• Solo • [Nashaki] A Bird of Fortune

45th of Zi'da 721

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Kalortah
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Posts: 609
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2017 12:37 am
Race: Mortal Born
Profession: Voice of Calamity
Renown: 590
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[Nashaki] A Bird of Fortune

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45th of Zi'da 721

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Bombastic Theme
Wars teach people to obey the sword, not the truth. And the simple truth was that Kalortah was the essence of beauty and grandiloquence, and it couldn't be denied as he gazed into the mirror. He'd taken to recoloring every feather on his head, his skin, his eyes. He turned his dark red eyes into pale greens, his feathers turned to green as well, and the ruff of his feathers turned to the hue of shimmering gold. His bland white skin turned to an attractive, light golden hue. Finally, this done, he went about putting on his duplicity seven-piece suit.

The first article was a jade-green underrobe, which made accommodations for his wings, allowing them to move and flex as they would. Atop that, he wore on his torso a thick vest of silk, shimmering with cloth of gold and fine black embroidery upon it. For his legs, he wore a pair of loose trousers that allowed him to breathe in the desert heat. They were colored black. On his feet, a pair of leather boots, embossed and outlined with gold brocade. On his head, a large turban marked with innumerable featehrs. He placed his bardic half-plate, made of bronzish cobalt atop that getup, and then the final piece of duplicity gear, a jade-green scarf to wrap around his neck. Thus finished, he took one last look at himself in the mirror, applying the final touches of black eye-liner, to draw fanciful etchings onto the corner of his eye, to draw attention to their beauty.

It was all about him, his arrival, his grandiloquence, and his imminent arrival to the place where he would begin his quest for glorious riches, to find beauty in the world and return it for the glory of Delroth.

This done, he walked out of his cabin, onto the deck of his Galleon, the All-Colours Palace. There, he found his modest crew manning the rigging, his hired bosun and navigator directing the work of the men. He was the master of this vessel, though he didn't possess the slightest speck of knowledge as to what it took to truly command it. He only provided leadership, and when necessary ,as determined by the Quartermaster, he'd also hired, intimidation to the crew.

But then, Chryseus, his dragonling from Drathaidir, was intimidating enough even in his beauty. The dragonling nuzzled up to Kalortah as he stepped out onto the deck, snaking its way around the mast and toward him like a strange mixture of snake and large hound. Kalortah rested his hand on its snout, and smiled at him. "Shall we, Chryseus? The men will abide here awhile, until they arrive at port."

He knew the dragonling didn't understand his words entirely, but knew what he meant. He meant to go flying. The idea of flight always excited his dragonling companion.

So without much delay, he hoisted himself onto the comfortable saddle of the creature, and bid it to fly.

Fly it did, right off the deck, snaking its way around the men and then spreading its wings as he plunged over the elaborately painted red bannisters of the ship. Kalortah held on, folding his wings behind him as the creature took flight. It took flight, and drove toward the shore, and the shining sands of the Slaver's Corridor.



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Last edited by Kalortah on Sun Jun 12, 2022 10:12 pm, edited 1 time in total. word count: 570
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Kalortah is always under the effect of the Tarouz ability,
Grandeur

Aliases:
Eldyn Morose
,
Larza Impre
,
Flavius Erythrian
,
Milian Le Moigne
.
User avatar
Kalortah
Approved Character
Posts: 609
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2017 12:37 am
Race: Mortal Born
Profession: Voice of Calamity
Renown: 590
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Wealth Tier: Tier 10

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Re: [Nashaki] A Bird of Fortune

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He arrived within half a day, at the gates of Nashaki. Flying high over the desert, farther than any arrow could reasonably reach him, he traveled unmolested through the sands of Nashaki, watching as the little people moved beneath him, in caravans, in clans, in scattered groups like rat stoor on the dirt. He only spared these groups a fleeting glance before riding on ahead of them with his dragonling. At times, flying by himself, at others reclining on the comfortable saddle of his companion. The creature was faster than he, which did make him slightly envious. But the fact that Chryseus was his at least alleviated some of his jealousy at the idea of anyone being faster on the wing than he.

At any rate, he arrived at the gates, and there descended before the ground. He had no wish to trespass or cause trouble here, while here. He only had a mind to look at what the storied city of the desert had to offer.

The guards spared him a glance, and then waved him in. It was almost too casual the way they treated him. Yet, he tilted his chin upward, and moved past them. All around, there were eyes upon him. His glorious coloration and strange glow. Kalortah couldn't blame them. It would be hard to ignore such grand beauty. He didn't think that any avriel, whether mortalborn or no, had golden feathers, afterall. And if they did, they surely weren't rich enough to afford the rich fabrics that he wore now.

His green eyes took in the surrounding city folk. Unfortunately for him, he'd arrived at a slightly less affluent neighborhood, it seemed. He probably should've done some scouting ahead of time to determine which of the gates led to the richer district. But as it was, he simply enjoyed the walk, travelling alongside his dragonling. The creature nuzzled his shoulder briefly, signalling that it was getting restless. "Go on Chryseus, have a look around."

Chryseus cooed happily at him, and then took off into the air, flashing its brilliant wings as he lifted off. Leaving Kalortah alone for the moment.

Kalortah's eyes took in the area around him, wondering if there was anything worth salvaging in this section of the city. Children began approaching, getting curious now. Kalortah snapped his tongue at them, cruelly cursing them in Lorien. This had the effect of scattering the beggars. At the sound of his Lorien tongue, however, there appeared in the corner of his eye, a sudden show of color on a distant rooftop. He turned slowly to look at what that blue color was. But by the time his eyes hit upon it, whatever had made the silhouette was gone.

“THIEF!” The words were shouted, and Kalortah’s hands shot to his satchel, wondering if he should guard his belongings. After a moment, the panic subsided, and nobody could locate where the voice had come from.

Eventually, he made his way through the main thoroughfare in the center of the city, around the Spires. Along the way, his hand grazed the satchel once more, but this time found the cold gooseflesh of a hand trying its luck in his pocket.

Before he could grasp the hand, it flew away with a trinket.

“What! How dare you steal from the Voice of Calamity!” Kalortah cried, and gave chase.

But this was no ordinary thief. It was an avriel, and she took flight almost as soon as she had filched the copper-gold band from his pocket.

He gave chase, flying after her. She tried to fly low over the buildings, in hopes that she would tempt him to greater heights and lose him among the lower elevations.

Kalortah was familiar with that trick, being an expert at flight himself. He was not fooled, and managed to dive down, intercepting her and knocking her out of the sky as he grappled in mid-air with her.

They landed, he mangling her wings along the way, rendering them sprained and unable to fly. They both landed in the dust, in a well-trafficked alley. Before she could run away on foot, he already had his sword out, and pointed toward her.

Kalortah held his blade, pointed directly beneath her chin as he tilted her head upward, with the slightest flick of his wrist, touching the flat of the adamant blade against the soft skin under her mandible. She was pretty enough, but then, most avriel that still bore their feathers were near perfect examples of beauty. She had dark blue feathers, with a greenish opalescence to them. It was no doubt a benefit to her, here in this city scape that so rarely saw rain, to blend in with the blue skies above.

Kalortah asked her name, using their shared tongue of Lorien as the street sweepings pretended not to look. “Lotema.”

“I couldn’t hear that. Could you say that again?” Kalortah rolled his words, a silent threat evident in his tone.

“Lotema!” She said.

Presently the guards came. Kalortah still held her at blade point, the copper trinket still clutched between her fingers. “The guardsmen looked from Kalortah to her, and frowned, “Pardon, is this the one who cried thief?”

Kalortah shook his head, without taking his eyes off of Lotema. “No, she did. As a distraction.” He replied to him in common. “I suppose it was meant to prompt me to check my most precious belongings. Then she struck, and tried to fly off. Clearly she was not quick enough.”

Kalortah’s lips twisted into a cruel smile, as he regarded the little thief.

“Shall we apprehend her, eminence?” They asked him, taking his show of wealth as a sign of status and thus giving the proper amount of respect.

Kalortah thought about it a moment. What a waste it would be, to lose such a skilled sneak? He actually could use people like her, to do his bidding. He thought about the Phoenix Urn, wasting away in his Tower in Scalvoristown, under the stewardship of his traitor family. His green eyes flashed in irritation at the very idea of them living in the lap of luxury, at his expense. He could use someone like her… to steal back what was his.

“She will be coming with me.” Kalortah stated with condidence that was difficult for the men to deny. “She belongs to me now.”

The guards glanced uncetainly at Kalortah, but then bowed their heads. “As you wish. Take her in chains, or in rope, but she must leave. We will not abide thieves in our city.”

“She will come willingly. She cannot run from me.” Kalortah said, waving off the offer of bindings.

So saying, he bid her to rise, and then sheathing his sword, grasped her by the upper arm.

They made their way out of Nashaki. And while Kalortah hadn’t found as much of the treasure he’d thought to see in this city, he’d found something that might prove even more valuable.
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word count: 1179
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Kalortah is always under the effect of the Tarouz ability,
Grandeur

Aliases:
Eldyn Morose
,
Larza Impre
,
Flavius Erythrian
,
Milian Le Moigne
.
User avatar
Doran
Peer Reviewer
Peer Reviewer
Posts: 3567
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2016 3:43 am
Race: Mortal Born
Profession: Alchemist
Renown: 1162
Character Sheet
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Plot Notes
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Wealth Tier: Tier 10

Re: [Nashaki] A Bird of Fortune

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Kalortah:

Knowledge:
Cosmetology: Dressing for the desert climate, and to impress
Intimidation: Bullying a crew of seaman into line
Intimidation: Maintaining a sublime arrogance, to appear unassailable.
Intimidation: Snapping a curse at some urchins, in Lorien, in order to scare them away
Intimidation: Using tone to project authority
Mount: Air: Riding a dragonling from the deck of a boat.

Loot: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: 10, for stopping a thief and getting a new companion.
Magic XP: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 10

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Comments:
And the simple truth was that Kalortah was the essence of beauty and grandiloquence, and it couldn't be denied as he gazed into the mirror.
I love that sentence at the beginning of the thread, and I’m impressed by the detailed description of Kalortah’s appearance. He really is the essence of beauty, and what more, he has his own galleon!

This was a very appropriate arrival in Nashaki for a man like him in my opinion!

It’s too bad that he arrived in a less fortunate neighborhood rather than in one of the richest districts as he would without a doubt have deserved.

His encounter with the thief didn’t go the way I expected – which is a good thing. I appreciate things taking an unexpected turn.

I wasn’t sure about the guards just giving Lotema to Kalortah at first, but according to the Wiki, there’s actually a law for that. I wonder what Kalortah will do with Lotema now!

Enjoy your rewards!

P.S.: I would have added “Detection” to the list of skills used as Kalortah noticed someone trying to steal from him.

P.P.S.: You can also find the XP and the Renown for this thread in your UCP!
word count: 292

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