Post by Reily Leigh Arlen on Mar 1, 2008 7:13:34 GMT -5
Never had she imagined a city so large, with so many turns and high walls and cramped, leaning houses. How could it be midday and yet the streets be shadowed and chill? Having only arrived that morn Reily clearly still had a lot to learn about Avaren that the tales she had been told as a youngster had seen fit to omit. Having asked a few, mostly unresponsive tradesmen for directions along the way, Reily finally found herself at the warrior barracks, hopefully to find lodgings here as a trainee knight. Her brief time in the formally grand kingdom was making her feel very small indeed - the people crushed past her, the walls overshadowed the sky; all was claustrophobic. But the barracks were different.
The ceilings were high with windows built into them. Large circles meant for training dotted the ground giving the place an open feel. Reily felt much better for having found it. At the moment, however, it seemed empty. No crashing of sword upon shield, no thud of arrow making contact with its target. All was quiet. Reily was alone.
Yet somehow the loneliness which she had been experiencing for the past few hours had been alleviated. She breathed deep. Smells of dust and metal and sweat assaulted her nostrils, and she felt at home at once. But what is a home without someone to share it with? The redhead slid her pack from her shoulders, letting it drop to the floor at the entranceway and stepped hesitantly inward, her footfalls soft but echoing in the silence. She was a slight figure of a girl, her wavy hair shorn short about her shoulders, adding to her tomboy appearance. She was clad in well fitting brown leather boots, grey leggings and a green tunic overlaid with a tattered leather jerkin. Over all was a rather travel-worn cloak, the colour of which may have once been a light blue, and her eyes were grey as the clouds before rain. An unlikely candidate for a warrior, perhaps, but Reily was the determined type.
She continued her step, making a line for a row of lifeless target dummies, each with an attached shield. At the wall was a rack of old swords, some far too large for the girl to even contemplate lifting, but she headed for them and selected one with a tarnished grey hilt. It took a couple of tugs from the slender redhead to removed the weapon from its trappings and when she succeeded she found the metal far heavier than she had expected. The tip of the blade hit the dirt before she could recover herself, a dull thud reverberating in her ears. She looked around, sensing now that someone was behind her.
"Hello?" she said, softly at first, fearing the echo. Then, louder; "Hello?!"
The ceilings were high with windows built into them. Large circles meant for training dotted the ground giving the place an open feel. Reily felt much better for having found it. At the moment, however, it seemed empty. No crashing of sword upon shield, no thud of arrow making contact with its target. All was quiet. Reily was alone.
Yet somehow the loneliness which she had been experiencing for the past few hours had been alleviated. She breathed deep. Smells of dust and metal and sweat assaulted her nostrils, and she felt at home at once. But what is a home without someone to share it with? The redhead slid her pack from her shoulders, letting it drop to the floor at the entranceway and stepped hesitantly inward, her footfalls soft but echoing in the silence. She was a slight figure of a girl, her wavy hair shorn short about her shoulders, adding to her tomboy appearance. She was clad in well fitting brown leather boots, grey leggings and a green tunic overlaid with a tattered leather jerkin. Over all was a rather travel-worn cloak, the colour of which may have once been a light blue, and her eyes were grey as the clouds before rain. An unlikely candidate for a warrior, perhaps, but Reily was the determined type.
She continued her step, making a line for a row of lifeless target dummies, each with an attached shield. At the wall was a rack of old swords, some far too large for the girl to even contemplate lifting, but she headed for them and selected one with a tarnished grey hilt. It took a couple of tugs from the slender redhead to removed the weapon from its trappings and when she succeeded she found the metal far heavier than she had expected. The tip of the blade hit the dirt before she could recover herself, a dull thud reverberating in her ears. She looked around, sensing now that someone was behind her.
"Hello?" she said, softly at first, fearing the echo. Then, louder; "Hello?!"
