Chapter 01 - The Call for Heroes

[pringerbeam]

     It is the day of Breachill's monthly call for heroes and a sunny summer's day warms monument circle as a small crowd mills about, waiting before the double doors to the main entrance to Breachill's town hall. Some stand around the covered wells for some shade and fresh water while they wait, others stand closer to the doors, chatting and gossiping. The crowd is mostly human with a mix of the other common races of Isger save for a rather notable goblin dressed in the regalia of an academic and nervously pacing back and forth before the doors of the hall.

[info]Feel free to state anything you might have done for the morning or how you might have come into town. You are free to interact with the people gathered for the call for heroes or just pass your time waiting for the doors to open. [/info]

[Oath]

Belsarus Fleetfoot was out of his mind. Him, of all people on his way to the Call for Heroes. He was the least likely candidate, Those that knew him would say he's a charlatan. A phony. He was a fast talker and that was about it. The stories of the Call for Heroes drew him in. If all he is good at is being fake, perhaps he could fake being a hero. After acquiring his freedom, he had done nothing of note. He got by doing what he had to do, and always felt guilty about it. But he was small, and rarely seen. It made it easy to make things simply disappear.

He looked at the crowd that had gathered, people from all walks of life. It would be hard to say he didn't fit in with such a diverse crew. He made small talk, asking how people found their way to the meeting.

[Asta]

Spira walked through the streets of Breachill after completing a shopping spree. She had spent the morning stocking up on supplies knowing full well she would need them if she intended to partake in any form of "hero's work". She pushed aside some of the hair that had stuck to the sweat on her forehead and adjusted the ornament that held the bulk of her ebon locks off her neck in a loose bun.

"Contemptible heat..." she muttered to no one in particular, then shaded her eyes with a hand to better see the collected rabble waiting in front of the town hall.

[Mysticsage]

Riven

Riven smiled as he looked at the crowd of fighters around him. He loved feeling that buzz of people around him even if most kept an eye on him as he moved or tried to avoid him entirely. After all, he had been shaped to inspire awe and fear in others from a young age so he struggled with surpressing his aura when he got excited. He stood a full two heads above most of the others around him at almost seven feet tall, and a good stone larger and better built than most of them from years of daily work. As a result, the average person tended to give the tattooed orc a wide berth. He felt somehow more comfortable here than he had in a little while and was looking forward to getting some of the tension out of his muscles and making some money in the process.

Now if only he could find someone to go drinking with once this meeting was over.

[Throndir]

Breachill Outskirts
Earlier

"Oh there it is, oh there it is, oh there it is!" A short red-headed halfling girl chanted to herself as her eyes sparkled in both a semblance of triumph and wonder. Dressed in a simple explorer's tunic, with a symbol around her neck of a winged angel with a halo of a sun, and a scimitar on her side; it was her bright and almost naive smile that offset that typical look of an adventurer.

Melody Meadowfield was a priestess of Sarenrae, and as part of her training and her own spiritual growth, had chosen to go on her own pilgrimage from her home temple. This would be her first long escapade away from home, and she had all the bubbling desire and need to spread the healing and redemption of her goddess.

The halfling girl giggled to herself as she pulled out her holy book The Birth of Light and Truth. It was a holy text that included the stories before Sarenrae, the Dawnflower, the Everlight, the Healing Light, (a few of her titles) was a true goddess. The goddess roamed the world as she faced off fiends and horrors long before mortals had learned to write. It included too in it, many parables of redemption, advice on dealing with sins and temptations, explaining the beliefs of the church, but most importantly was the final few extra pages at the very end of the book.

As she walked towards the town in the distance, she gently placed her hand on the empty pages, leafing through each one found at the end of the book. This particular space was reserved for stories and adventures; either of her own, or of others. But either way, this too was part of her pilgrimage.

"Well. Ms. Dawnflower..!" Melody said even though no one was physically present. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I see the next town over, and I'm still as excited as when I first started my journey. I hope that I will heal those wounded, redeem evil, and always be honest."

With a spring in her step, and a smile on her face, off she skipped towards Breachill.

In Front of Breachill's Town Hall
Present

What luck!

Something was being held today. Though Melody didn't really know what exactly was happening, a crowd was already gathering around the town hall. Of course, her own natural curiosity getting to the best of her, she decided to wait along with everyone else.

"Hi! I'm new here...!" Melody would chirp whenever she would notice someone give her a look, or glance her way. She didn't seem overly concerned at all with the fact that most everyone around her were twice her size.

She did find someone her own size though. Another halfling. When asked how she made it to town, Melody had simply stated:

"By Sarenrae's will probably! I just arrived myself. Do you know what's this all about?"

[Oath]

As he was working his way through the crowd, Belsarus was stopped by a halfling much like himself. She seemed quite... chipper. Something he often pretended to be. He was surprised to see someone that was naturally that way.

"Aye, it's the Call for Heroes. Grand adventures and such. Do ya fancy yourself a hero, lass?" He gave one of his trademark smiles. "They call me Belsarus Fleetfoot, by the way."

[Throndir]

The red-headed halfling responded with a giggle, genuinely smiling from the other halfling's easy-going smile.

"O-oh, nothing like a hero, mister Fleetfoot! I'm on a pilgrimage from Elidir, and wanted to record some actual heroic deeds maybe. Along with spreading stories about Sarenrae. Most people around here don't believe in her, but I will redeem them!" The priestess proclaimed as her eye's sparkled in determination.

"Anywho, my name is Melody." The girl stated. "The priests don't really like it when I talked with others in the city, and I didn't get out much until now, so you're actually one of the first other people like me I've met. Oh! Except my parents of course. How is it like to you when everyone is so... big?" Melody asked. Her eyes wandered over towards a towering orc nearby.

"Like him for example. He's really, really, really big." She continued, pointing towards the orc, or perhaps he was a half-orc? Her own upbringing never really realizing that it was rude to point at others.

[info]Melody points at Riven.[/info]

[Oath]

"I think if ya wanna record heroic deeds, ya need to be a bit heroic yaself unless you plan at sitting at a bar and listenin' to every story a drunk has to tell." He did his best to dance around her comments about the church. Not that he had no faith, but spreading it wasn't his scene.

"Ya see, Melody when everyone is bigger than us its an advantage. We go unnoticed. You can slip in and out of places, maybe even make off with a bit of coin if ya need and nobody is the wiser. Just follow a big'un like that orc there and most people won't give ya a second glance, some won't even give ya a first."

[Mysticsage]

Riven felt someone's eyes on him as he continued to survey the town. Turning to see who it was who was so interested in him he scanned the crowd. At first he couldn't find who it was who was setting the hair on end, but on the second pass he happened to glance down and see the two halflings close to the ground. They had the right feeling to them plus one was pointing.

He couldn't help but smirk as he imagined approaching those two silently to give them a little bit of a shock. The behemoth half orc took one step forward before he caught himself. He was no longer in the arena where fear was the means to get popular with the crowd. If he made a scene now he wouldn't be much of a hero.

So the half orc did his best to swallow his presence and soften his stance as he moved to approach the pair. What he did not realize was that by suppressing his aura it made it so that he was that much more difficult to sense regardless. He made it over to the conversation in a few easy strides squatting down as far as he comfortably could to be at their level.

"Do you two need help with something? I couldn't help but notice you seemed to be pointing," he chuckled rubbing the back of his head with a large wolffish grin that was trying to be friendly but ended up being a little beastial.

[Oath]

Belsarus looked up at the large man with a smile. "No help needed here, ya see, this lass here ain't ever seen a city like this. I was just letting her know that a big'un like you is good for us little ones. They call me Belsarus Fleetfoot if ya were wonderin' Mr. Big'un."

[Mysticsage]

The half-orc looks up at the sky for a moment before nodding to himself and looking back down to Belsarus, "Well meet Bel, I was called Riven back home. It's a pleasure to meet'cha-" he said as he held out a hand in greeting to the halfling in a practiced gesture that didn't take into account the size difference. However, Riven seemed clueless about the issue with his large goofy grin.

"So do you too live in this town, or just traveling together?" he said glancing between the pair.

[Throndir]

"Oh we're not a pair!" Melody said quickly, shooting down the idea, without really realizing she simply connected the dots of traveling together to being a pair. "And I'm Melody, a priestess of Sarenrae. I came from Elidir. I'm here to write some sort of story to put into this." She said as she pulled out the book The Birth of Light and Truth. "Mister Fleetfoot thinks I should be a bit heroic, too, but as long as I can find a worthwhile story to write...!"

The look in Melody's eyes were one of both determination and wonder when she spoke about her goal. She shook herself out of it soon though, and focused on Riven.

"Anyways, do you have need of redemption mister Riven? Half of you is evil, right? I can tell you all about Ms. Dawnflower! She will absolutely brighten your day, anytime, guaranteed! You see, she's the goddess of the sun, too, and of healing! So if you put the two together, you end up just soaking up the sun and feeling refreshed. People here are feeling the goddess' love for all us too."

The halfling girl glanced around looking at all the other people either sweating in the sun, or attempting to shade themselves from it. She swore she even heard someone mutter something about 'contemptible heat'.

Loudly, for almost everyone to hear, she announced. "The goddess loves you all! Embrace the healing of the sun!" She smiled widely, innocently, but naively. Not really paying much attention to any potential hostile looks thrown her way, and also not quite realizing that this was indeed the reason the minority church of Sarenrae tended to keep her away from others back in the city.

To Melody though, it didn't matter. She was Sarenrae's priestess, she'd light the way for all of these poor lost souls with honesty, healing, and warmth. That was her call in life, and she wholeheartedly believed in it.

[Mysticsage]

Riven frowned for a moment while he took in the small cleric's performance before bursting out into full-throated laughter. "My apologies young priestess but that evil inside me is the reason I didn't die a long time ago. I've embraced my blood and made it my own, it has protected me when everything else has failed. Putting aside whatever baggage it comes with, I don't see that power as evil." He stood up to his full height and let his muscles flex slightly to put his physique on full display in the sun while he put his hands on his hips.

"Whatever god or demon blessed me with this strength, I have to thank them, but it is my choice how I use it!" He said proudly. "As for your dawnflower, I like the moon more myself, but the rest of it makes good sense. I've never really had the chance to do much studying of religion back home. I do like your straightforward enthusiasm," he said with a large smile.

[Asta]

It seems they wish to keep us waiting... Spira thought, standing under the punishing sun. Summer was her least favorite season, primarily because of the heat and her inability to escape it. She looked around until she found what she was looking for... shade.

Five brisk steps was all it took to reach her destination; a towering half-orc standing near a pair of halflings.

"You there, big one, you'll do nicely. Keep standing right there" Spira said brusquely, and then immediately plopped down into a squat in the man's large shadow. "Finally, relief. You two have the right idea." She waved a hand towards the halflings.

[Mysticsage]

Riven was slightly taken aback by the sudden appearance of the woman before him. He looks at the other two quizzically as if he had stepped into some kind of scheme however the smile on Melody's face seemed unlikely. Turning back to the woman in his shadow he spoke with a slight chuckle, "If you're looking to use me as some shade, "I'm happy to help, but I don't stand silently for strangers anymore at least without getting rewarded," The large half-orc said with a smirk. "As I imagine that's off the table, let's go with being acquaintances for now."

"My name's Riven what's yours, my lady?" Asked Riven offering a large hand to shake.