(D6, MA-LA, Renown, Open) Free Play

[Whisper]

"Living in the wilds is fine, but survival is still a struggle." he shrugged. "It also gets lonely, even with Hush. I needed to spend some of my time within civilization proper to avoid becoming an eccentric hermit. And, that would require coin. Sigil and the Free League gives me a way to earn enough with my skills to have a life in the city on my terms."

"I don't blame you for having doubts. It's understandable. If I can do anything to help with that, I'd be willing."

[Mysti]

"I've never actually had to survive for any length of time out in the wilderness. I always had enough food and other essentials with me since I knew I would only be out there for a few days. I can hunt, skin and dress the catch, start fires, make a basic shelter. However, there ends my skills as a naturalist."

"But ... yes ... I can certainly understand the risk of becoming some nasty old hermit with all the social skills of a brick. Covered with filth and stinking to high heaven." She chuckled while giving a quick glance down the hall. "There's people like that who live right here in Sigil, though. About a week ago, I met this goblin who ..."

Then Mysti frowned and shook her head slightly. "Well ... I'm sure you know where that story was headed. Anyway. I knew my skills out there alone weren't good enough for more than perhaps a week. How fortuitous, then, that I have met you, hmm? And it does tend to get lonely out there. Not that there's much of a difference between the city and the forest. The difference is that -- out in the forest you really are alone. Unlike here. Where you see groups of friends ... and families ... and couples ... all the time. It's as if their 'togetherness' is making a mockery of your loneliness. If that makes sense."

She didn't say anything else -- apparently lost in her own thoughts, her mind a million miles away -- until the ale arrived. Just a simple bottle of ale, the kind one sees all the time. Mysti deftly flicked the cork out of the bottle with her thumb.

"As for the doubts ...." Again she fell silent as she poured herself the kind of mug where the head was overflowing onto the table. "I suppose that will simply take time. That ... and actually being on the road. That will help allay any doubts significantly. Care for any?"

She gave a faint little nod toward the bottle.

[Whisper]

"If you're trying to get me drunk, I approve." he nodded. "I will say, there is generally a better selection of alcohol in cities."

[Mysti]

Mysti gave a light little laugh as she poured Whisper a mug of ale.

"You know ... I hadn't thought about actually getting you drunk. But ... now that you mention it ..."

She filled Whisper's mug in the same way she filled her own -- to the point where the foamy head was running down the sides of the mug to pool on the table.

"I have to agree with you about the alcohol selection. Unfortunately no matter where you go, you miss something. With all of those infinite planes out there, surely there has to be one that's perfect for our kind of life, hmm?"

She took a couple of large gulps and wiped away the foam with the back of her hand. Foam mustaches were to be avoided at all costs. "So ... what did you people drink out there in the forest? I'm assuming you had something, right? Hopefully it wasn't just water."

[Whisper]

"That's the thing about forests of perpetual twilight. There aren't many fruits or flowers to make feywine with." He gulped the mug down and licked his lips. "The star elves found a way, mostly with lichen."

[Mysti]

"Hmm ... like ... moss wine?" Mysti said without a whole lot of enthusiasm. "I suppose I shouldn't hate it before I've tried it. But ... yeah, there's just something about lichen ..."

"In any case," she said after taking another few gulps of ale, "no doubt there will be little towns and rest stops and other little places where we can grab a drink. Some of these places have some rather ... shall we say ... inventive drinks. Though the magical ones cost a small fortune. A lot of these little local places are trying to drum up business."

"Though ... maybe I'm wrong, I don't know. Can't say how populated Tir'na --- how do you pronounce that again? Anyway, even the elves and fey like their drink I would suspect."

[Whisper]

"Tir na Og should have a good variety of wines and ales available." he smiled. "Small villages, but a lot of farmland for a variety of produce and grains. Elves and fey like there wines, feywine in particular. It puts one into a frivolous mood, that may last longer for some than others."

[Mysti]

"Frivolous, hmm?" Mysti grinned slightly before giving an affirming nod. "I actually enjoy frivolous sometimes. Especially since -- you know -- dealing with the Harmonium. They're a good enough sort but often lack a sense of ... how to put it ... perhaps a sense of sponteneity. And a good sense of humor. Save for a couple individuals. You would think it was policy not to laugh or have fun."

She stirred the foam with her finger in this idle sort of way. "I always envisioned elven cities to be full of these tall and narrow spires, everything all elegant and exquisitely crafted. I don't know why I thought that -- or where I heard that from. Ever hear of any place like that?"

[Whisper]

"Oh, those exist." he nodded. "Many of the star elves had the spires, just not the cities. I assume other high elves have used similar architecture, but I haven't seen them anywhere else. Most of the elven communities I've visited are designed to complement the environment they were built in, incorporating and even blending into the forests surrounding them."

[Mysti]

"Oh, right, right ... I've heard of those, too. Elves that live on these massive trees? Or .... yeah, something like that. So many places to go -- things to see. Even with a long life such as mine, one could never live long enough to see it all."

Mysti gives Whisper an overly dramatic look -- obviously she's faking it.

"Assuming you don't get yourself killed, hmm?" She chuckles and takes a long drink.

"But we'll have Hush to keep us from danger."