT GOBLINS ? BASTARDS TEND TO BREED LIKE FLIES.. DON'T LIKE FIGHTING THEM , THEY FOLD LIKE A PACK OF CARDS WHEN YOU HIT THEM.. BUT IF THAT'S ALL YOU GOT "

" NO , no goblins " After more than a century living with him Serinda knew her father well enough to realize he was now speaking through gritted teeth. " Now if you're QUITE finished might I interest you in some fresh baked blueberry tarts - "

" OGRES ? OGRES WOULD BE GREAT, MORE OF A CHALLENGE .. HILL GIANTS? HILL GIANTS HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO KEEP COMPANY WITH OGRES.. COME ON GIVE ME SOMETHING ! "

" NO ! NO OGRES, NO HILL GIANTS, NO GOBLINS, NO MINOTAURS , NOTHING FOR YOU TO FIGHT ! NOW EITHER BUY SOMETHING OR GET OUT OF MY SHOP ! " roared Serinda's father finally losing his temper.

There was a long pause then " HOW ABOUT HOBGOBLINS? SEEN ANY HOBGOBLINS ? " Serinda angrily slammed the spellbook down and stalked out into the bakery.. their visitor's eyes widened as an appreciative smile crossed his face... Serinda could readily imagine what he was looking at .. pretty much everyone she met had described her as one of , if not THE ,most beautiful woman on the face of Krynn

(she has a "20" appearance score, one of the 7 most beautiful women walking the face of the continent - maximum possible beauty for a mortal basically .. elf, long blonde hair, blue eyes, 5 foot 1 inch, 80 pounds, looks as if she was 19 years old though she's really much older .. see her pic at

whatifdragonlancedm.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=characterbios&action=display&thread=329 )

Their visitor was a bald human man who appeared to be in his mid to late 20's , perhaps a hair short of six feet tall, near 200 pounds, green eyes.. she supposed he would be handsome in a rugged rough hewn sort of way if she was the kind of person who found humans attractive in the first place

(14 Appearance score - for his pic see

whatifdragonlancedm.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=characterbios&action=display&thread=792 )

... her father, Tharuildre, was red faced with anger... their visitor in contrast looked calm and easy going , either not aware of not caring about the problems he was causing. As she watched he abruptly pulled his hands back from the counter he was resting on, frowned, them started rubbing them vigorously with a cloth he pulled from his pack.

" Are you TRYING to insinuate I run a dirty establishment? " Tharuildre snarled . "Can never be too clean" replied the visitor cheerfully, apparently unfazed.

[solardawn]

Serinda scoffs, the sheer notion of her fathers place being in any way dirty is ridiculous.

"I doubt you'll find a cleaner place in this entire city, since the other houses are run by the humans.

She crosses her arms and glares at the human.

"If you like to fight so much perhaps you should go and live with the minotaurs, or some other uncivilized race."

[nestor]

Forman tipped his head in response to the beautiful young lady, and says

" I mean no disrespect."

As he speaks he begins to re-arrange the many items that Tharuildre has for display on the counter top. His hands move blindingly fast to arrange baked goods so that they line up with a large square glass jar filled with biscuits of some sort.

"The simple fact of the matter is, the majority of people you come across are infected with a multitude of vermin both internal and external. Most of them have no knowledge of this fact."

Having finished moving the baked goods about on the sales counter, he turns his attention to a complex looking scale resting near by. Forman begins fiddling with the counter weights and the balance mechanism, only to be waved off by Serinda.

"I am certain that you and your lovely assistant here, take the utmost precaution. It's not really you that I worry about Everyone and their brother has been in this establishment breathing on everything in here, it makes my skin crawl."

Forman preforms a full body shiver

He looks up abruptly at Tharuildre and then steals a very short glance at Serinda and then he begins a thorough examination of the baked goods in a sealed glass case.

"Yes I see a good many things that are worth having here, now the question is what can i afford?"

[solardawn]

Serinda rolls her eyes and keeps her arms crossed, feeling that this human might have some loose screws.

"Most vermin are quite useful beings, and a natural part of the world, they clean up after the larger creatures and are a part of the life circle. And I am not his assistant, he's my father."

[nestor]

"Well I will take three of those honeyed biscuits you have in this case here"

He begins to annoyingly drum his fingertips on the glass counter top while his pastry order is filled.

Forman says, "Certainly a man with an established business in a community like this would know where a young monk could find something or someone to challenge his considerable combat skills? I would bet that your daughter has a long list of gentleman suitors, would you care to see any of them, as they say taken down a notch?"

Not wanting to be misunderstood he expounds,

"I promise no permanent injury's or broken bones, Majere knows I would not want the wrath of the local nobility, to come down on my pious bald head because I permanently injured one of their young up and comers."

Forman smiles looking very pleased with himself.

[solardawn]

Serinda grinned slightly at that, there 'was' this really annoying human that might benefit from a certain degree of physical violence. But she then quickly shakes her head.

"We don't solve our problems that way, no matter how annoying some of them may be. Permanent or not, physical violence is uncalled for. Not unless the situation is truly dire. Besides, I can handle them myself."

[nestor]

"This whole area is just to settled. There are no proper challenges for a young monk like myself to test himself against."

Forman digs in his belt purse for the silver piece to pay for his baked goods.

"Do you know of any adventure or mercenary groups looking to hire?" he says as he slaps the silver coin on the counter top.

[solardawn]

"Must people consider the fact that this area is peaceful and settled a positive thing, it's why they come to live here, perhaps when you mature you will see that there's nothing wrong with a peaceful life. I don't understand this need to seek out conflict."

She sighs and takes a step back to let her father handle the transaction.

[nestor]

" There can be no peace with out MEN who are willing to preserve it. Civilized places do not just occur naturally, they must be protected and cultivated. With out people like myself "civilization" would not, could not exist. Outside the walls of this city are dark and dangerous places. I simply wish to locate them."

[solardawn]

Serinda shakes her head, humans can be so misguided.

"There is a very big diffirence between being capable of defending yourself and itching for a fight. I can defend myself but i dont use such abilities without good cause."

[Andre]

Tharuildre takes the silver with a look of annoyance ... any human dealing with them might get the impression that all elves in general had the same condescending attitude ... her father seems to be looking down her nose at Forman as is his daughter...

.... then again Forman had heard stories about the elves from much older monks from his Priory who had returned from the task/quest set to every monk of that order ... it had to do with the "old gods", the ones most people regarded as nothing more than fairy tales - if one believed in them Majere was supposed to be the patron god of monks who hadn't turned their soul towards darker paths .... If one believed the old legends the gods of light had created elves, the gods of balance humans, and the gods of darkness ogres... the elves, firm believers in this sort of thing, believed that all elves were inherently superior to the other races having been created by the cosmic " good guys" so to speak .... if one believed the old tales the ogres were actually good looking and intelligent in the beginning back when they'd enslaved humanity .... humanity broke free of their bonds even while the ogres , consumed by the darkness within them, slowly degenerated into their currrent ugly, dimwitted form...

* (gods of light = good aligned gods, gods of balance = neutral aligned gods, gods of darkness = evil aligned gods in "game terms"

And thus endeth the history lesson , all stuff Forman knows "in character" though what parts of the above he chooses to believe is up to him .. bear in mind the true gods haven't returned to Krynn yet ...the elves believe the gods exist they just tend not to actively worship them anymore given the gods have been gone three and a half centuries ...younger elves who weren't born back when the gods were active in the world might not even believe the gods exist ! )

[Andre]

" Well what do we have here ? " There was an amused chuckle , an older man's voice ... someone in his fifties or sixties perhaps...



(and yep it's exactly who you think it is Serinda )

No... much older than that.... the voice belonged to an older elf who had just entered the shop... though in "human" terms he looked to be around that age he had lived far longer... centuries.. he had one bad eye, dressed in robes , leaning on a staff with strange symbols carved into it.

" I'd recognize that outfit anywhere ! Fellow I knew wore one just like it ... Order of the... oh what is it? There were a couple of Priories he mentioned, the Priory of the Stone, the Arrow, the Wheel -- too many Orders ! You're ... what one of their trainees? No, no I remember now... you just finished your training, now you have to test yourself... " C " something can't remember the name... if Egric were here he could tell us ... "

Egric? Forman had seen the older man many a time.. Egric had to be at least seventy years old now ... but when Forman had last seen him the old monk had been as spry as a young man, easily able to defeat young monks decades younger than him in hand-to-hand combat... The last he'd seen Egric had been at the Priory of the Wheel when Forman left.

" That boy was really something" chuckled the old elf. " Mind you that was fifty years ago when my pupil here " The old elf nods fondly towards Serinda " Learned her fill from me and inspired me to hit the road again ... Egric joined up with us .. the things he could do with his fists.. and I've never seen anyone pull off the tricks he managed without studying at the Tower of High Sorcery.. Egric used to say it was the "power of the mind" or his " inner potential" or some such thing... here I'll show you one of Egric's old tricks , you can see for yourself .. I used to do THIS --- " The old man mutters a word - an old dead tree branch flies from the ground outside, through the open bakery door then suddenly flies full force at Forman

(Forman you can easily do your kung-fu thing and slice the branch into several small pieces with your bare hands - it's actually quite similar to an exercise they used to have you perform at the Priory )

[solardawn]

Serinda shakes her head and scoffs at Aurian.

"I thought we had discussed attacking people with spells or... branches... If elves can't restrain themselves from using such savagery, how are these humans ever going to learn?"

Even though she was the pupil, she's clearly got no problem telling the old elf how to act, her tone of voice even suggests she feels he should listen to her, and follow her advice.

[nestor]

Forman sees the branch flying at him and simply lets go, allowing reflex and training to guide him. He ducks low, shifts in a graceful fluid movement, his arm shoots out and plucks the branch out of the air before it can do any damage to the shop.

Forman looks at the branch and feels its weight, then he grabs it by its balance point and spins it so fast that makes a whurllling sound. The branch abruptly stops completely vertical, and Forman smartly raps the butt end of it on the wooden floor of the Bakery and preforms a slight bow.

[Andre]

(update to above post Forman comes from the Priory of the Wheel not the Priory of the Stone, thanks for reminding me Forman )

The old elf looks disapointed ... " Impressive enough youngster.. but I like it better when you monks chop it into pieces .. it's more DRAMATIC that way " The elf puts a lot of emphasis and relish on the word "dramatic"... " Still, not bad .. got to keep us on our toes eh ? Never do what's expected.. I like that "

" Oh pish-posh" the old elf shuffles over and rubs Serinda's head affectionately in a familiar manner in response to her words.. " The branch wasn't anything he couldn't handle ! You should have seen the other monk I ran with back in the day, he would have chopped it into kindling ! This one " Aurian points a staff at Forman " Comes from the same .. what do you monks call it? " Monastary" I'm sure of it ! Name's Aurian " the elf shoves a wrinkled hand at Forman to shake.

" Heh.. yes that other monk Egric was something else.... he used to move faster than the wind , he could land three, four blows in the same time most warriors landed one, and all with his bare fists ! And that was the least of his abilities.. good old Egric could fall from four stories up and land without a scratch.. he could run twice as fast as the rest of us.. "

Aurian regards Serinda fondly and adds " Far as the 'savagery ' .. afraid you're going to see quite a bit of violence in the years to come after you pass the Test " Aurian seems supremely confident Serinda will pass this " Test" he speaks of ... Forman isn't sure what he means by that (though Serinda knows ) ... " And you'll find yourself commiting some of it too dear... when you see a band of ogres fixing to murder a village of humans you'll strike them down with your magics the same way I did " Aurian sighs.. " Life is a sacred and beautiful thing, all elves know this of course.. but sometimes.. sometimes you have no choice.. you'll see my pupil " a sad but affectionate look at Serinda marks his words.. " You'll see.. "

A look of mischeif crosses over Aurian's face.. " Matter of fact after the Test maybe you'll find yourself crossing paths with this young fella again " Aurian taps Forman on the shoulder... " Maybe you and him will fight the good fight shoulder to shoulder."

Serinda can easily read between the lines... Aurian showed up to check in on his former pupil.. and also to aggravate the hell out of her father, a favorite past-time of Aurian's... just as he has in the past when the conversation has turned to such topics Tharuildre's face turns beet red as he starts shouting.

" My daughter is NOT taking that gods-damn life-or-death Test you keep prattling on about she's going to stay RIGHT here where she's safe ! And she's CERTAINLY not going to wander the world fighting monsters and what not alongside this loud human ! Too dangerous ! "

" How old is she? 138 years old ? " observes Aurian with a twinkle in his eye... " Seems to me like she's an adult now she can do whatever she pleases."

" I'M HER FATHER AND I KNOW WHAT'S BEST FOR HER ! SHE'S NOT TAKING ANY TEST AND SHE'S CERTAINLY NOT GOING TO WASTE HER LIFE ROAMING THE WORLD LIKE YOU DID ! THE SILVANESTI KNOW BETTER THAN YOU GODS-DAMN QUALINESTI ! YOU STAY OUT OF IT ! " Tharuildre roars back at Aurian.

Aurian's eyes fall on Forman.. the mischevious twinkle still in them, the old elf pokes Forman in the shoulder... " What do you think youngster? Should Serinda take the Test then roam the world fighting the good fight? Or stay home and be bored to death ? "