"Heya kiddies" a voice calls from offstage
A woman with long brown hair and brown eyes dressed in blue mage robes skips into view.
"I'm OffshoreEcho, and today I'm going to share with you a tale of love between two very strange characters. One is the seed of a dead god of murder; the other is the offspring of a demon. Meet Laeleslin, elven ranger who has traveled up and down the Sword Coast fighting evil... including the highly irritating Anomen. Well, enough of me. Let's get to the good stuff."
"Have I ever told you of my time in the Order?" Laeleslin glanced back over her shoulder to Anomen while picking her way over the body of a mage on the floor.
"We have such stories amongst my people...being underground is just not for the Avariel." Aerie interrupted, looking about her fearfully. Laeleslin grunted in response to both, scanning the room with her sharp eyes.
"Boo wants to know why we are here when there is much evil to be kicked about in the sewers above." The rodent in question squeaked as Minsc placed him back in his pack.
"Raelis wanted us to find someone down here... a bard."
"Why we should concern ourselves in the affairs of a theatre house is beyond me." The knight snorted in disgust and Aerie frowned at Anomen's puerile arrogance.
They group moved back down a long hallway and past an experimentation room, into the lounge beyond.
Laeleslin stopped short in the doorway. Anomen, having followed his leader so uncomfortably close, ran into her, which prompted a boot being slammed down on his foot. "By Helm, my Lady..." he began and quickly trailed off as he spotted the reason for the abrupt halt.
There, standing rather dazedly, was a lithe man of very unusual appearance. "My head clears with stars and liquid fire and I see before me the new holder of my shackles." He did not look up as he spoke, but his voice was soft and rich, laden with a resignation to his fate.
Anomen stepped quickly in front of Laeleslin in an overprotective way and crossed his arms over his chest. "WE are on a noble mission and are to return you in our own good time." Laeleslin snickered, remembering how only seconds before Anomen had laughed off the assignment. The bard did not respond.
Laeleslin quickly pushed Anomen back out of the way. "You'll have to excuse my overpompous friend here. I am Laeleslin, and we have come to rescue you from this dank sewer."
At the sound of the smooth elven voice, the man looked up for the first time. Scars and strange markings lined his handsome face and his eyes were of an unusual color for that of someone clearly holding elven blood. Those piercing eyes focused on the slim warrior standing in front of the overbearing knight, and he took her outstretched hand.
She certainly was a creature of beauty, he thought, for a prime dweller. She had sleek brown hair and delicate features, but her eyes were what caught his attention. Like two gems set in the finest gold, her eyes pulled him into their emerald depths. There was something he perceived there that should not have been in any mortal's eyes. There was... a spark of something, something coursing through her very veins. The bard brought her hand up and touched it to his lips. "My raven, I am Haer'dalis."
Anomen narrowed his eyes and quickly turned his leader's attention back to him. "My Lady we should be getting back to the surface, I would not want you to fall ill."
"Stow it, Anomen." She turned from the two men and rejoined the group.
"Ohh, Boo thinks the funny man behind you will be a good friend to us. Are you going to be a good friend, funny man?"
The bard bowed gallantly to Minsc, who quickly produced Boo for display.
Aerie peeked out from behind her ranger protector and smiled shyly in the bard's direction.
"Quickly now, lest Boo bite us all in hard to reach places!" Minsc ushered the group out of the sewers and into the welcome fresh air and daylight. Seconds after the last of them had crawled clear of the sewer grate, a messenger presented himself to Anomen with dire news.
"Moira? She's dead? Oh, my Lady we must go to my home quickly." The frantic knight marched off in the direction of his home, leaving Laeleslin and the rest to follow after.
Haer'dalis loitered in the foyer of the small estate, staring into the peaceful, still waters of the pool. He would be returning soon to his own plane. What would become of his troupe of bards after their arrival in the glorious Sigil? Anomen's harsh voice pulled him out of his musings and he glanced up to see that the knight had pulled Laeleslin aside and was speaking earnestly to her. The bard raised his eyebrow when he saw her eyes flicker dangerously as the knight stepped close. Her voice was free of hostility, but Haer'dalis was well accustomed to a good act.
"Pick up your things, boys, we're heading to the government district."
As soon as the party had entered the wealthier district of the city, Laeleslin's keen hearing picked up the sound of angry shouting.
"What is it, my raven?" Haer'dalis queried, hearing the shrill voices as well.
The ranger's eyes were fixed on a cluster of men and women circled around a pole amidst a large pile of wood.
"Someone is about to be burned at the stake."
First story so let me know what you think. Review if you feel up to it, I'd love to hear from you.