Elendor
Words of Warning
Mobeorn shares words of warning about Cecilia's bard friend.
Sort Date: no date set
Location: High Pass
Description: As the rain continues, the ever-cheerful Cecilia is finally beginning to show signs of discomfort. She stands in her wet clothes and coat, looking absolutely miserable as she shivers from the morning chill. Unlike the rest who are probably preparing to depart or watching for danger around them, the healer simply stares down at the ground, tired and unhappy. This is -not- as romantic as the bard made it sound.
"Come on, lass," Mobeorn says, climbing up the mountain after having served as a rearguard while the group was taking a short break. "It's too wet to sit for long here, and too dangerous as well. And too late to go back down to the village by yourself. You just have to suck it up and climb."
Given the nasty weather, the Beornings have been pushing the pace, trying to make it up and over the mountain as soon as possible.
Cecilia sighs softly, but nods at Mobeorn's words. She would never go back now. If she did she would never hear the end of it. The young woman begins climbing, her pace far less enthusiastic as it has been the last few days. "We haven't seen any goblins yet. Maybe we won't.. they might all be hiding from the rain." She says hopefully, glancing back at him once before focusing on carefully traversing the slippery, uneven ground.
"No..." Mobeorn growls. "I've smelled them, even in this blasted rain. They are tracking us, watching. Waiting until we're in the worst possible spot. Mark my words. Did you come prepared?"
"Yes." Cecilia answers, sounding a bit nervous at the surety in his words. "I have my bow, and arrows.. and healing supplies." She turns to look back at him, a determined expression on her face despite her fear. The movement and shift of her weight causes her foot to slip on the wet gravel and the girl gasps suddenly, throwing her arms out as she tries to keep herself from falling.
Mobeorn is more sure-footed and right behind her, and he throws his arm out to grab her and stop her from sliding backwards down the slope. "Whoah!" he grins. "That's a sure fire way to announce you're here to the goblins--start a slide of the scree. Take your time and look where you're putting your feet. And step carefully."
Cecilia grabs onto Mobeorn tightly when he catches her, tensed and shaking for a moment. She relaxes, flashing him an appreciative smile and nodding at his instruction. "Thank you. I'll be more careful. Sorry, Mobeorn." She sounds honestly abashed by her clumsiness, not wanting her inexperience to put others at risk. She carefully begins climbing again, concentrating more on traversing the slippery slope.
A stab of light from the horizon, and the sun rises cold and distant.
The rain comes down in sheets here, slowing their progress even more and making footing difficult and dangerous. Mobeorn lets go of Cecilia's arm, muttering--but he is scanning the horizon, not looking at the girl. "Hope the Guides charged that harper double for this crossing," he says under his breath.
"Would they really do that? After how he helped us?" Cecilia asks, sounding worried. She remembers that Lith was bartering heavily with the fletcher so he must not have much money. "I thought you were friends with him?"
"Don't worry lass, they're probably not charging him anything at all. The man's not a dwarf--he's flat broke. I'm just sick of the rain pouring down," Mobeorn answers, giving his head a shake to send drops flying from his hair for a moment. "Though all this rain isn't going to help your bow strings. Or your arrows."
"Oh? I hadn't thought about that." Cecilia finally reaches a flatter section and pauses to look around, then blinks rain from her eyes and steps back out of the way, waiting patiently for the others. "I bet the goblins will all run away when they see you." She says with a grin.
Mobeorn laughs, despite the rain sticking his hair to his face and drops running off his nose. "They haven't yet, lass. They're not the brightest creatures in the world.."
"Maybe if we see them we should tell them. Then they'll know." Cecilia is still grinning, some of her perpetual good mood returning. "I've never seen you fight, but I've heard about it. My father has spoken of you."
That elicits a growl from the beijabar. "Consider yourself lucky you haven't seen me in a fight. Do you like to see guts spilling on the ground? Limbs torn off of bodies? And not jsut of orcs, but of your friends as well. You're a healer, I know, but you're young. There's a reason men retire to become skalds."
Cecilia's smile fades and she looks down, "I'm sorry, Mobeorn. I didn't mean it like that." She squeezes some water from the cuffs of her coat. "I don't want anyone to get hurt." The girl is only trying to fit in with the older group. She's heard her brothers talk and swap stories, and they always make it sound fun and exciting, despite the danger.
"Eh, no apologies necessary. You'll learn," Mobeorn grunts. "What are you going to do when an orc comes up behind you and tries to take your bow?"
"Do? .. " Ceci creases her brow in thought. "Well, kick him I suppose. Do you think one could sneak up on me?" She considers for another moment, then asks, "I should call for help, right?"
Mobeorn pauses, making a soft hrm noise... "If any are free, they'll try to help and protect you, yes. Do you have a dagger on you? Any kind of hand to hand weapon at all?"
"No.. " Cecilia's face crumbles as she realizes she hasn't prepared as well as she thought she did. "I have a small knife with the healing supplies, but.. not a dagger." She twists her hands, frowning, "I should have asked Vernon to check everything."
"Maybe one of the men has an extra," Mobeorn says, looking up at the line of guides ahead of them. "And how did your brothers and the rest of your family react to your coming along on this trip? It's a help to have a healer along, of course.."
Cecilia nods excitedly when he mentions borrowing a dagger. "Oh, that would be good, thank you!" She flashes that charming smile for him, the effect barely diminished by the rain. "My brothers?.. They weren't too happy. They're so protective about everything. My father thought it was good experience. My mother wasn't happy, but she came around."
This dagger is double edged little blade that is normally used for around camp and at worst a secondary weapon when the first fails. Its blade is about ten inches long and the handle is around five making a perfect fit in your hand.
Mobeorn laughs, shaking his head. "Larssen!" He calls up ahead to one of the guides. "Do you have an extra knife for the lady? Something to protect her honor with?" He winks at Cecilia. "Though I suppose I should have let you ask the harper for his knife....he sweet on you?"
"The harper? Oh.. I don't think so. I think he just likes to sing his songs. He wasn't happy that I came on the trip." Cecilia shrugs faintly, then looks up to where the man is that Mobeorn called out to. She gives the man a chagrinned smile and a little teasing wave.
Larssen comes slowly back down the slope, handing the hilt of a sheathed dagger to Cecilia. "This is my spare," he says. "I hope you don't need to use it." That is said with a dark look to Mobeorn, then the man turns around.
"Thought for sure he's sweet on you,"Mobeorn shrugs. "Sure lights up when he sees you, that's for certain. It's a shame--we could use a fighting...erm..singer."
Cecilia thanks the man, even going so far as to give him a little curtsey. Then she takes a moment to study the dagger, smiling in delight when she sees the pretty silver metal. What? Stick that into someone? That thought never crosses her mind. She looks up at Mobeorn's musing, "Do you think so? Seriously? Has he said anything?" The girl seems torn between pleasure that the bard fancies her and the possibility that he might be growing -too- attached. She does have a fiance, after all.
Being a beijabar--and one that until recently had lived in the wilds, away from men--Mobeorn is oblivious to the subtleties of human courtship. That and he has no tact.
"Aye, he wants you for his mate, I can see that in his eyes when he looks at you, in fact. But he'll not stay here, so you'd have to raise your cubs alone. And I know that the folk of your village don't like that."
Cecilia stares, blushing at the beijabar's blunt words. "Nooo.. I don't think he's thinking about any of -that-.." She twists the dagger around in her fingers. "He just sings songs to me, it doesn't mean anything." Still, despite her words she frets, her thin brows creased in concern. "Maybe I should talk to him. My parents are making arrangements for another."
Again, Mobeorn is oblivious. "Oh, it would mean something ifyou let him, that's for certain. I -saw- him eyeing the women in the Mad Dog the first week he was here, flirting wtih them and talking about a warm bed. It's on his mind all right, but he knows that our women have brothers and fathers who don't take kindly to that sort of thing. Told him so myself. Still...you're old enough to choose who your mate will be. BUt you should know he'll go wandering off, too, that one. Probably has a string of cubs across the lands as it is."
Cecilia looks aghast as Mobeorn's implications finally sink in. "No! I wouldn't do that! Mobeorn!" Her words are hushed but outraged. "You must'nt think things like that! He is only a friend.. I have my honor. My parents have chosen a husband for me, I could never be with the harper." She looks around nervously, making sure that Lith isn't too near.
"What??" Mobeorn stops walking, looking completely puzzled. "Do what? What did I say?" He shakes his head, water flying off his hair. "All I said was that you're old enough to choose your own mate. But I'd bet a pot of honey the harper has children far and wide. A man like that...young, good looking, with a sweet song ever at his lips. Must not spend too many nights alone and cold in his own bed."
"I'm not interested in him like -that-." Ceci insists, frowning. "You can't say anything to anyone. They'll think it's true and if my brother hears he'll be so angry!" She rubs her arms, nervous now. "It doesn't matter what he does with his.. his.. lovers. I'm not one of them. I won't be. I'm going to have a proper husband!"
"Well good for you, lass!" Mobeorn grins cheerfully, starting to slap a large hand across the girl's back and then deciding the better of it. "Your family set it up, you say? Strange how the villagers will do that sometimes. When's the wedding?"
Cecilia looks positively glum now, trying to decide what to do with the harper. Oh, she knew she was teasing and making a game of his affections, but she never thought he was taking any of it seriously. "The wedding? Oh.. um.. in the fall, when the leaves grow colorful." Oh well, the harper will be gone in a few days anyway. "Will you come? To my wedding?"
"Wedding?" Mobeorn seems puzzled again and uncomfortable. "Why...sure...suppose so...never been to any ceremony in teh village before..."
"It's great fun! You'll enjoy it very much!" Cecilia rather spontaneously gives the big man a quick hug, then dances away and begins climbing again. "And you'll need to bring a lady with you! don't forget!"
"What?!" Mobeorn lunges after the girl, making a half hearted attempt to grab her. "I will -not- come with a lady friend! I don't have any lady friends!"
Cecilia twists back around as Mobeorn catches her. His reaction doesn't bother her, she's quite used to such attitudes from Vernon and would never in a hundred years think that the beijibar might hurt her. "Oh.. no lady friends?" Ceci thinks on that for a moment, then smiles. "Don't worry about it! I'll arrange someone for you. I know just the person!"
"Come on, lass," Mobeorn says, climbing up the mountain after having served as a rearguard while the group was taking a short break. "It's too wet to sit for long here, and too dangerous as well. And too late to go back down to the village by yourself. You just have to suck it up and climb."
Given the nasty weather, the Beornings have been pushing the pace, trying to make it up and over the mountain as soon as possible.
Cecilia sighs softly, but nods at Mobeorn's words. She would never go back now. If she did she would never hear the end of it. The young woman begins climbing, her pace far less enthusiastic as it has been the last few days. "We haven't seen any goblins yet. Maybe we won't.. they might all be hiding from the rain." She says hopefully, glancing back at him once before focusing on carefully traversing the slippery, uneven ground.
"No..." Mobeorn growls. "I've smelled them, even in this blasted rain. They are tracking us, watching. Waiting until we're in the worst possible spot. Mark my words. Did you come prepared?"
"Yes." Cecilia answers, sounding a bit nervous at the surety in his words. "I have my bow, and arrows.. and healing supplies." She turns to look back at him, a determined expression on her face despite her fear. The movement and shift of her weight causes her foot to slip on the wet gravel and the girl gasps suddenly, throwing her arms out as she tries to keep herself from falling.
Mobeorn is more sure-footed and right behind her, and he throws his arm out to grab her and stop her from sliding backwards down the slope. "Whoah!" he grins. "That's a sure fire way to announce you're here to the goblins--start a slide of the scree. Take your time and look where you're putting your feet. And step carefully."
Cecilia grabs onto Mobeorn tightly when he catches her, tensed and shaking for a moment. She relaxes, flashing him an appreciative smile and nodding at his instruction. "Thank you. I'll be more careful. Sorry, Mobeorn." She sounds honestly abashed by her clumsiness, not wanting her inexperience to put others at risk. She carefully begins climbing again, concentrating more on traversing the slippery slope.
A stab of light from the horizon, and the sun rises cold and distant.
The rain comes down in sheets here, slowing their progress even more and making footing difficult and dangerous. Mobeorn lets go of Cecilia's arm, muttering--but he is scanning the horizon, not looking at the girl. "Hope the Guides charged that harper double for this crossing," he says under his breath.
"Would they really do that? After how he helped us?" Cecilia asks, sounding worried. She remembers that Lith was bartering heavily with the fletcher so he must not have much money. "I thought you were friends with him?"
"Don't worry lass, they're probably not charging him anything at all. The man's not a dwarf--he's flat broke. I'm just sick of the rain pouring down," Mobeorn answers, giving his head a shake to send drops flying from his hair for a moment. "Though all this rain isn't going to help your bow strings. Or your arrows."
"Oh? I hadn't thought about that." Cecilia finally reaches a flatter section and pauses to look around, then blinks rain from her eyes and steps back out of the way, waiting patiently for the others. "I bet the goblins will all run away when they see you." She says with a grin.
Mobeorn laughs, despite the rain sticking his hair to his face and drops running off his nose. "They haven't yet, lass. They're not the brightest creatures in the world.."
"Maybe if we see them we should tell them. Then they'll know." Cecilia is still grinning, some of her perpetual good mood returning. "I've never seen you fight, but I've heard about it. My father has spoken of you."
That elicits a growl from the beijabar. "Consider yourself lucky you haven't seen me in a fight. Do you like to see guts spilling on the ground? Limbs torn off of bodies? And not jsut of orcs, but of your friends as well. You're a healer, I know, but you're young. There's a reason men retire to become skalds."
Cecilia's smile fades and she looks down, "I'm sorry, Mobeorn. I didn't mean it like that." She squeezes some water from the cuffs of her coat. "I don't want anyone to get hurt." The girl is only trying to fit in with the older group. She's heard her brothers talk and swap stories, and they always make it sound fun and exciting, despite the danger.
"Eh, no apologies necessary. You'll learn," Mobeorn grunts. "What are you going to do when an orc comes up behind you and tries to take your bow?"
"Do? .. " Ceci creases her brow in thought. "Well, kick him I suppose. Do you think one could sneak up on me?" She considers for another moment, then asks, "I should call for help, right?"
Mobeorn pauses, making a soft hrm noise... "If any are free, they'll try to help and protect you, yes. Do you have a dagger on you? Any kind of hand to hand weapon at all?"
"No.. " Cecilia's face crumbles as she realizes she hasn't prepared as well as she thought she did. "I have a small knife with the healing supplies, but.. not a dagger." She twists her hands, frowning, "I should have asked Vernon to check everything."
"Maybe one of the men has an extra," Mobeorn says, looking up at the line of guides ahead of them. "And how did your brothers and the rest of your family react to your coming along on this trip? It's a help to have a healer along, of course.."
Cecilia nods excitedly when he mentions borrowing a dagger. "Oh, that would be good, thank you!" She flashes that charming smile for him, the effect barely diminished by the rain. "My brothers?.. They weren't too happy. They're so protective about everything. My father thought it was good experience. My mother wasn't happy, but she came around."
This dagger is double edged little blade that is normally used for around camp and at worst a secondary weapon when the first fails. Its blade is about ten inches long and the handle is around five making a perfect fit in your hand.
Mobeorn laughs, shaking his head. "Larssen!" He calls up ahead to one of the guides. "Do you have an extra knife for the lady? Something to protect her honor with?" He winks at Cecilia. "Though I suppose I should have let you ask the harper for his knife....he sweet on you?"
"The harper? Oh.. I don't think so. I think he just likes to sing his songs. He wasn't happy that I came on the trip." Cecilia shrugs faintly, then looks up to where the man is that Mobeorn called out to. She gives the man a chagrinned smile and a little teasing wave.
Larssen comes slowly back down the slope, handing the hilt of a sheathed dagger to Cecilia. "This is my spare," he says. "I hope you don't need to use it." That is said with a dark look to Mobeorn, then the man turns around.
"Thought for sure he's sweet on you,"Mobeorn shrugs. "Sure lights up when he sees you, that's for certain. It's a shame--we could use a fighting...erm..singer."
Cecilia thanks the man, even going so far as to give him a little curtsey. Then she takes a moment to study the dagger, smiling in delight when she sees the pretty silver metal. What? Stick that into someone? That thought never crosses her mind. She looks up at Mobeorn's musing, "Do you think so? Seriously? Has he said anything?" The girl seems torn between pleasure that the bard fancies her and the possibility that he might be growing -too- attached. She does have a fiance, after all.
Being a beijabar--and one that until recently had lived in the wilds, away from men--Mobeorn is oblivious to the subtleties of human courtship. That and he has no tact.
"Aye, he wants you for his mate, I can see that in his eyes when he looks at you, in fact. But he'll not stay here, so you'd have to raise your cubs alone. And I know that the folk of your village don't like that."
Cecilia stares, blushing at the beijabar's blunt words. "Nooo.. I don't think he's thinking about any of -that-.." She twists the dagger around in her fingers. "He just sings songs to me, it doesn't mean anything." Still, despite her words she frets, her thin brows creased in concern. "Maybe I should talk to him. My parents are making arrangements for another."
Again, Mobeorn is oblivious. "Oh, it would mean something ifyou let him, that's for certain. I -saw- him eyeing the women in the Mad Dog the first week he was here, flirting wtih them and talking about a warm bed. It's on his mind all right, but he knows that our women have brothers and fathers who don't take kindly to that sort of thing. Told him so myself. Still...you're old enough to choose who your mate will be. BUt you should know he'll go wandering off, too, that one. Probably has a string of cubs across the lands as it is."
Cecilia looks aghast as Mobeorn's implications finally sink in. "No! I wouldn't do that! Mobeorn!" Her words are hushed but outraged. "You must'nt think things like that! He is only a friend.. I have my honor. My parents have chosen a husband for me, I could never be with the harper." She looks around nervously, making sure that Lith isn't too near.
"What??" Mobeorn stops walking, looking completely puzzled. "Do what? What did I say?" He shakes his head, water flying off his hair. "All I said was that you're old enough to choose your own mate. But I'd bet a pot of honey the harper has children far and wide. A man like that...young, good looking, with a sweet song ever at his lips. Must not spend too many nights alone and cold in his own bed."
"I'm not interested in him like -that-." Ceci insists, frowning. "You can't say anything to anyone. They'll think it's true and if my brother hears he'll be so angry!" She rubs her arms, nervous now. "It doesn't matter what he does with his.. his.. lovers. I'm not one of them. I won't be. I'm going to have a proper husband!"
"Well good for you, lass!" Mobeorn grins cheerfully, starting to slap a large hand across the girl's back and then deciding the better of it. "Your family set it up, you say? Strange how the villagers will do that sometimes. When's the wedding?"
Cecilia looks positively glum now, trying to decide what to do with the harper. Oh, she knew she was teasing and making a game of his affections, but she never thought he was taking any of it seriously. "The wedding? Oh.. um.. in the fall, when the leaves grow colorful." Oh well, the harper will be gone in a few days anyway. "Will you come? To my wedding?"
"Wedding?" Mobeorn seems puzzled again and uncomfortable. "Why...sure...suppose so...never been to any ceremony in teh village before..."
"It's great fun! You'll enjoy it very much!" Cecilia rather spontaneously gives the big man a quick hug, then dances away and begins climbing again. "And you'll need to bring a lady with you! don't forget!"
"What?!" Mobeorn lunges after the girl, making a half hearted attempt to grab her. "I will -not- come with a lady friend! I don't have any lady friends!"
Cecilia twists back around as Mobeorn catches her. His reaction doesn't bother her, she's quite used to such attitudes from Vernon and would never in a hundred years think that the beijibar might hurt her. "Oh.. no lady friends?" Ceci thinks on that for a moment, then smiles. "Don't worry about it! I'll arrange someone for you. I know just the person!"
Players: Mobeorn, Cecilia
Located in: Beorning
