Somewhere I can belong
Chapter 9
Mysteries revealed and introductions made
Rohan's Ramble: Apologies for the long delay. Yay, I've been reviewed that makes me feel great. Thank you very much, grayangle hope that this chapter meets up to your expectation.
Fearing the wrath of his heavily armored, Gamgee sprinted off to the Blue Boar Inn hoping to lose himself in a crowd, and was immediately heartbroken. The fates were not with him. Instead of a densely packed bar, there were only two elves at the bar, one idly strumming a lyre while the other was guzzling down a tankard of some ale. All in all not a good place to hide from a paladin.
With all hope of sanctuary lost Gamgee muttered softly, "Well if I'm going to die I might as well have one last glass of wine. Who am I kidding for Mystra's sake I better make it the whole bottle."
Suddenly Gamgee felt an iron grip on his shoulder and all thoughts of a having a final drink before his judgment fled from his mind. Gathering his courage and wits he turned to face an enraged Crystal only to be met by the grinning maw of Clovis.
" I say Gamgee what brings you here at this hour of the day. I would have thought that you would be manning the walls and casting spells at those uncivilized brutes that are daring to attack our fair city."
"You don't know how happy I am to see your face Clovis, I'm on a bit of a reprieve to meet Commander Ironbeard but I would relish the chance to share a fine bottle of wine with you until then." All the while Gamgee was darting glances watching the door while shepharding his friend to one of the more out of the way corner booths that the inn had to offer.
"Ah a special mission of sorts, than far be it me to drink at your expense. I will purchase the wine and we shall talk about things other than the unwashed mob that threatens our fair city."
"That would be most pleasant Clovis."
"Agreed then I will fetch the wine and then you could tell me about your friend Quinn." With that said Clovis moved his enormous orcish bulk from the booth.
Gamgee watched Clovis flag down the bartender and procure several bottles, but what interested him were the two elves. The more battle scarred of the two was making more and more threatening glares at the other every time that the other began to strum his lyre. Something was not right and the calm that the empty bar offered would not last much longer. If the bar were filled Gamgee welcomed a fight, it would distract Crystal and keep him alive that much longer.
An enormous shadow fell upon him and he knew that Clovis had returned, "Well their selection did leave something to be desired but I was able to procure some exsqisite wine from a good year, or at least the label proclaims." Clovis added with a chuckle while filling the glasses, "Now then Gamgee where do you wish to begin your tale?"
Taking the offered mug Gamgee remarked, "Let me tell you how I met the most messed up druid that I have ever had the privilege of knowing in my several decades upon this world." Gamgee's tale became and more animated as he drank more wine…as did Gamgee's own comments on Quinn's life. "I mean he's just too damned nice for his own good. He goes about introducing himself but the moment that any reward is offered in his name or what not he's halfway to the wilderness. I mean there was this bard that was going to compose this ballad in his name for saving her and she was trying to track him down and he just kept avoiding her. I think he spent a day hiding under the inn as some sort of creature, all she wanted to do was sing a song about him but he hid away and would hear no part of it. I never saw a bard in such a lousy state, she was on the verge of tears so decided to do the only thing we could do."
Clovis could not contain his interest and excitement in the story, "What did you do Gamgee?"
"What else could we do, we told her the entirety of the story ourselves. That bard was so happy she practically was beaming with joy. We never told Quinn but we always make sure that he gets his share of recognition whether he wants it or not. I mean why should we hog all the glory and riches."
Throughout the entire conversation Clovis had sat in silence drinking in the details of the tale and of course refilling Gamgee's wine mug to keep the story going. There were things that did not make sense and in mind the half orc was thinking and making theories as to why Quinn acted the way he did, and after several more moments Clovis politely interjected, "Gamgee I have a question for you."
"Oh go right ahead and ask Clovis I have no reason to keep anything from you."
"Well then, does Quinn have a last name?"
"Oh how foolish of me, it must be the alcohol dulling my intellect." He offered his voice slightly slurred. "It's Vos, his full name his Quinn Vos."
Clovis interlaced his fingers and began in a lecturing tone, "Interesting, did you know that his last name means to flee, or to seek sanctuary in Namarian." Gamgee began to stare at Clovis as if spellbound as Clovis continued. "Namarian nobles, especially males are bound by contracts of marriage at fairly young age, they are heavily indoctrinated to be well behaved and coordinal."
"That's sounds like Quinn all right. Come to think of it, Quinn has a real problem around women…especially elven women."
"That would make sense because Namarian nobles hire elven women to instruct their children, and they are told to be as ruthless as possible in their education. There were rumors that they hired drow in some cases." Gamgee's faltering gaze snapped to attention at the mention of the race of fallen elven race.
"That given Quinn's almost fanatical need to avoid leaving a trail of any sort leads me to believe that he is in effect a Namarain noble of some standing fleeing an arranged marriage of some sort."
Gamgee reacted to this news in a way that Clovis did not expect the elf to react, after letting forth a great belch, his eyes rolled over into his skull, and his head went forward crashing into the table. A half-hearted groan of pain issued from the prone elf. Clovis reached over and pulled up his friend as gently as he could taking care not to drop him to he ground. Than with all the grace and care possible that Clovis possessed with his considerable strength he began to ever wildly shake the wizard back and forth in hopes of returning him to consciousness.
"Wake up Gamgee!" Clovis bellowed.
The life started to come back to Gamgee's eyes and he became more coherent, "Clo Clov Clovis," he muttered. "Ststststop shashashashshaaking me."
"Sorry Gamgee, I wanted to make sure that I hadn't shocked you to death with my theories. That and I wanted to warn you that your heavily armored friend is by the bar and she doesn't look to happy."
"Clovis I really wish you hadn't woken me up."
Clovis grinned nearly from ear to ear as he added, "Would you rather have had her sneak up on you while you were unaware Gamgee?"
With his shoulders slumped and both of his hands clutching his head Gamgee replied. "With her Clovis, it wouldn't have helped either way."
A few moments earlier while Gamgee was drinking to new and exciting limits Crystal had arrived, her face was flushed red to the point where it looked as though she had been badly burned or if she had been sprayed by blood. As she had rushed inside the Blue Boar, memories of a past left buried and forgotten kept bubbling up no matter how hard she avoided it. Herenious help me; oh I am going to ring Gamgee's scrawny neck for all the grief he caused her. Muttering out in Elvish, "I should have just turned my back on him years ago." A sudden roar from the bar shattered Crystals monologue.
Spinning her head only as an elf could she could not believe what she saw. Two elves were arguing back and forth but she could only make out a few words, what she heard made her aghast. The warrior was speaking in a gruff common with a thick accent of orcish and terrifying the smaller elven bard.
"You talk to me in that thrice blasted tongue again and i'll take that elven piece of junk you call a lyre away from you i'll wrap it around your pointy eared head. You even speak your cursed language around me again and I will play you for a lyre." The other elf started muttering an apology… unfortunately he said it in Elvish. Before the warrior could follow through on his threat though Crystal had stepped between the two, and finally got a decent look at the other figher.
Crystal locked gazes with him, and saw that much like Janet his features were a mix of human and elven, he wore heavily scarred scale mail, bizarre tattoos and scars cut across his face. A hilt for a great sword was easily seen over her shoulder and another long sword was strapped to his belt. His brown hair was cut short and choppy as if by a daggers edge. Wild blue grey eyes met her green ones and a voice barely above a whisper came, "Leave me be elf. You touch me again elf and you won't have to worry about the filth outside of the walls."
Crystal was aghast and answered, "How can you hate our kind so much, are you that jealous of that which we possess that you do not?" The response that greeted her was not what she had expected in the least.
The elf stood to his full height towering over Crystal by a few inches, "Jealous? Me? Of a stuck up race that demands perfections and destroys that that doesn't meet its expectations? I am Thrack of the Rhetwani, and know this elf, I share no blood willingly with your kind." That said Thrack turned and left the bar, leaving a terrified bard and Crystal with a new mystery on her head.
Meanwhile further down the bar Gamgee was drinking a steaming hot beverage that Clovis had proclaimed would end his headache and other ails. After watching the entire exchange Clovis remarked, "I say my good elf Gamgee did you say that whole sorted affair? I can't believe that half elf acted the way he did. It was rather brutish wouldn't you say?"
"That half elf has almost as many issues as Quinn."
"Ah yes, well it just shows that you can't judge a book by its cover." Clovis replied showing his mammoth orcish grin as he gulped the last of the precious amber liquid. "If I were you I'd get ready to hide."
"Why's that Clovis?"
"Well that angry irate elven paladin friend of yours is coming over here with murder in her eyes. I don't suppose that you can turn yourself invisible?"
"My good friend I will face this foe as I have faced all of my enemies in the past."
"Oh so you always fight when you're battles half drunk?"
"I'll have you know that I have fought battles when I have been far drunker than this. I'm only tipsy and I'll have you know Clovis, as long as I can wiggle my fingers and mutter out the words I have nothing to fear." Gamgee rose up and draping his arm around Clovis's shoulder he muttered out, "You're a good Half Orc Clovis, and I just got to say that you're a good friend, and a good drinking buddy, cause you listen not many people listen anymore listen…. Theirs a scary lady standing behind me right now isn't there?"
"Gamgee, I won't lie to you, there is a very scary lady standing behind you."
"Does she look like she's going to hurt me?"
"Why yes Gamgee, she does like she's going to hurt you, but on the bright side you probably won't feel it.
At that moment Crystal leaned over and placed her gauntleted hands on Gamgee's shoulder and softly whispered, "Gamgee we need to have a little chat about Llumeria and what we agreed never to speak of again."
"You two look as though you need to have some alone time and I need to get back to my books, and you two have a wonderful conversation.
Ramblings from Rohan:
Hope that you enjoy this chapter, my life is beginning to become far to busy with work, and lack of a real Spring Break and what not, I will however get the next chapter out much earlier than it took to have chapter 9 finished. We'll switch back to Quinn as he tells his side of the story in Chapter 10, Why I became a Druid, enjoy.
