Siolfor Online [Dead SB]

Do we have enough players now? Anybody late? If not, I might just start...

Alright, Siolfor Online is officially starting now.






((I know that relatives within the game seem a little far-fetched, but there was something I didn’t write into the first post. Most of the gamers have forgotten that they ever were part of another world and therefore think of Siolfor as their home. Tanahú is one such player.
Refer to Hacked Members as HM’s; refer to Normal Members as NM’s; refer to Registered Member’s as COF. e.g. COF Mage, NM Swordsman.))

Tanahú – COF Hunter

Tanahú rose to the top of the hill with in swift and silent stride. His green cloak, wrapped tightly around his shoulders to shut out to chill, blurred him and his profile against the green of distant mountains; mountains he had been among only two days ago. Memories of his departure flew through his mind’s eye: the view of his village enshrouded in fog as he walked away, his grandfather blessing him and the journey to Siolfor, his cousins giving him the little family gold they’d kept.
Once more he checked his rifle, powder and balls; were anything eve to happen to the three, his title as a Marksman would be useless. Many a time he’d dropped elk and deer with a single shot from half a valley away. He was undoubtedly the best shot in all of Nume, but he’d never been challenged by any from beyond…
Beyond what? Tanahú did not know the extent of his geography. There were mountains like a ring around his people, and the sea like a wall to the north, but what else was there? He’d heard of other cities, but had never seen them.
“I will soon, at any rate,” he spoke aloud, pulling his cloak tighter and quickening his step. “And many other things too, if I’m not right.”
Tanahú stopped at the top of the hill and looked down at the path he was taking. It flew down in a long white line to the City. Already he could see the shimmering red roof tiles of Siolfor, set about with high, white walls and emerald grass. The Axon flowed down like a silver snake and cut into the city at two places, both guarded with grated arches. Towers as fair as lofty pines and twice as high shot out from the center of the city in a circle around the palace. Tanahú knew he would be welcome there: he wore the ring of the Circle of Fire and bore a letter of recommendation from his grandfather.
“Siolfor,” he breathed, and for a long time stood there, admiring the sight from afar.
A smile broke over his face and he continued onwards: he’d be there before noon.

Charlotte "Charlie" - HM sailor

"Ahoy there, Captain!" a docksman called up to the ship.

Charlotte nodded and waved. "Anchor!" she shouted to her crew who obediently followed. She drew a deep breath of familiar salt air. Yes, it was good to be home.

"Captain," the first mate, McDanel, appeared beside Charlotte.

"Yes, McDanel?"

"The crew wishes to know when we'll be setting sail again. They request to spend some time with their families," he explained.

Charlotte laughed. Families. Not a sailor on her ship had a family he knew of, and not a man in the world would keep a family in The Black Jolly. Ol' Captain Charlie knew better; she knew her crew wanted to spend a while in the bars like the low-life scum they were. But of course, Charlotte wasn't much better.

"We set sail in two days, and no more. We've a trip to make to Magnar and on to Touchstone," she said. "A...special delivery."

McDanel nodded. "Yes, Captain."

Charlotte turned to where her crew had gathered and stepped onto a crate nearby. "Be well my crew, you have done your captain well this time. Drink heartily and be merry!" she shouted, giving leave to her fine crew.

The men cheered and left the ship. Charlotte smiled. Now she was free to do as she wished. And did she ever have a wish.

Tanahú - COF Hunter

The sounds, smells and sights that greeted Tanahú were beyond any tale any wandering minstrel could have told at his village inn. There were merchants, and sailors; people he'd heard of and never seen. The street-side stalls with their colorful wares, enticing him to remove his wallet, but he needed to control himself: Tanahú still had to buy a room at some traveler's inn.
Absent-mindedly, his hands went down to his jacket pockets, checking for the familiar lump that had thudded against his hip every step of the dusty way...but to his horror, it was gone. Frantically Tanahú whirled around, searching for the thief, for even a scapegoat. His eyes caught a flash of black against the white of a wall, and a wooden shutter fell over the window.There was his thief, Tanahú was sure of it.
Quickly sprinting across the market-place, he leaped to the window and grabbed hold of the sill, pulling himself into the dark room. Where was he?

We need more people!

Mikera - COF Hunter

Mikera stood up slowly, measuring the intruder's moves.

"Give it back," the man snarled. Mikera slowly shifted her weight into a defensive stance in case the man attacked.

"Give what back, stranger?"

"My wallet, you crook!"

"I have nothing of yours," Mikera said slowly. "Why do you say so?"

"I just saw a thief jump into this very room. Is there someone else here?"

Mikera reached into the bag slung around her waist. She pulled out a match and lit it. Slowly, her eyes never leaving the intruder, Mikera moved to light a candle.

"Stranger, this is an inn. You have jumped into my room, not into some thief's hiding place."

"You were sitting in here in the dark, completely alone?" The stranger was suspicious. Mikera spread her lips into a wide smile.

"Meditation. It is best done in the dark."

Tanahú - COF Hunter

((I'm switching to first person))

"Meditation. It is best done in the dark."
I squinted at her, from both suspicion and the lack of light in the room -even with the match she'd lit.
"What sort of self-respecting woman meditates in the dark?" I asked, and, seeing a bow and a half-filled quiver leaning against the wall, added: "For that matter, what self-respecting hunter meditates?"
I waited until the match burned out and the huntress dropped the charred stub, but still she would make me no answer. I scowled and searched the room with my eyes -surely not with my hands or she would call the Guard on me- and realized that unless I dug through her pockets or waist-bag I would never find my wallet.
"I cannot ascertain your innocence," I said slowly, drawing out my words to give affect and weight to them. "But neither can I prove your guilt: so point me in the direction of my thief and I will have no choice but to believe you. Mark this: from a hunter to hunter and of the Circle of Fire-" I'd seen the ring on her finger "-it would not dwell comfortably on your conscience to have lied to a fellow guildsman."
To this I awaited her reply, contrived of lies though it may be.

((Forgive the Old English style language, it's just...we'll, a habit of mine))

Ah, but one can never go wrong with old English, Jenthura!

Mikera - COF Hunter

Mikera smiled wryly at the man. "How can I tell you where the thief went? No one entered this room besides you. I know of no thief. Perhaps you were mistaken?"

The man's scowl deepened. Mikera sighed loftily.

"Fine, then," she said briskly, brushing an imaginary piece of dust off her shoulder. "If only to prove my own innocence, I will help you find this thief."

The man looked, if anything, even less pleased. "I saw him jump into this room," he said edgily. "Must we go around in circles?"

Mikera shrugged. "The only thing, excluding you, that I saw enter this room was a cat."

Tanahú - COF Hunter

Cat? My mind spun over the possibilities. Had my thief changed his form? I'd heard of the skills of mages in the lower regions of Siolfor, Imeji and the likes, but never the power to transform one's body.
"It is a strange riddle," I said half to myself. "And I cannot solve it, dare I delve deeper?
Suddenly I heard a tiny sound behind me, a slight thump of something soft and heavy. Whirling aorund, I managed to catch a glimpse of something black disappearing out the window. The shutter clacked shut like a trap.
With a roar, I threw myself at the window, trying in vain to force it open; something heavy (or possibly even a spell) had been put against the shutter.
"Ghouls' ghosts," I spat, looking to the door.
But even if I ran doubly swift to the bottom floor I couldn't have caught the thief-cat. I slumped heavily to the floor and covered my face with my hands. Truly there was nothing for me here now in Siolfor: money was the bloodline of this trader's city, and without it I was doomed to returning to Nume or begging on the streets.

Charlotte "Charlie" - HM Sailor

Charlotte let herself into the ramshackle old building. She looked around the dimly lit room. It was apparent someone hadn't been paying their debts, as most of the furniture had been removed and one lone oil lantern lit the entire space.

"Ahoy, Captain," a smooth voice said.

Charlotte turned and smiled at the young man in the doorway. "How be it, Sailor?" she asked.

He shrugged. "It's been a long time, Charlie." He came to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You don't come home anymore."

Charlotte pushed him away. "I hadn't the need," she told him. "When business is up, you take every opportunity."

He smiled. "I have an opportunity for you," he said.

"What may that be?" Charlotte asked. She was wary of him, though she knew him ever so well he wasn't one to be trusted by anyone.

"I have a special shipment to be made to Siolfor. Something you must place directly in the hands of the recipiant."

Charlotte groaned. She always hated being inland, and Siolfor was about as inland as you could get. "What's in it for me?" she asked.

He tossed a fat bag of gold at her. "That and two more upon your return."

Charlotte weighted the bag in her hands. It was five times her usual asking price. "Deal."

"Good, now love, this is a priority shipment. You must leave immedeatly."

"Immedeatly? You seemed so overjoyed at my return," Charlotte said.

He shrugged. "That black force is coming closer every day. Who am I to endanger my sweetest that way?"

Charlotte rolled her eyes. She didn't believe all this rumor of the great darkness coming to swallow up the world. But she wouldn't turn down the opportunity for the gold. She finished the conversation and promptly left to drag her drunken, complaining crew from the taverns and back to the ship.

"Come, men. Set sail to Siolfer."

*I feel left out, so I'm coming to Siolfer! *

Mikera

Mikera watched the man sink down to the floor. "Come now," she said reasonable. "Surely that wasn't all of your money?"

The man glared at her. Mikera tried to hide her shock. Apparently, it had been.

"Well," she said slowly. "As a fellow Circle of Fire member, and as a fellow hunter, you have my permission to stay with me until you can earn enough money to be on your own..."

Tanahú - COF Hunter

Circle of fire Member? How could I have forgotten; surely my brethren wouldn't let me starve (or die) in a strange land: she wasn't going to do that.
"I...I thank you greatly," I stuttered, not knowing quite how I would repay her or even thank her fully. "I assure you, if ever you come to my mountains-"
"Rest easy," the huntress assured me, stopping my babble of words and bringing the shades of embarrassment to my face. "I'm quite sure you won't eat much, or take up too much room: and you have enough skill in you (judging from my opinion of you so far) to make the money you need," she was kind, but business came first: "Only, do not take this as a gift. You can and will repay me for all costs."
Sheepishly I nodded, I wasn't used to submitting to the will of another, but she was already quite lenient in letting a stranger into her room. The thought of strangers brought to my mind that I was yet one of those to her, and she to me.
"My name is Tanahú," I said, extending my gloved hand. "Son of Temoran of-"
"Mikera," she cut in, smiling and accepting the hand. "Now, shall we scout the market for a merchant in need of an escort?"

((@Lauren: meet you in Siolfor, just remember the saying: "What happened in Siolfor...stays in Siolfor." Lol.
Sorry if I controlled your character a bit too much, Potter-Phantom ))

*It looks like we only have 3 characters...should we open up to more people?*

Charlotte

The trip to Croma went without incident, and that is where Charlotte left her crew to gather shipments for the next trip. She set off towards Siolfer on her own, with a small package under her arm. She wondered what could be in it, but wouldn't dare break her code and look.

Siolfor wasn't too far, just a trip over the mountains, and Charlotte made it in good time.

Unfortunately she hadn't been in Siolfor, well, ever. The city was bustling with all sorts of people, and not overrun by scoundrels like the Black Jolly. She checked the instructions Sailor had written out for her again.

Too bad they still didn't make any sense.

"Excuse me," she said to a passerby. "Can you point be towards this place?" she showed them the adress on the paper.

"That's where the few mages in Siolfor reside, decent people don't travel there," the passerby said and hurried off.

Charlotte rolled her eyes. It would be just like Sailor to send her someplace his "dignity" or "status" forbade him to visit. Which continued to confound Charlotte. He lived in the Black Jolly after all!

**Sorry people, we're having some major problems with our internet at the moment, I'm not sure when it's getting fixed, but I'll try to post when it does work. Also, as to the legends about the thieves, can I have any clarification as to how far I can go with that? I was thinking Darsidian would at least be trying to learn to do some of that.**

Darsidian

As far as the thief could tell, Siolfor had definitely been an excellent choice of movement from Touchstone. There had been far too many thieves there, and though it had been an excellent place to offload contraband to a certain smuggler, he had not enjoyed the competition in that city. Here, however, the thieves were fewer, and so everyone seemed to be more susceptible to his particular set of skills.

He tossed the coin-heavy pouch into the air and caught it again, smiling to himself. Hunters. They were almost too easy in his eyes, few were used to the thick crowds of the city, the many ways a thief could take advantage of their surroundings. The man's wallet had practically fallen into his hands, and he had rather conveniently picked to follow a cat Darsidian had scared whilst ducking into an alleyway.

Now to the inn most of the mages in Siolfor frequented. This was the other reason for his visit, his research. If anyone could help him investigate the truth behind these commoner's tales about thieves, it would be a mage.

**Feel free to create any legends about any of the characters. Of course, we'll all have to conform to each others' legends and stories, so be prepared to be flexible. I've had this idea for Hunters for a long time, but I'm not sure if I'll get it out before Phantom-Potter ruins my idea: Just kidding Ph-Po!**

You were fine, Jenthura - Please don't let me block your idea from coming out in the open.

Mikera - COF Hunter

Mikera watched Tanahú stand up. She motioned to the door wordlessly. Mikera paused for a moment as a wave of dry humor struck her. "Unless, of course," she said slowly. "You would prefer to leave through the window once more?"

Tanahú said nothing for a moment. "The door will suffice," he replied stiffly. Mikera stopped herself from letting out a small laugh. Obviously, Tanahú was not yet in the mood for joking.

They walked down the corridor and into the marketplace again. Mikera blinked in the harsh noon sun; the light outside was in stark contrast to the relative darkness of her room. She glanced at Tanahú.

"So," began Mikera again. "You are a hunter. Where are you from, originally?"