Morning at the market

The sounds of the crowds heaving forward and about, surround me and I relished it with great satisfaction. Looks like another good day for the markets, hopefully some of that rush will make its way to lining my continually empty pockets.

Mind you, I'm not sad about always being two steps from out on my door step. I guess it happens when one has a passion for what they do. Yes fufilling my dream is my priority in lfe, but at the same time a girl needs to divide her interests. So I cook, and I make jewellry. 

Dolly Mae sells my wears at the market for me, leaving me time to help the Priory, and Draughda assists with gathering all the necessary componants used to generate my creations. Oh good gosh there are a lot of new discoveries all the time when I am cooking. Sometimes I find myself stuck by the oven fire for hours on end seemly buying ingrediants without even noticing I am spending my money....until I need a repair on my armour, or need to travel. But luckily I always keep a little extra food and jewels on me to sell in those urgent times.

Todays crowd feels filled with an extra bit of excitement and it is propelling the blood through my veins. I'm taking the day off. Off from the oven and the gem table...off from the battlefields and quests. Today was going to be about me.

Only problem is...I don't know what to do.

Perhaps I will go on a small adventure and hike up on to some mountains seeping in the sun and fresh air. Maybe I'll go and explore the Lion's Arch...I hear there is a cave with a ghost pirate in it! Sounds exciting. 

But first above all, I will browse the market, and perhaps pick up a new dye, some silky scarf (one has to indulge sometimes) and perhaps a treat...one I didn't bake for once.

Well I also hope to run into some friends if they are currently in town.

I sent some message birds out to see if anyone else would like to join, but haven't heard anything back as yet. As I cleared my crumbs and empty my glass of the dregs, I decide that this must mean I am to go on my personal adventure alone. Now I just need to think about what I will probably need on this trip. I've decided that searching for a Ghost Pirate sounds the most exciting and doesn't take me too far away from home, should I be needed. I'll pack light so I don't get too tired, but I'll have to pack smart. Some harvesting tools, provisions in cause I am out longer than I anticipate and and extra set of light clothing. Sounds about right. As I make my way through Lion's Arch I wave to people I know. The armour repairman smiles at me knowingly...I figure he thinks he will benefit from where I am going, but little does he know, I don't plan on getting in any trouble. Plus I didn't bring armour, just comfortable hiking clothes. Before I leave the city I send out a simply message to Dolly Mae and Draughda: "Gone out to look for a Ghost pirate. Don't worry too much I'm sure it'll be fine. Should anyone be looking for me let them know where I am and that I should be back tomorrow. Dolly: Please don't eat this weekends tarts, I would like other people to try them...I understand you like them, but we need the money. Draughda: Could you see if you can find some vanilla beans this week, I'm running low and they are very expensive on the market. You can catch me by returning my bird with message as always. ~ Trystaria" I pause and watch the bird fly off and continue on my way.

It was one of the few peaceful evenings that came my way over the last few months since I joined the the Order so I decided to take a stroll. Wondering the beach just outside of Lion's Arch I find a half eaten bird rotting in the rocks where I had decided to stop and watch the sun set. "How odd" I muttered although not about finding a mangled bird since there were many hawks and other birds of prey all over the realm, but there seemed to be small bits of parchment still attached to one of it's legs. I began piecing them together as best I could but much of the message was missing. When I had laid it out on a flat rock it didn't make much sense but I feared the person who penned it was in a terrible fix. It read.... "... Ghost Pirate.... worry too much I'm... ...looking for me.... where I am... Draug... if you can find... I'm running.... they are... catch me .... Trysta..." and as if to heighten the ominous feeling that was coursing though my already chilled veins, a cold gust of wind suddenly swept over the water, over the rocks, and uplifted the tiny scraps of paper into the sky and out of my sight. I had been told tales of the Ghost Pirates when I was just a wee lass and of people who went in search of them never coming back and how they would raid villages and take bad little boys and girls to be part of their crew. Their parents would sometimes still hear their wales on moonless, foggy nights and weep for their lost children. I always thought that these were tales to frighten me into not wondering too far from home but now the same chills that came over me as I laid in my bunk thinking of those pirates, pulling the covers over my head for protection from the encroaching darkness and their icy fingers grasping at my throat to tear me away from my parents came screaming back into my mind. "I'll be good!" I caught myself whispering yet again. This was not the time to let childhood fears creep back into my brain and hinder my limbs nor my wit. It was obvious to me that this person, Trysta, was in trouble and someone needed to help. I've been training to fight Dragons - and I have faced ghosts before when I was escorting those Charr cubs. How bad could a few ghost pirates really be? I shuddered. Maybe this Trysta person would be just fine. It's too late to start tonight so I'll sleep on it and begin the search in the morning. There is a little bakery I know that will be on the way. A few tarts for the journey would be nice - if they have any left.

» Edited on: 2012-10-03 13:37:34

» Edited on: 2012-10-03 20:44:31

Climbing up to the farms in Farshore Ward I notice a high peak that would provide for a most excellent view and break point. It wasn't too difficult to get to, but it was great to just look for miles and miles. While up there I checked the map I purchased to show me the way to the pirates. It looks like I'm going to have to climb behind a farmhouse. I really hope I don't get chased out by a farmer or his angry wife. The fields are being watered and the gentle spray provides some cooling from the hot sun rays. There are hay bails piled up to on side of the wall of the farm and I use them to climb up and over. It seems like I won't be chased out today. The farm is quite vacant. Perhaps I missed them tending the fields. There's a small hole covered with weeds in one of the walls. My map tells me that this is the way. I continue on and upwards until I come to a cave entrance. As I get closer the entrance isn't exactly as I thought. It is in fact a drop straight down what looks like the mouth of a skull. I frantically look at the map to confirm that this is wrong and I need to go back and try a different route. No luck it seems. I scour the walls and try to find a way to climb down, but the wall face is pretty smooth. Suddenly a white wash of fear spreads. This makes me think of a game we used to play as kids. You took a flat wooden board and put pegs all over it. At the bottom there were slots with different coin amounts and you would toss flat stones down the pegs to see where it landed....Clink-o it was called...and I very much felt like I was about to become a flat rock. It occured to me that perhaps I should turn around and go back home. This was really becoming more frightening that fun. A howl in the wind and a gust on my back threw me into scared motion. I laid down on the surface and scooted my bum until I felt I found a save spot. I said a quick prayer and pushed off. It felt like I fell forever. It took me a moment to realize that I had hit water and survived. I swam to the shore as quick as I could. Once I was out and had my bearings I grabbed the map. I wanted to see where it was that I went to from here. I checked my pockets, searched my bag and that white wash of fear came over me again. I looked over at the water and there was the map floating on top....except now it was blank. The water has washed all the ink off. I wasn't sure what to do and where to go from here. All I knew was that I had to get moving. I couldn't climb the way I came in, so I had to go in and find a way out for myself. If only it didn't look so dark.

Black. The subtle song of the siren. Distant lights of white speckle the dark. The hypnotic melancholy call of the siren. The ghostly trails of distant lights slowly trace a blurred image. He can see her. The sweet calming voice of the siren sings to him now. His heart swells in anguish. The blurred image forming the shape of a woman. The song her lullaby to the baby in her arms. His throat a lump, no sound can be produce, no air can be drawn. Now his heart will burst, his tears blur his vision. "Release me now" he pleads mentally. "I have no more to offer this world." His mind screams the words his body can not produce. His heart pounds, his fists clench, his mouth opens and he struggles to restrain. All the while the soothing melody of the song contrasts the panic, fear, and despair Reclis can longer contain. With a violent gasp for air Reclis awakes. He is soaked in this rented bed. As his heartbeat begins to normalize his breathing becomes instinct again and his mind trails back to her. She was his world. She was the reason he took up arms and vowed to defend this world. His wife, his child. 2 souls of pure innocence given unto him as though some divine gift he never felt truly worthy of. They gave him joy every minute and purpose with every breath. Now, they're gone. The only reason for his existence was to protect them, to give them a moment of the peace they brought him. And now, Reclis lies alone in a tattered bed in a lonely room of the Lions Arch Inn. The sea air fills the city and the wind carry's it into every crevice. It's early, not quite morning. Reclis knows he has work to do today. Not the glamorous adventure the order of whispers once provided, no that was a lifetime ago. 2 lifetimes ago. Reclis curses himself and cringes. The shame rises inside him for allowing himself to relive his vanity. As he squints his eyes he remembers the promise he made. One more mission and they would move. Just one more would afford them the home they desired away from this war, away from it all. The guilt of every copper he wasted, every minute he stalled, every cursed piece of armor he collected a piece of his own vanity. If only he would have kept his promise. A promise to take them away from the horror of war, a promise to protect them from the most heinous of this worlds monsters, a promise to put her safety before his own. Then maybe... "Make your path in this world love, but find your way back to me" her skin was fair and unblemished. Even the dirt of an honest days work could not tarnish her. Her hair laid about her shoulders in a natural fashion, slightly curled. She recited the same simple words to him every time he took his leave. "Let us be your light in this darkness." The words stung him now. Where was the light, without his wife and child the world was all darkness to him. Everyday a blind stumble. How long has it been? What day is it? Why does he even exist anymore? It was so long yet felt so recent. May e it wasn't that long but rather his psyche was trying to bury the pain deeper than any memory. Reclis opened his eyes and began to gather his tools. He had promised a farmer he would seal up a hole near a barn or something. As much was his distaste for anything material, his instinct to survive would not let him starve to death. He would complete this job. He gathered his necessary tools and the 3 things he would never be without. His sword, his pistol, and his flask. Although he never drank from the flask he carried it with him for that last moment, the one he would celebrate.

Reclis, err I settle into the stool at the pub. It's a terrible place to be at this hour, filled with night shift employees burning their stress and very untrusting of outsiders not sleeping at this hour. A typical pub for the area mostly wood furnishings, wooden bar, various game trophy's, and the typical pub gambling games. I have no intention of drinking here, nor gambling, but hot food can be tough to find at this hour and I need the supply's the farmer is to provide. I order the stew. Around me only 2 other men sit at the bar, an Asura staring off into some distant thought, content and comfortable. The other glances into his cup every other second, slightly uncomfortable, just plain enough to not warrant another look. A large round table with 4 larger human men, hard working, hard drinking, completes the population. AS I wait for my stew I can feel their glancing to me and away again. Although I obviously don't know these men, I could easily be one of them. The front door opens and 3 more night shift employees walk in. I wouldn't have noticed the numbers, had the third not been staring into the side of my head expecting me to turn it to him. He passes me by and sits at the adjoining table to his friends. I can still feel his stare on me. Dammit where is this farmer? I try to relax. "Oye," I hear a man whisper gruntly, I don't think he has a quieter tone. "Is that?" A voice that must have been the older, third gentleman from before whispers back, "I believe it is." "I heard he lost his wife and child in an attack by them undeads." The voice new to the conversation."I hear they walkin dead themselves now, heard he couldn't put em down." "Nah, it's all warsh," spits the old man a bit too loud, returning to his whisper. "I heard he was captured by the Inquist and they did all sorts of horrible things to him. My brother tells it they went lookin in his head and left a hella mess on the way out." Suddenly a voice, not trying for the discretion the two tables already failed miserably at chimes in, "I hear he stared into the eyes of the dragon and lost his mind when the dragon stared back." Everyone spins to see the man standing there, including myself. As soon as everyones eyes focus on, well on me, another voice booms from the other side of the seated men of Lions Arch. "Well I know for a fact he's just plain bonkers!" yells, well, yells me. In astonsihment I glance back and forth between my own apparitions. The mena at the table obviously believe this is somehow my sorcery and jump to their feet. The anxiety in the room has now reached critical mass and I am no longer comfortable here. All at once me and myself, and my other self are on our feet, glancing between ourselves and the crowd which means to do us harm. Now I consider myself an attentive person, so there was no way anyone could miss that sinister smile that spread between my clones at the same eerie instant. "He's a bloomin Mesmer!" yelled the youngest one at the table. The table of men scrambled, their intentions obviously to remove to me and these clones from their establishment. A split second, a blink in time, and I find myself standing outside. I feel pressure building into a shove near my mid section. I look down and the Asura from the end of the bar is there, hurrying me away from the light of the bar and the sudden attention of the guard realizing there's a ruckus brewing at the pub. "Here, take your sack, and go," the Asura hands me a medium sized pack, not very heavy, but definitely enchanted. A fight has now erupted inside the bar, I was still trying to process the appearance of two identical clones of myself when the last thing I noticed was a third, right where I stood. The Asura chap spun me around and shoved me towards the direction he obviously intended I travel. My feet drug across the stone of Lion's Arch's road and I began to walk at a brisk pace away. I spun around confused and yelled to the Asura "who are you?" "You have a job to complete you damn fool! Find the light in the darkness and get that cave sealed!" he yelled at me before narrowing his gaze and stating in a very monotone manner "Whispers are secrets exposed." My body began an instinctual shuffle in a direction I wasn't entirely sure of, but somehow trusted. It was dark and I don't recognize the streets, but something inside was steering now and we're sure we can trust us, err me, I mean I uh... The sun begins to rise and I know I must seal that cave.

Flynn looked at the paper in his hands and sighed. He rubbed his hands over his face and stared up in silent prayer. Looking at his companion he waved his hands trying to find the right words. "That crazy little rogue petal! She's gone and done it again! She can't just sit still! I don't get it! Why can't she just have a regular day off like everyone else and come to the tavern for a few drinks and laughs? No she's got to go out and get herself into trouble no doubt...AGAIN!" He sighed again and downed his drink. Shaking his head he stands up, tosses a tip on the table and begged his pardon. "Looks like I'm once again going to have to go after her if only to make sure she comes out alive. I think I know someone who can provide me with a map of this place she is going too. She was talking a few weeks ago about him and I thought we had all made it clear that by going she was making a sorry mistake." His companion chuckled into his glass. "Look she's a grown sprout. She's going to do what she wants whether you like it or not. You have to appreciate such a creature with curiosity and spunk like that." "Ha! I'll appreciate her more when she stops giving me heart attacks. Great, I suppose I should tell my lady that I will be away. I just know telling her that I am off to help Trys again is going to get her jealousy all in a bunch. She just doesn't get that Trys is like a sister to me and I feel protective of her." "Go! Find your blossom and bring her home safe and sound. Should you find the Ghost treasure....bring some of that as well." With those words Flynn got up and walked out of the tavern plotting the next steps in his head. He was probably going to need some help...