This was written because I really like Anomen, but I also like it when he crashes and burns trying to impress CHARNAME. He is such a nut it makes me laugh, so I wanted to reveal the side that many people don't realize: the side of Anomen that is trying desperately to court a lady like a gentleman should while failing miserably because he's really bad at this kind of stuff. So here we are, a relationship built off of insanity, miscommunication, and cat fights.

I'd like to hope that this can be both for people who like Anomen, and those who like seeing him be the butt of every joke. CHARNAME is not going to fawn over him like everyone assumes all the Lovetalks are like (only if you read them that way), and neither is she going to let him walk all over her. Both people in the relationship are going to have their ups and downs as well. CHARNAME is completely the opposite of perfect (unless you fail at writing and make a Mary Sue), so both people will end up being wrong on different accounts.

So the story is basically about a nameless and classless CHARNAME (Known simply as "My lady" to Anomen, "Friend" to the rest of the group, and "Sister" to Imoen) as she and Anomen try to stumble through their adventure without getting each other killed. Strangely, it's easier said than done.

Also, for peoples' information, this version will go through a Good CHARNAME (And no meta gaming either. "Hey guys Edwin's really funny let's put him in even though we're all good!") so Anomen will probably end up being LG at the end. If you prefer CN Anomen, then please wait until I finish that version up. I'd say a little more but this is getting long and I bet all of the stuff I already said has turned 95% of readership off. So I'll shut up and the rest of you can Read On!

She didn't look particularly amazing, grand, or powerful, really. She just looked like a woman. Granted, she had the charisma to lead, and she seemed to attract strong adventurers in her wake, but when one looked past all of the amazing tales that the bards sung about her group, it was really nothing more than a tattered group of individuals who seemed to have their own dreams and ideals. None of them seemed to be able to agree on one thing, and yet something about them kept them all together somehow. It was something that made Anomen Delryn, Warrior Cleric of Helm and Squire of the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart, seethe deep down. How could a group so crude, so ungainly, so… chaotic, create such harmony and good wherever they went? It was a blasphemous idea that made the cleric more and more curious of their work as the days went by.

She was rearranging her gear as they traveled; she always seemed so used to this traveling about business. He understood that there were female knights, as well, but she was somehow more comfortable in traveling than even veteran paladins. She had found a moment of time away from the group, introvert that she was, so Anomen decided to find out what made her tick.

"Good day, my lady," the cleric said upon approaching her. She ignored him, checking instead inside her pack for anything she might need. Anomen frowned lightly. What was so important about her gear that made her ignore her own companions? He puffed himself up and cleared his throat loudly.

"Hello, Anomen. Can I help you?" she asked, not making eye contact and instead tending to her supplies. Was she ignoring him? The cleric cocked his head with a frown. From what he knew of her during their short adventures together, she was definitely introverted and soft spoken, but he never thought that she would be this intensely adverse to speaking to her own party! It made the cleric deflate a bit; not even his own party members seemed to enjoy his company... "Anomen? Can I help you?" The woman's repeated question snapped Anomen out of his thoughts, and he non-verbally blamed his silence on a fake cough.

"I was just thinking. You know many of the others in this… group, but even though we've been traveling together, my lady, I know next to nothing of you. At least, aside from what few bards have sung of your adventures."

"Is that so?" she asked, as if the thought never occurred to her. There was silence for a moment, and Anomen shifted awkwardly. "I suppose you're right," she said aloud, "Very well then, if it would please you, tell me about yourself, Anomen."

The warrior cleric chuckled and puffed himself up, prideful as a peacock. "Well, I suppose there's not much to say…" he muttered to himself in a way that betrayed his humble words, "I've not been knighted yet, so the Order hasn't asked me to do anything really impressive such as dragon slaying, but there was this one time…" He seemed to find himself in another world as he looked into the sky and reminisced. "I was called out with a small band to fight an Orc invasion up north. Now, normally, one Orc is no match for I, but there was a huge wave coming down the mountain, and so I…"

The woman strapped her backpack down and lifted it onto her back as the cleric continued, pantomiming the entire battle as he spoke, "…I was surrounded on all sides. Seven to my left, fourteen to my right, twenty to my back! And then, when all hope seemed lost, I pulled out my mace and struck a mighty blow, Helm guiding my strikes true! Every one of those fifty Orcs lay dead at my feet in a matter of minutes."

The leader stared at him. He stared back at her, trying in vain to read her face. Eventually she shrugged. "Sounds really impressive, Anomen. Come on, the others are waiting for us." She wandered towards the encampment as the cleric caught up with her.

"Why, yes, but surely they aren't as impressive as your tales of valor!" he said when he finally reached her side again, "I've heard many songs about your great adventures, but it really isn't as good as hearing it from the horse's mouth, am I wrong?"

"You're not," she said lightly, shouldering her pack, "but I will guarantee you that those bards stretched the truth about my victories. They never really say everything that actually happened."

Anomen smirked lightly. "I know how you feel. Sometimes it can be so bothersome, hearing them prattle on about such silly overblown stories that are not true at all. How about you, however? Surely, you really didn't singlehandedly stop a war between Baldur's Gate and Amn, did you, my lady?"

"Oh, that one?" She nodded. "Yeah, that one's completely true. Turns out you can't even trust your half brother not to stab you in the back. Dog eat dog, am I right?"

Anomen stopped, mouth hanging slightly agape. "That whole thing… about… the fighting, and the underground necropolis, and the… and Amn and Nashkel and… All of it was true…?"

She turned around and blinked at him lightly, hand on her hip. "Well, yes, I wouldn't lie about something like that," she said. She looked down at the small encampment, where the rest of the group motioned for her to join them, and her eyes got a faraway look in them. "I just… I didn't do it alone, of course."

"Of course, you are very humble, my lady." Adventurer or not, Anomen decided she was at least a nice young woman, a woman worthy of a man's respect. He then noticed something about her eyes and peered at her. "My lady, are you…?"

Anomen was interrupted when she brushed past him, rubbing her eyes. "I'm fine. Let's go." There was utter silence as she left him stand on the hill, wondering just what she was even talking about. The only thing he could piece together was that the friends that already stood by her side had a long history with her. If he was going to get to the bottom of this weird "Harmony out of Chaos" business, he was going to have to watch her carefully.

"My lady! Wait for me! I'm coming!" he called, rushing down the hill after her. She turned to him slowly as he caught up with her, panting from his exertion in armor, and for the first time since he met her, she gave him a small smile; a smile he he gladly returned…

…which then broke. "You're so silly, Anomen," she said offhandedly through her smirk, and he sputtered in mute surprise as she walked on. The… the nerve! Silly? He was… he was a Warrior Cleric of Helm and a Squire of the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart! Warrior Clerics of Helm were not "silly"! He was most definitely wrong: this lady wasn't nice or worthy of any respect, calling a member of the Radiant Heart "silly"!

He turned away and frowned angrily; what kind of adventuring group did he get caught up in, anyway? Absolutely horrible, the lot of them…!