It started as a whisper
of sound, and in Biara's dream it was a stream running over some rocks, a
soft steady flow accompanying it. As the sound grew in volume, the
stream in the dream grew into a river, more and more water flowing over
the cliff. Biara stood below it, looking up. Pops and snaps could be
heard as fallen trees and branches made their way over the falls, which
grew larger and larger, the sound a roaring, pounding thing that drowned
out all other hearing. Huge trees crashed over the falls, their
branches snapping, breaking with thunderous clashes against the rocks
which loomed ever closer to Biara until finally, inexplicably, she was
standing beneath the pounding water, all of its weight slamming into her
head.
Her eyes opened.
Well, one eye opened, the other appeared to be gummed shut, perhaps with dried makeup, she couldn't tell. The thought and problem were quickly banished as a snapping pop sent a wave of near-murderous agony through her pounding skull, and she dimly tried to focus her vision which seemed to want to flitter about without actually centering on anything. Finally she realized that she was laying on a pile of animal furs, her face mostly pressed into the soft material. A strand of her hair hung in front of her face, the red color stinging her eyes as she squinted at it. It looked kind of ragged and dirty, but she could tell for sure in the poor light.
Another snapping pop sent a pounding wave of agony through her skull, and she slowly shifted her head to stare at the offending noise. That act alone brought a lovely bout of vertigo, but she managed to avoid vomiting and was able to identify a cozy fire, with some sort of meat roasting over it. The smell of the meat sent her stomach into some sort of amusing acrobatics that were actually less than amusing, and she curled into a ball under the pile of furs on her, attempting to bring it under control.
After a few more minutes of wanting to die, her stomach slowly settled and she became aware of another sound over the agony-inducing crackle of the nearby fire. She reached up and rubbed at her gummed up eye, freeing it so that she could peer from her refuge of furs across the light of the fire. There, a rather large orc sat, his calloused hands working at a length of sinew, knotting it slowly into what appeared to be a bowstring.
She had been sleeping in a hut, under furs, with an orc sitting nearby!
She surged to her feet, staring at the orc and trying desperately to figure out who he was. Fur blankets tumbled down around her, and the orc's response was strange to her at first; he stared at her, his mouth agape in a rather comical fashion. She couldn't quite place the look he was giving her until a breeze from the nearby hut opening blew across her body.
She was stark naked!
Eyes nearly popping out of her head in shock, Biara dropped down and snatched a fur blanket up, wrapping herself in it. From the look the orc was giving her, being now only half-naked, wrapped in fur, with her long red hair hanging down in a disheveled fashion was not making her any less interesting to look at. She rolled her eyes and croaked out a sentence, "W-where am I? What are you doing here? Where are my clothes?!"
The orc chuckled, his eyes dropping back to his work with the sinew. "You're in Stonard. This is MY hut which you occupied rather abruptly last night. As for your clothes, I have no idea where they are. We DID have a raid on our encampment by Lost Ones last night, so perhaps they took your things? You were...ummm...snoring rather loudly..."
Biara's face flushed bright crimson, almost matching her hair. She sank down onto her pile of furs again, the blanket over her slipping to expose one of her legs to the thigh. The orc eyed her like the meat over the firepit, but she hardly cared as her pounding headache resumed its crusade to conquer her skull. She brought a hand up to her aching temple with a wince.
Movement behind her made her eyes go wide as a long, flat tongue grazed the side of her tapered ear. The look the orc was giving her now was almost as if he was have a seizure, and it took a moment for her to realize he was holding in an enormous laugh. She turned her head slightly to look at the owner of the offending tongue, and two little eyes looked back at her, right near her face.
A sheep. A sheep was staring at her after having just licked her ear.
"What. The. FEL?!" She exclaimed as she looked at the creature. It was then she noticed that there was something odd about it. The sheep was magic. It was not really a sheep.
With the orc laughing uncontrollably on the other side of the tent now, Biara focused what little magic she had available and dismissed the polymorph spell that was on the creature. Magic flared in the room and in place of the sheep was now a small, light-green skinned goblin woman.
Wearing her dress.
"Look lady! I was just going to BORROW it!" the goblin yelled. "You were sleeping and you didn't need it. There was no need for that! Do you know what GRASS TASTES LIKE?!"
Biara blinked stupidly, which only sent the orc on the other side of the hut into a new fit of laughter. Both Biara and the goblin glared at him, but he was beyond caring as he grabbed his own stomach, which now hurt from laughing too much at the elf.
The goblin snorted in irritation, and her hands reached back and undid the lacing of the dress, which had been way too big for her anyway. In a fit she stripped it off, showing that she actually was wearing leather armor beneath. She hurled the offending purple fabric in Biara's face.
"I'll bill you for my time lady!" she yelled, stomping towards the hut's entrance. "That's five hours wasted! I coulda' been doing something profitable during that time, like finding those Lost Ones and stealing back what they stole and selling it for triple the price!"
Her ranting trailed off as she left, fading into the distance but leaving Biara's head pounding none-the-less. She winced, looking down at her dress, which was stained with a variety of things she cared not to identify. Fortunately, it still had her magic pouch sewn into it, with several spell components. Enough to get home. She stood up to put it on, remembering her nudity at the last minute.
"Can you give me some privacy please?" she croaked at the orc. He laughed, got up and headed for the exit.
"Lady, you can come visit anytime you want. I don't think I'll forget this for a long time!" he laughed as he left.
Biara rolled her eyes and slipped her partially ruined dress on. With a sigh she dug into a pouch and found a runestone marked with an 'S' for Silvermoon. A thought occurred to her that in the future, she would not mark the 'Stonard' runes with an "S' as well.
She rolled her eyes and chanted, returning to Silvermoon and the safety of her own Spire moments later.
Her eyes opened.
Well, one eye opened, the other appeared to be gummed shut, perhaps with dried makeup, she couldn't tell. The thought and problem were quickly banished as a snapping pop sent a wave of near-murderous agony through her pounding skull, and she dimly tried to focus her vision which seemed to want to flitter about without actually centering on anything. Finally she realized that she was laying on a pile of animal furs, her face mostly pressed into the soft material. A strand of her hair hung in front of her face, the red color stinging her eyes as she squinted at it. It looked kind of ragged and dirty, but she could tell for sure in the poor light.
Another snapping pop sent a pounding wave of agony through her skull, and she slowly shifted her head to stare at the offending noise. That act alone brought a lovely bout of vertigo, but she managed to avoid vomiting and was able to identify a cozy fire, with some sort of meat roasting over it. The smell of the meat sent her stomach into some sort of amusing acrobatics that were actually less than amusing, and she curled into a ball under the pile of furs on her, attempting to bring it under control.
After a few more minutes of wanting to die, her stomach slowly settled and she became aware of another sound over the agony-inducing crackle of the nearby fire. She reached up and rubbed at her gummed up eye, freeing it so that she could peer from her refuge of furs across the light of the fire. There, a rather large orc sat, his calloused hands working at a length of sinew, knotting it slowly into what appeared to be a bowstring.
She had been sleeping in a hut, under furs, with an orc sitting nearby!
She surged to her feet, staring at the orc and trying desperately to figure out who he was. Fur blankets tumbled down around her, and the orc's response was strange to her at first; he stared at her, his mouth agape in a rather comical fashion. She couldn't quite place the look he was giving her until a breeze from the nearby hut opening blew across her body.
She was stark naked!
Eyes nearly popping out of her head in shock, Biara dropped down and snatched a fur blanket up, wrapping herself in it. From the look the orc was giving her, being now only half-naked, wrapped in fur, with her long red hair hanging down in a disheveled fashion was not making her any less interesting to look at. She rolled her eyes and croaked out a sentence, "W-where am I? What are you doing here? Where are my clothes?!"
The orc chuckled, his eyes dropping back to his work with the sinew. "You're in Stonard. This is MY hut which you occupied rather abruptly last night. As for your clothes, I have no idea where they are. We DID have a raid on our encampment by Lost Ones last night, so perhaps they took your things? You were...ummm...snoring rather loudly..."
Biara's face flushed bright crimson, almost matching her hair. She sank down onto her pile of furs again, the blanket over her slipping to expose one of her legs to the thigh. The orc eyed her like the meat over the firepit, but she hardly cared as her pounding headache resumed its crusade to conquer her skull. She brought a hand up to her aching temple with a wince.
Movement behind her made her eyes go wide as a long, flat tongue grazed the side of her tapered ear. The look the orc was giving her now was almost as if he was have a seizure, and it took a moment for her to realize he was holding in an enormous laugh. She turned her head slightly to look at the owner of the offending tongue, and two little eyes looked back at her, right near her face.
A sheep. A sheep was staring at her after having just licked her ear.
"What. The. FEL?!" She exclaimed as she looked at the creature. It was then she noticed that there was something odd about it. The sheep was magic. It was not really a sheep.
With the orc laughing uncontrollably on the other side of the tent now, Biara focused what little magic she had available and dismissed the polymorph spell that was on the creature. Magic flared in the room and in place of the sheep was now a small, light-green skinned goblin woman.
Wearing her dress.
"Look lady! I was just going to BORROW it!" the goblin yelled. "You were sleeping and you didn't need it. There was no need for that! Do you know what GRASS TASTES LIKE?!"
Biara blinked stupidly, which only sent the orc on the other side of the hut into a new fit of laughter. Both Biara and the goblin glared at him, but he was beyond caring as he grabbed his own stomach, which now hurt from laughing too much at the elf.
The goblin snorted in irritation, and her hands reached back and undid the lacing of the dress, which had been way too big for her anyway. In a fit she stripped it off, showing that she actually was wearing leather armor beneath. She hurled the offending purple fabric in Biara's face.
"I'll bill you for my time lady!" she yelled, stomping towards the hut's entrance. "That's five hours wasted! I coulda' been doing something profitable during that time, like finding those Lost Ones and stealing back what they stole and selling it for triple the price!"
Her ranting trailed off as she left, fading into the distance but leaving Biara's head pounding none-the-less. She winced, looking down at her dress, which was stained with a variety of things she cared not to identify. Fortunately, it still had her magic pouch sewn into it, with several spell components. Enough to get home. She stood up to put it on, remembering her nudity at the last minute.
"Can you give me some privacy please?" she croaked at the orc. He laughed, got up and headed for the exit.
"Lady, you can come visit anytime you want. I don't think I'll forget this for a long time!" he laughed as he left.
Biara rolled her eyes and slipped her partially ruined dress on. With a sigh she dug into a pouch and found a runestone marked with an 'S' for Silvermoon. A thought occurred to her that in the future, she would not mark the 'Stonard' runes with an "S' as well.
She rolled her eyes and chanted, returning to Silvermoon and the safety of her own Spire moments later.
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