Unfamiliar Wayward Plains (PM for Entry)

[NotWright]

Wright swayed slightly, back and forth unconsciously as he dosed. His horses footsteps were muffled as it ambled quietly through the plains, making barely a sound. It had been so for several hours, ever since Wright had awoken in the early morning. The morning dew had begun to evaporate, and rise as mist as he broke camp. It had filled him with such a sense of serenity and solitude Wright felt at ease to rest his eyes a moment. He had not seen a soul for days, and he was confident he would not be caught unawares by bandits. No sooner had shut his eyes then he had dosed off again.

After labouring under Wright's weight and traveling in the same direction for hours, his mount had finally reached a slight incline. A small dip in the plains. It advanced ever steadily forward, unconcerned for Wright's comatose state, causing him to lean forward slightly. He noticed the change in his centre of gravity and adjusted himself, lurching suddenly backward, awakening.

Wright rose his free hand silently to his face, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and muscling his mind begrudgingly back into consciousness. He noticed the sun boring down uncomfortably on his back. Raising his head, he looked about blearily for a spot of shade to stop under, so that he could get his bearings. He found none. The plains seemed to stretch on forever. His horse reached level ground again, and he dismounted. He reached into his supplies for a map. Rummaging around, Wright was confronted with the unpleasant reminder that his supplies were running out. Finally, layed hands on a thick role of parchment, pulled it forth, and consulted it.

He looked turned his attention to the map, taking it in in its entirety before focusing on Sacae, and the jagged peaks in the north and south. He peered over the maps fringes, casting his eyes out beyond the grass surface. He lowered the map altogether. It was official. He was lost.

Inwardly frustrated, he rolled up the map once more. He felt as if he wanted to throw up his arms and emit some angered shout. But he had already committed one gross oversight today. Why add emotional instability to the day's list of blunders. He fastened the rolled up map in his hand to his side and mounted his horse with a sigh. He looked over his stead's head at the jagged peaks before him. If only he knew if they were the mountains on the north, or in the south.

Without further a due, he resumed his steady trot across the country, baring in mind that he would need to resupply at a villiage soon.

[Sclaevinius]

Homesick, Sclaevinius wanted to visit his hometown in Sacae. However, he didn't know where it was since he was still a child when he had to run to Etruria. He tried reading his mother's diary, hoping he would find some information, but most of the pages were either torn off or burned. That didn't discourage him, though, so he decided searching for it, even if he had to explore every corner of Sacae.

Wearing brown hood over his head that hides his eyes, Sclaevinius wanders through the forest hoping he'll find a village with an inn, because he was tired. Well, he mainly wanted to get something to eat because he loves food, and vulnearies cant be actually used as food. He tried to ignore growling in his stomach, thinking about his primary destination.

(Damn, maybe it wasnt a good idea to ignore gathering food supplies.) He groaned as he noticed that he's reaching the end of the forest. Filled with hope, Sclaevinius ran towards the light, hoping there's a town or at least a village. Unfortunately, it was just a clearance that ended with a cliff.

Unsatisfied with his discovery, he asked himself if this adventure is worth it. Even though he's carrying his book of spells for self defense, he pondered: what if he gets attacked by wolves, or brigands, or thieves, or even monsters?!

He looked down the cliff and noticed a young man riding a horse. Judging by his clothing, he could easily tell he's cavalier from Bern. He seemed friendly, so Sclaevinius tried to walk around the cliff to get into the plain.

[NotWright]

After several hours more spent trotting toward the jagged peaks in the distance, a ridge broke the horizon. Wright arched a brow and once again consulted his map. He hoped the ridge would provide some insight as to where her was. Scrutinizing the parchment through narrowed eyes, he scoured Sacae for some landmark. But his efforts were spent in vein. He once again rolled up the map and fastened it to his side. Now not only did the jagged mountains loom over him in the distance, but now also did the cliffside. He sighed disheartened.

"At least a break from the never ending plains." He said to his steed with a bit of a laugh. "Not only that, but there looks to be a forest too. That means shade, perhaps water and game. And if there is game, then there may be hunters. If I am lucky, I might encounter one, and get directions."

He and his mount advanced until they reached the shade cast by the cliff. He sighed a second time, but this time with relief. Now that the sun was no longer beating down on him, he felt exponentially less irritated. He pulled lightly on the reigns, redirecting his horse and ambling along the length of the ridge. He took a moment to focus on the threats that may lay ahead. They may conceal any number of bandits or rabid animals. Were a hunter to happen upon him, he himself may very well may end up shot by mistake. Although, he dismissed these thoughts. In his mind, the possible gains outweighed the possible losses, given that as time went on, he was becoming increasingly desperate.

By the time he had finished considering the situation, the cliff had begun to level out and he approached a way up. Unbenounced to him, he and the young mage were following paths likely to cross. As such, Wright scanned the route up, and squited at what appeared to be a tall, rather thin looking man wearing a robe. He thought the man looked relatively suspicious, wearing a robe in the Sacean heat. Nevertheless, he dismounted and began his ascent.

[Sclaevinius]

Unsure if stranger is friendly, Sclaevinius approached him slowly and with caution, just to be on the safe side, and there was only one way to find out. He was not willing to fight though, because he was mainly pacifist, and he was hungry, but if his life was on the line, he wouldn't be afraid to attack. As he was few meters away from him, he started to lower his guard, thinking he's not hostile.

(Hmmm, who knows... Maybe he is a really nice guy, but I'll never know if I don't try.) He was in a bit of a doubt, but still proceed to walk towards the cavalier.
He politely asked "Hello, dear sir, do you need someone to travel with, to assist you in your journey? I'm a trained mage, and my magic would come in handy. I ask nothing in return, just some food if you don't mind." He looked at him, unsure of the answer the stranger will give him.

"Oh, how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself." He took of his hood, showing his face completely. "I'm Sclaevinius Olnord, Sacaean by birth, but moved to Etruria during my childhood." He bowed to express his respect towards the stranger. "I will give you anything if you need as well, but if I'm bothering you and I'm not welcome in your vicinity, I'll be on my way." He smiled as he scratched his head. He also sorted his robes so it didn't appear messy.

[NotWright]

Slightly taken aback, Wright was shocked by the sudden introduction. As Sclaevinius went on, his suprise disapated, and he allowed a thin grin to cross his face. When he had finished, Wright chuckled lightly, holding firmly the reigns of his mount. "I must say, that is not the sort of introduction I am used to." Wright started. "In Bern we mostly keep it short and simple." He said, absent mindedly removing the leather glove from his free hand. "There is really no need to call me dear sir. Call me Wright." He then extended his hand to Sclaevinius, intent on shaking hands with him.

Wright continued. "I am bound for Lycia. Although, I'm not entirely sure where we are at the moment. I don't -need- someone to travel with me. But... if you could point me in the direction of the nearest village, you'd be welcome to travel with me at least that far. It doesn't sound to me that we are headed in the same direction though. And as for food, well..." He paused, and relinquished hold of the reigns. He reached around behind himself for his pack, and rummaged around for a few moments. After a few seconds had passed, he produced a stale loaf of bread. "There's not a lot to go around, but if you can help me, you're welcome to half, and whatever water I have."

[Sclaevinius]

"Oh I apologize for such introduction, you know, I get a bit nervous around strangers but I promise I'm pretty loyal when I get to know you better." He looks away embarassed. "And yeah, even though I don't know where my home town is, it would be an honor for me to be of any use. Even though I don't know where my home town is, I know very well about Sacae." He smiles softly. "And bread and water will be enough, thank you." He smiles more "So, where are you actually going? I apologize for my curiousity." He nods smiling. "By the way, the next town is not far, just few miles away." He nods fixing his hair "And I still wonder why am I wearing this robes" He is feeling a bit hot but doesn't want to embarass himself so he decides to keep them on himself. "However, the path to the town is quite suspicious... I reccomend proceeding with caution..." He looks behind him sighing, worried if they really have to go that way. "Even though I don't like fighting, it makes me behave oddly..." He shivers at such thought. "But what has to be done has to be done." He takes a deep breath and turns around. "Well, shall we proceed?" He tried to act like he is not nervours, but unfortunately, he wasnt quite good in acting if he had to take serious risks. He put his hood on, whether as disguise or to be cool.

[NotWright]

As Sclaevinius quickly apologized for his queer introduction, Wright waved a hand dismissively through the air. "It's fine." He said. "Just a bit odd." He added, offering a gentle smile before Sclaevinius went on. As he did so, he accepted the small amount that Wright offered him, and before long had answered Wright's question. He opened his mouth to speak, only to be run over by Sclaevinius, and he resolved to remain silent until the man was done, not wanting to interrupt.

When he appeared to be done, he put his hood up and Wright waited a few moments, so as to confirm that he was indeed finished. After doing so, he took his opportunity to reply. "In answer to your question, aside from stops along the way to resupply, was hoping to pass through Etruria. Maybe get a look at the capital then head to Lycia. And as for the path ahead, well..." Wright reached up and stroked his steeds mane fondly. "If we run into any sort of trouble, I'm confident we can outrun it if we need too." Wright looked around behind him, down the ridge and across the plains. "Besides. You're the first person I've seen for quite a while."

Wright averted his gaze from the plains. He was rather sick of looking at the ocean of grass, and instead returned his attention to Sclaevinius. "Speaking of travel, where are you headed?" He inquired of the young mage. "Anywhere in specific? You mentioned you home town." Wright had started in the direction that Sclaevinius had indicated, his mount's reigns in hand, and expecting the hooded mage to follow.

[Sclaevinius]

He looked at Wright and replied "Well, to be honest... I don't know..." He sighed and looked at him with hopelesness. He looked down slightly depressed. "Maybe my adventure is pointless..." He sighed. "But I wont let that discourage me, so I'll simply follow you." He nods looking at him with loyalty and a bit of hope.

"So how much do you need?" "Or perhaps you want something else?" He offered him a bag of money and his own lute, but he doubts someone from Bern would be interested in music. He shruged and sat down on a rock waiting for a response. He scratched his nose and sneezed like an enraged dragon."My apologies" He chuckled a bit.

He looked around shruging. "Well its first time for me to see anyone alive here too. I wonder why..." He scratched his noggin curiously and confused. "But oh well, there lots of mysteries in this world we'll never get an answer for..." He sighed a bit absent minded, thinking about something unrelated. He came back to his sense and look at Wright again, examining him a bit.

"So, shall we go or what?" He got up dusting his behind. "I don't have all day, and I believe you don't have either." He chuckled a bit fixing his hair. "By the way, you've got a nice horse, what's his name?" "I also apologize for being a chatterbox" He sighed embarassed as he hid his face. "Like they say, no time to lose."

[NotWright]

"You sure sigh a lot." mentioned Wright, as Sclaevinius expressed his doubts about his journey. "Well, like I said." Wright continued, "You're welcome to follow me to the nearest village. After I resupply, you can decide whether or not you wish to continue." Once again, he edged in the direction Sclaevinius had advised prior, expressing and interest in getting a move on.

"So how much do you need?" Sclaevinius interjected, extending a pouch of coin. Wright opened his mouth to say that he required no payment, until Sclaevinius present Wright with a lute. He looked at the thing and was intrigued by the idea. Sclaevinius had seated himself on a rock by now. But no sooner had he sat down, then had he stood back up and moved to continue on. He continued to speak, and by the time he had finished, Wright had concluded that the young mage was indeed extremely odd. When his opportunity to interject once again arrived, he took it. "Both a mage, and a minstrel! You certainly are a man of many talents. Be that as it may, if you insist on paying me, I suppose you could play the Lute of you don't mind. What songs can you play?"

[Sclaevinius]

"Oh I apologize for my weird behaviour, I just get a bit hyper." He nodded a bit embarassed as he noticed that Wright mentioned his lute. He got excited. "Oh, so you do like music?" He smiled happily "Well... I can play anything you want me to, Im not picky." He chuckles picking up his lute.

"Also, I dont need money. NO money, NO problems. I have enough problems right now, dont you think?" He tuned his lute and started playing some non specific melody and starts singing a bit. "Yeah, I love music, it makes me forget about all the worries of this world." He keeped playing some more. "Though I would be even happier if there was someone I could perform with, but I guess there are not that many people on this world that like music..." He sighed playing a bit more until putting his lute back and looked at Wright again.

"Also, I'll see what I'll do when we come to the nearest village, right now I'm really hungry, maybe thats the main reason why I'm feeling down..." He heard is stomach groaning and rubbed it, as he looked at his satchel again, hoping he'll find something to eat. He only found some bread crumbs. "Oh, its better than nothing, I guess..." He tossed them into his mouth, and chewed on them and gulped down, still feeling hungry. In fact, he became hungrier as if his organism is having a protest because bread crumbs werent enough...