Walk in the Woods
Adam Pikely
Smuggler's Liaison

Age: 36 | Height: 6'3" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 12 - Int:
Played by: lancydulac Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,044 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#1


















As creepy as woods could be, there was something kind of comforting in that the trees here looked just as sodding boring as the trees back home. They were basically exactly the same. Adam had even tasted them, just to be sure; he thought he'd picked up a vague minty taste on one but had decided it had to have been his imagination.

The reason he was there was to look for some kind of magical door, a portal maybe, or heck, he'd settle for a road - just a way to get somewhere he knew. He'd heard them all talk about this bubble, sure, but he was Adam Motherfuckin' Pikely and no bubble was going to stop him.

...But perhaps getting lost was. He hadn't kept track of where he'd entered the woods from, and the sun here seemed unhelpful, never quite in the right place in the sky; licking his finger for the wind didn't help either (he'd never actually understood that. He just knew you were meant to do it). After about an hour of wandering aimlessly he flopped down against a tree, sitting in the roots and trying to not yell several expletives in exhaustion in case some magical tree fairy would be offended, or some shit.

Just because he was lost didn't meant he couldn't have some fun. He began to root around in his bag for something to take the edge of his rising panic and dread off, because those emotions were just so not sexy.

adam
Mistreat your Altar Boys long enough and this is what you get
Sad and angry... can't learn how to behave
Still won't know how in the darkness of the grave
Sorrel Acetum


Age: 38 | Height: 5'9 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship:
Level: 0 - Strg: 8 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 7 - Luck: 10 - Int:
Played by: Dutch Offline
Change author:
Posts: 12 | Total: 84
MP: 0
#2







Sorrel was...somewhere. That was, she had been somewhere, and now she was somewhere else.

After moment’s flapping panic, she’d found herself on the ground; a minor improvement, given that this still didn’t answer what, exactly was going on. And then, with a huff, she’d picked herself up to study the thick trees around her.

Hmm, she mused.I’ve never seen trees like these.

She shook the inane thought aside, loosed it from the grasping feeling that Something Was Wrong, and started a desultory tramp in a direction that seemed as good as any other. It wouldn’t be the first time a concoction had gone awry and it wasn’t like transportation to a forest was the wildest thing that could have happened.

The trees opened, thinned out as she walked further - hopefully some sort of civilisation was close. Sorrel peered around her as she went, heart growing increasingly heavy as the plant life around her remained stubbornly alien. The barest resemblance of leaf and bough not enough to soothe the stone-heavy realisation that she was not in the place she considered home.

She came into a clearing. The trees around her had large roots, carved into the land and large enough to hold a person - Sorrel had never seen trees of that size, and this, of all things, made her stop.

Where am I? floated through her mind, before being replaced by, where was I?

Anxiety bubbled up her stomach, her chest, and finally, trickled out her mouth in a peal of laughter. Clutching her fingers in her sleeves, she turned, sharply and -

- and there was a man, sitting under the trees.

Sorrel stared at him.

Sorrel
Carried away by the truculence of my world,
I got lost in the search for enlightenment,
The blue rain covered my roots,
And I forget where I came from.
Adam Pikely
Smuggler's Liaison

Age: 36 | Height: 6'3" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 12 - Int:
Played by: lancydulac Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,044 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#3


















Adam had just gotten a pill on his tongue (tasted bitter, but he knew once it worked he would feel considerably better) as he heard an odd, high pitched laughter; he coughed and choked on the pill which was now lodged in his throat, hitting his chest with his fist. Blinking away sudden tears he looked up and to his relief saw a rather normal looking woman and not an evil swamp witch, but there was still a wounded look in his eyes.

"God, don't laugh like that. Fuck. You're gonna kill me before I've even worked a way outta this butthole of a town." Looking her over, he assumed Sorrel would be a Natural. Despite her nerves she seemed to find him unusual, and only people from this dreary place would be offended at the sight of someone so handsome.

Coughing up the pill onto his hand with a rather undignified amount of spit, he threw it to the ground and dug about for something else in his bag. "Now I wasted a good hit. Dammit." He was not normally so touchy, but things were starting to get to him. Things like being lost and being stuck here and being away from his horse and the sour-faced guards that had been the closest things to friends he'd had.

Grumpily he pulled another pill out and swallowed this one quickly, in case another laughing woman in the woods shocked him out of another good time.

adam
Mistreat your Altar Boys long enough and this is what you get
Sad and angry... can't learn how to behave
Still won't know how in the darkness of the grave
Sorrel Acetum


Age: 38 | Height: 5'9 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship:
Level: 0 - Strg: 8 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 7 - Luck: 10 - Int:
Played by: Dutch Offline
Change author:
Posts: 12 | Total: 84
MP: 0
#4







Sorrel remained frozen as the man choked and groused; she couldn’t quite get her wits about her to move. After a moment the sluggishness seemed to seep from her limbs and she pulled herself up to her full height, drew her travel cloak around her.

She couldn’t have a stranger think she was some hysterical halfwit. Not for the moment, at least.

“My apologies,” she said, trying her best to sound confident and not at all like she’d woken up in a strange new place, “I’ve just had...a hell of a journey.”

She studied the man’s face. Youngish, younger than her at least, and endearingly scruffy. Dressed like a rogue from the plays, and it was funny - something about the armour didn’t ring true. The only thing that seemed genuine was the sliver of danger that such a uniform would suggest, and Sorrel weighed up her options. He didn’t seem to be a brigand, or actively hostile, but she most likely shouldn’t do anything to piss him off.

While she considered this, he swallowed something, and Sorrel grasped the bag at her hip instinctively - swore under her breath at the telltale lightness of it being empty. Her herbs and capsules were gone too, it seemed, which meant that she was stuck somewhere wild and strange without anything to barter with.

She put on her most nonthreatening smile and stepped toward him, “would you happen to know the name of this...butthole of a town?”

If you don’t ask, she thought, you don’t get.

Sorrel
Carried away by the truculence of my world,
I got lost in the search for enlightenment,
The blue rain covered my roots,
And I forget where I came from.
Adam Pikely
Smuggler's Liaison

Age: 36 | Height: 6'3" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 12 - Int:
Played by: lancydulac Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,044 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#5


















Adam blearily stared at Sorrel through hazy tears brought on by his choking, wondering if her hell of a journey was anything like his own. Just how many of them had dropped here unexpectedly in the last few days? His theory that this could be some kind of hell strengthened because there was nothing else he could imagine that would make sense.

He noticed the way she grabbed at her bag, tensed just a little thinking she could be reaching for a weapon...but she drew no knife or gun, so he relaxed and just looked at the satchel, wondered if she had something valuable in there. Not that he was going to steal from her, at least not yet, but his eyes were trained to find potential hits. She looked rich from her clothes, the kinda person he'd follow in a carriage, and his instincts were to charm her in order to get close and take whatever she had.

Nobles could usually spare a few personal items.

"Oh, uh, yeah. They call it Sanctuary, which is a real fucking boring name if you ask me, but I guess it was the best they could do. The place is called Caido, I think. They keep saying 'ooooh we're all stuck here cos of some barrier shit' but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get out soon." This was said with the confidence of somebody who had no idea what the fuck they were talking about, but he backed it up with a cocky grin and an assured nod.

"..Did you just find yourself here? Happened to me too, but I showed up in a bar."

adam
Mistreat your Altar Boys long enough and this is what you get
Sad and angry... can't learn how to behave
Still won't know how in the darkness of the grave
Sorrel Acetum


Age: 38 | Height: 5'9 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship:
Level: 0 - Strg: 8 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 7 - Luck: 10 - Int:
Played by: Dutch Offline
Change author:
Posts: 12 | Total: 84
MP: 0
#6







Sanctuary. That was certainly...a name with weight. Sorrel perked up at the sound of it. Let go of her herb bag and fixed Adam with a sincere smile, before turning it into something more deliberately charming to match the grin he was aiming at her.

“Ah, yes. It was a bit of a shock. You turned up in a bar?”

She considered him; he looked like the type who might frequent a tavern or public house, and she wondered if maybe previous inclination affected where you appeared here. No matter, maybe this meant she was closer to civilisation than she thought - and civilisation meant a place to set up shop. Seek shelter. Make connections…

Other than the one already sat in front of her, of course. A connection who could possibly show her to the town, if he wasn’t as shifty as his dress and demeanour made him seem.

“Could you point me in the direction of Sanctuary? I’d rather not have to camp out here for the night.” She asked, taking care to sound like she might actually be important enough for it to benefit him.

Sorrel
Carried away by the truculence of my world,
I got lost in the search for enlightenment,
The blue rain covered my roots,
And I forget where I came from.
Adam Pikely
Smuggler's Liaison

Age: 36 | Height: 6'3" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 12 - Int:
Played by: lancydulac Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,044 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#7


















"Yeah, and for some reason it's the only goddamn bar here. The people here are..." Adam cycled through a few words in his mind. Dull? Awful? Grey? The only natural he'd actually met so far had been Maea, who had been fine, but...the whole place just seemed to run on a slower pace than he was used to. "...They aren't my kinda people." He finished, running a hand through his hair with a sigh and not explaining just who his kind of people were.

After a moment of silence (which he let her have, focusing on a tree behind her and the way it was beginning to shift into different colours; his medication was working) Sorrel asked him how to get back to the town. This was immediately met by a cringe and an awkward glance off to the side.

"Uhhh. Well, y'see...I'm..." He didn't want to say lost. Lost implied somebody who wasn't in control, someone who wasn't sexy and confident like he was. Adam got up onto his feet (a slightly wobbly endeavour but one he accomplished) and looked about as if it made any difference of the direction he would take. "...Just going back now. So c'mon."

Confidently, he strode off towards nothing in particular and hoped it would work out to be the right way.

adam
Mistreat your Altar Boys long enough and this is what you get
Sad and angry... can't learn how to behave
Still won't know how in the darkness of the grave
Sorrel Acetum


Age: 38 | Height: 5'9 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship:
Level: 0 - Strg: 8 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 7 - Luck: 10 - Int:
Played by: Dutch Offline
Change author:
Posts: 12 | Total: 84
MP: 0
#8







Sorrel was determined to remain on guard around this strange man, but it was hard not to soften at least a little at the way he sighed. She watched his hand through his hair, which looked oil-dark and delightfully fluffy. Though perhaps not something you would want to run your hand through.

While not gifted with numbers, Sorrel could take the sum of his clothes, his demeanour, and his hair (just this side of effortlessly rakish), and come up with an answer. And she suspected she could imagine just what kind of people were his, given the strange look in his dark eyes - the way he stared at the foliage.

His offer wasn’t exactly one that inspired confidence, but Sorrel didn’t have much to be confident of in this situation. He also seemed harmless, so long as he wasn’t provoked and...well. It wasn’t like she had any better offers right now.

”Thank you,” she said, masking amusement, and moved into step beside him. Maybe lagged a step and a half behind, to assess the tilt and yaw of his swagger. You could tell a lot about a man by his swagger. In this case, she could tell he was only half bullshitting.

Half correct is better than nothing, she thought, and curled her fingers in the edges of her cloak. Wrapped it further around herself as a shield against the night air - and anymore eyes eyeing up her herb pouch which, from what she could tell, was the only thing of value that had followed her to this world.

“So,” she began, letting her relief turn to playfulness, “when I’m asked who saved me from a long, cold night in the forest, whose name shall I offer?”

Sorrel
Carried away by the truculence of my world,
I got lost in the search for enlightenment,
The blue rain covered my roots,
And I forget where I came from.
Adam Pikely
Smuggler's Liaison

Age: 36 | Height: 6'3" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 12 - Int:
Played by: lancydulac Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,044 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#9


















Sorrel followed him (given that he was sure he was giving off an air of confidence and assured knowledge, this was not a surprise) and Adam turned to smile at her as he walked, really taking her in. She was about the same age as him, he supposed, looked to be dressed nicely. Though he supposed that didn't have to mean anything, if she came from an entirely different world; maybe for her he was wearing the garb of a king and she was wearing the fantasy equivalent of a potato sack.

As soon as he was asked for an introduction, one of his favourite things to give, Adam's smile became a full grin. "Well. You can tell them you were goddamn lucky enough to meet Adam Goddamn Pikely, best highwayman, thief, general dashing rogue...and oh. Handsomest lover you'll ever know." This last sentence was punctuated with a hand going under his chin, pointer finger and thumb framing his jaw.

"And when I tell them who I rescued from certain death, who should I tell them about?" He turned the question back to her, then looked up at the trees and seemed to make some kind of decision, suddenly making a sharp right turn.

adam
Mistreat your Altar Boys long enough and this is what you get
Sad and angry... can't learn how to behave
Still won't know how in the darkness of the grave
Sorrel Acetum


Age: 38 | Height: 5'9 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship:
Level: 0 - Strg: 8 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 7 - Luck: 10 - Int:
Played by: Dutch Offline
Change author:
Posts: 12 | Total: 84
MP: 0
#10







She listened to Adam’s introduction with an amused smile - the man clearly loved talking about himself, and some of that enthusiasm was infectious, regardless of whether his words were true or not. Sorrel tried to look impressed when he posed, and nodded, almost thoughtfully.

"I see. I am very lucky indeed," she stepped daintily over a fallen branch, "I’ve never met a highwayman before. Certainly not one who introduces himself as such. Not a line of work that one just falls into, I imagine?"

The forest seemed the be thinning a little as they walked, though she wasn’t sure if that was just the effect of having a companion to distract her. Trees were always less intimidating when you weren’t left with only their shadows. She loosened her grasp on her cloak and pouch, taking care as they tramped through the unfamiliar undergrowth. She wondered, for a moment, if Adam came from her world too - she certainly hadn’t met every person who existed there, so it was plausible…

But then again… She cast a glance at his clothing, his demeanour. Probably not.

At his sudden turn she managed not to trip, turning carefully and following him. Wondered what, exactly, he saw when he looked up at the trees. She saw only shadow and the constant reminder of her situation. His query brought her back to reality, and she feigned affront. Clasped her chest, where her heart had finally settled back into a normal rhythm after the earlier panic.

"Certain death? I’m not that helpless that I couldn’t survive a night in the woods, Mr. Highwayman."

Sorrel unclenched her bosom, and said "I’m Sorrel. I’m…"

She didn’t quite know how to describe herself here, so she settled for a glittering smile and a pointed look.

"I'm very grateful for your help, regardless."

Sorrel
Carried away by the truculence of my world,
I got lost in the search for enlightenment,
The blue rain covered my roots,
And I forget where I came from.
Adam Pikely
Smuggler's Liaison

Age: 36 | Height: 6'3" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 12 - Int:
Played by: lancydulac Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,044 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#11


















As she agreed that yes, she was very lucky, Adam straightened up not unlike a bird proudly splaying out it's feathers, drinking up the interest and compliment. "Well, y'know. I was handsome and I could ride a horse, have a serious lack of morals. It adds up." Really, he'd desperately needed something to do after years of depressed drinking and laying in gutters but...that wasn't half as romantic an answer.

He noted that the trees were thinning too. That was...probably a good sign, right? Less trees meant the edge of the forest, which meant plainer land that would be easier to see across. Maybe he'd be able to find his way back without ever revealing he'd been lost.

Laughing at her faked swoon he shrugged. "Y'dunno what's in these woods. Could be monsters or all sorts. When I first came, there was this massive fuckin' bird on fire in the town square. And no one seemed to give a shit!" He raised his hands as if frustrated by the clear absurdity of the reactions.

"Sorrel. Huh. Weird name." Was all he said to her introduction, seeing a gap in the trees coming up and suddenly becoming distracted trying to head to it.

adam
Mistreat your Altar Boys long enough and this is what you get
Sad and angry... can't learn how to behave
Still won't know how in the darkness of the grave
Sorrel Acetum


Age: 38 | Height: 5'9 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship:
Level: 0 - Strg: 8 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 7 - Luck: 10 - Int:
Played by: Dutch Offline
Change author:
Posts: 12 | Total: 84
MP: 0
#12







Adam’s theatrics amused Sorrel - as much as the information hidden between them intrigued her. A bird on fire was a fascinating idea, and certainly gave her no clues what exactly to expect from this new world. But, if this faintly ridiculous man had survived she supposed it couldn’t be too dangerous.

The trees had begun to thin out enough that it could no longer be properly considered a wood, and if she squinted she could begin to make out the outline of a dirt path; signs of civilisation, as Adam had promised. Though, she was a little less certain about some of the other ‘facts’ he presented. She glanced him over in consideration of his claim to handsomeness. Under the swagger and dishevelled styling, he wasn’t unattractive - though not quite what she would consider handsome. Sorrel sighed and felt some sort of relief.

People here were liars too. Not so different then.

“I was named after a plant,” she said, reflexively beginning the monotone explanation she’d given so many times in her life, “my parents were into herbs.”

She shot Adam an amused glance, and added, “Though perhaps not your type of herb.”

As they approached what looked to be the end of the treeline, she could make out pinpricks of distant light. A village, or a settlement, or whatever they had in this place. And she paused, halfway through stepping over a log.

“What can I give you?” She asked, abruptly - then rearranged herself so her stance was less ungainly, took on a lighter, more playful tone. ”As thanks, I mean. Who knows what monsters I might have met if we hadn’t bumped into one another..”

Sorrel
Carried away by the truculence of my world,
I got lost in the search for enlightenment,
The blue rain covered my roots,
And I forget where I came from.
Adam Pikely
Smuggler's Liaison

Age: 36 | Height: 6'3" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 12 - Int:
Played by: lancydulac Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,044 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#13


















Though perhaps not your type of herb. Adam snorted and looked off to the side as he grinned, the aftertaste of a 'herb' still bitter in his mouth and making him feel airier by the second. "Hey, I still like stuff to taste good too. There's room for all the plants in this heart." With a dramatic hand clasped over his chest he bowed his head as if welcoming in any herbs that wished to make his acquaintance.

Somehow (Adam wanted to believe it was skill, but truthfully it was luck) they managed to breach the forest edge and see a settlement in the distance. With a surprised smile on his face he looked to her in confusion at first at her question. "Uh...I mean, I usually take payments in cash or sex, but the first doesn't exist and the second's kinda weird to suggest to a lady you just met in the woods. So how about you just owe me a favour for later?"

adam
Mistreat your Altar Boys long enough and this is what you get
Sad and angry... can't learn how to behave
Still won't know how in the darkness of the grave


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)


RPG-D