The elf dug her backpack out from underneath her cot. She was sure that it contained everything which she needed; she had made one last check before stowing it away in its hiding place. She'd planned running away and fulfilling her dream, but had never gathered the courage before. This evening, however, her uncle's remarks pushed her into the unfortunate realization that, no matter how cosy her life maybe in the fields around Balchord, if she wanted to follow her calling she MUST leave.
"Stop putting it off!", she thought to herself. "If it's frightening, it's good for you. Remember your first archery lesson; how you thought you'd hit the instructor?" Unfortunately, that fear was justified. "Tarawera!" She could almost HEAR her mental self- check. "You've got gold, food,maps and a goal to aim at. NOW MOVE!"
She moved quickly to the window, threw her few belongings out and followed them, landing softly on the "well-developed", as her mother liked to say, grass. She picked up the backpack, straightned her well-worn cloth armour and moved off at a trot to the nearby forest.
On reaching the forest, she pulled a dagger out of her pack and hooked it in its specially-designed loop on her belt. Her crossbow (an unusual weapon for an elf, but she was stronger than most) she left in the pack. She felt safe in the forest and although she intended to travel far, she considered the first few days 99% risk- free. It was the remaining 1% which had made her retrieve her dagger.
She resumed her North-ward treck. She had decided not to go in a straight line from her home village of Balchord to her final goal, the city of Chimsob, but to take a slightly longer route via the town of Follyala and the village of Matzin. Food was fairly easy to find in the forest; she had been vegitarian for a long time and could easily recognize the roots, mushrooms and berries which were safe for her to eat. She knew, however, that the further she went from home the more likely she was to find unusual plants which she would not recognize and being generally cautious by nature, she would rather make the extra effort to walk to a settlement and buy food there, than risk poison or starvation. It also occured to her that by taking that route, she would be sure of finding inns and, therefore, warm beds.
It wasn't that she was desperately unhappy in Balchord, but she just had a feeling (or at least a hope) that she could do better. Her mother had made a decent living as a tracker since her father's death, but she didn't want to spend the rest of her life smiling weakly at visitors' jokes about pointy ears; she COULD do better. Or that's what she had convinced herself and was now determined to succeed.
So she had calmly made a list of her strengths and weaknesses and had come to the conclusion that she should journey to a settlement where she was not known and join-up with some adventurers. Adventurers visiting Balchord were prone to 'pressure' from her mother. One group had accepted her, but when she tried to join up with them the following day, found them looking nervous and muttering something about "You should with your mother, tracking and guiding". They left hurriedly and had not been seen in the area since.
Unlike her fellow elves, she had no propensity toward magic, but her strength and agility made her an above-average fighter. Her elven awareness made her a better shot with a bow than most; halfbloods included. If she could find a group who would not be intimidated by her mother, she was sure that she would be able to convice them to hire her. Convincing people was one of her strengths.
Through a small break in the trees, Tarawere peered intently at what she could see of the horizon. Yes, there was definitely a hint of yellow/orange there. She must have been walking for nearly four hours, but did not feel fatigued. She gave a silent "Thank you" to whichever God had blessed her with adrelalin, but forced herelf to rest for a while, nevertheless. She took a ration out of her backpack and chewed on it while watching the rising sun. Being more of a night person, she had never seen a sunrise before. Marvelling at it's beauty she resolved to watch for a while longer. She reclined against a fairly large boulder, using her backpack to support her lower back.
The sun had disappeared and only dark shadows remainedº- what evil magician had done this?! Startled, Tarawera sat up and looked around. Her neck clicked loudly several times in protest. Oh, there it was, behind her. She must have slept through the whole of the morning and a fair part of the afternoon. She silently withdrew her thanks from the God whichever had chosen not to bless her with adrelalin.
Now, however, her thoughts turned to the erasure of all trace of her from this place. She was sure that she was being pursued by now. Her mother would follow, if only to ensure that she was punished for leaving without her permission. She reshouldered her backpack, checked her dagger's position and moved on. She would not reach Follyla before the day after tomorrow and she knew that her stock of rations would be relatively low by that time.
She glimpsed Follyla for the first time the following day and was almost angry when she had to stop, but realized that it was still over half a day's walk away. She could not cover that distance without rest. "If I was a dwarf I could have continued" she thought. "If you were a dwarf you would be picking gold out of a hundred foot mine and beer froth out of your beard!" her mind thought back. That night's sleep came with a grudgingness bordering on outright rebellion. Her body was tired, her brain recognized the need for rest, but her brain refused to shut down. It would think of nothing, but wander without direction, like a hyperactive squirrel which can't remember where it buried its nuts.
She awoke quite earlyº- after the sun appeared, but before the dew had evaporated. She noticed a small tributory on the way to the town and considering her appearance, thought it would be best if she stopped for a short time. It would be embarressing if the guards refused to let her in, after the effort of walking this far! After the most extensive wash she could manage in a stream, she resumed her walk towards the town.
At the town gates she passed the militia which was having a few forceful words with an adventuring group who had been caught on three occasions trying to withdraw large amounts of cash from the town's bank. Unfortunately, the group neither had an account with the bank, nor had made the attempts during normal banking hours. She wandered on.
She was amazed at the town's size: two food shops, three inns, a pair of weapon shops, a jewellers, a trio of banking services and even a temple! She purchased a newspaper and went for a walk around the town. She was astounded by what she found when she entered a food shop. A painting! A food shop selling a painting! She couldn't deny it was a nice painting, but over 1000ºgps! The town must have a lot of rich visitors.
No surprises in the inn, or indeed, in ANY of the inns. There was a strange group in one corner of the second inn. One of them looked like a priestº- and a high-ranking priest at that. They were playing pontoon, but it was too expensive a past-time for a runaway elf! Perhaps the priest was trying to save their souls. Then again, perhaps the priest was one of Novala's and was trying to win his fellow gambler's clothes!
Later she again considered the merits of being a dwarf, for in one of the weapon shops she found an axe. That was not unusual, but this axe had the ability to magically increase the damage caused in combat! Amazing! Perhaps if +1 axes could be found, then +1 swords existed. She thought of buying a short sword to practice with, but as no-one sold them, she contented herself with her dagger. Better proficiency with an average weapon, than hesitancy with a powerful one.
The day had been long and so, she retired to an inn. The landlord let her take her drink to her room and she savoured it while eating her last-but-one ration. Before she started on the next leg of her journey (to the village of Matzin), she would return to the foodshop. Buying the rations today would only have meant trying to store them out of the way of the rats.
She found a map shop! She hadn't noticed it before because it was tucked away between a weapons shop and the jewellers. It had just the one map and it wasn't very big. It would have been useful though, but yet again, the price was too much. Would she EVER find something which she could afford?!
She had no illusion as to being able to afford any of the jeweller's wares, but she had to look all the same. The jeweller was kind when she admitted that she could not afford to buy anything. He'd winked and said "Don't worryº- most people can't and just come to look. Look around anyway, one day you may be able to afford something; remember Fhafoba then!" She laughed with him and had promised she would. Tarawera began her tour of the shop as the owner went off to serve a customer; "Dare not keep 'em waiting; they're so rare!".
The shop was marvellous! Gems of varying hues and sizes, and a goblet with so much decorative metalwork, it would have been a crime to use it as a drinking vessel. And the locket! It was gorgeousº- her mother would have died for it. She thought of her mother's face if she ever saw it and could not resist buying it. If they ever met again she would give her mother the locket in the hope that its beauty would fade her mother's (quite formidable) anger. Until then she would keep it as a good luck charmº- it would be worth sleeping in barns for the rest of the trip. Fhafoba, seeing how hard up she was, gave her a small discount and again reminded her to remember him when she was rich.
The bankers were totally uninterested in her. They were courteous and willing to give her a loan, but she refused. She had no work and no guarentee that she'd be able to pay it back and she was fearful of the consequences of renegading on a banker's loan. There were a lot of stories about Assassin's Guilds doing debt collecting! Tarawera had already visited the newsstand and so, that just left the temple to visit.
The temple was dedicated to Baldor and she was, naturally, recieved with great grace. The chief priest was out to lunch and so, his wife kindly showed Tarawera around. Tarawera was greatly interested in Baldor's religous teachings, but bought nothing of monetary value from the temple. She was not hurt, had not enough experience for a religious quest and could not afford a religious book or a crystal ball. Nor did she have a desire to carry a desk across Kharne, nor a desire to carry a skull, full stop. Tarawera thanked the chief priest's wife and left with an armful of leaflets which the chief priest had given to her when they met as she was leaving and as he was arriving.
It was getting late and Tarawera decided to remain at the Grizzled Slime for one last night. Thanks to the Fhafoba's generosity, she could afford it as well as fifty rations. She would have to carry the extra weight of so many rations, but it would work out cheaper and she needed the rest. She dreamt of goblets and goblins, of pontoon and of the adventuring pilagers which, after further thieving failures, the town council had finally banned from the town altogether.
Once again it was morning and once again Tarawera shouldered her backpack. She stopped briefly to buy the fifty ration pack and headed off to the North gates of the town. She cheerily complimented the militia on the town and, in surprise, they wished her a good journey. One of the younger ones even saluted, which the older members of the militia thought very amusing. He looked embarressed and blushed a bright red. It remineded Terawera of a top she was given for her last birthday. She was always fond of that shade.
The North gate opened out onto a small hill and at its top Tarawera turned and looked back at the 'big' town. She was so exitedº- if that was a TOWN what would a CITY be like?! But first the village of Matzin and that was a day and a half's walk away; so she had better get started!