Revision as of 15:04, 21 February 2021

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D&D Beyond character link: https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/LadyRatri/characters/44705859

Irrin Soshenkra Vasri

Fallen Aasimar Sorcerer with a black dragon bloodline, wandering the countryside of Shou Lung. He wanders almost like someone in search of something...

Backstory

Marakinth

Yentai had yet another of the usual dim, crowded taverns you find in every town. I suppose it's the only type of establishment my budget allows. Though, there is occasionally something comforting about being surrounded by so many people without having to actually talk to any of them.

He spotted me first. Brass Dragonkin. I didn't ask, but I'm sure it was the eyes. It's always the eyes. He had a lot of questions, about some monastery up in the mountains that I'd never heard of, and some great evil who attacked it. I did honestly wish I could help -- he flared with such intensity when he asked about the massacre. And yet, he didn't seem disappointed when I had no helpful information.

"Anything you want me to say to it, if I ever meet this evil of yours? I'm pretty accomplished at swearing in Draconic, if that's your style," I said.

"Just let me know. I will find a way to destroy it if I ever find out who was behind the attack." Ok, so, not much for a snide joke I guess. I can live with that. At least he has a goal.

Once he figured out I had absolutely no useful information for him, I assumed he'd disappear back into the crowd, on to the next target for interrogation, but no. He seemed resigned, like this same conversation had played out in every dim, crowded tavern in every town. He was content to drink and talk. It was good to spend a little time with someone who knows the world isn't all sunshine and roses and glory.

Turns out, he was heading north also. I'm not sure either of us necessarily asked the other to travel together so much as we both arrived at the idea around the same time, and started talking as though it was agreed. Certainly, it would be nice not to travel alone for a while. At least as far as Kai Shan.

On the road

After so long traveling alone, it does take a while to get used to another person being there all the time. The random noises, the annoying habits, the snoring at night...although, for some reason, with Marakinth, there wasn't as much pressure to keep up the mask I wear in public. I think that's why the arrangement worked at all. It was a relief to travel with someone who didn't need to fill the air with words all the time. Knowing what he'd seen, from the things he asked about his monastery...well, it did explain a lot about why he found me in that crowd.

I'd forgotten how much easier it is to set up and break down camp with two people, rather than doing all of it alone. He had a lyre with him, this Marakinth character, which seemed to be quite important to him. I didn't pry, of course. How hypocritical would that be? It was pleasant to have some music while cooking over the fire, on the days we managed to take a rabbit or some other small game. He's a better hunter than I am, and it was certainly nice to rely less on dried rations. Within a few days, we had tacitly worked out a routine for setting up and breaking down camp, and fell into a comforting daily rhythm.

As we sat one night, with the fire burning down and the darkness deepening, I had taken out my woodcarving tools and gone to work on a small chunk of the spare firewood. Marakinth was tuning his lyre, in the otherwise quiet night, when there was an unexpected THUNK, and an off-pitch tone followed by an odd moment of silence. He mumbled something I didn't quite catch, but when I glanced up, it was clear something had gone wrong with one of the strings on his lyre. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes narrow, as the normal outdoor sounds reclaimed the silence.

"Do you have a spare?"

"No," he growled. I raised my eyebrows, and he sighed. "Not this gauge. It's broken too many times."

"May I?" I must've looked appropriately thoughtful, or respectful, or something like that, when I held out my hand. Somewhat to my surprise, he actually handed me his prized possession. I looked it over. The highest string was stretched -- unusable, but not entirely broken. I unwound it carefully from the tuning peg, removed the peg, and looked it over. Not only was this peg thicker than the others, it had a rough spot where the string wrapped.

As I chose a tool from my kit, and started to shape the peg, where the string would wrap, I could've sworn I could feel Marakinth holding his breath. I thinned the peg, smoothed it carefully, and began re-wrapping the string. Before pulling it taut, I paused to cast Mending, to repair the damaged section, then slowly brought the string up to tension. It held, and the adjustment was smoother and finer. Marakinth was looking at me strangely when I held the instrument out to him.

"A...friend of mine played lute." I'm pretty sure I looked away, as he took the lyre back from me. "The construction is surprisingly similar. I'm no skilled artisan, to be sure, but a small adjustment can go a long way. You should find it easier to tune that string from now on."

He adjusted it carefully, and plucked a few chords. The string sounded like new.

He was still playing when I went to sleep that night.

Bandits

Marakinth heard them first, and raise the alarm. Well, really it was more of a mix between an indignant bellow and a sharp battle cry, but it served its purpose of bringing me flying up out of my bedroll in an already wide-awake state, in time to see at least a half-dozen bandits swarming into our clearing. They approached almost in formation, like some kind of combat unit who had trained together, not just your average highway thugs. I assessed the situation quickly, thanking my lucky stars I was not facing this onslaught alone.

As I was gathering my wits to act, and forming a plan, I heard Marakinth growl under his breath about the fire dying down, and saw him stumble in the dark. Right, Dragonkin need light. I can do that. I reached out and put a yellow, sunlight-tinted glow on my tent. It was enough to light the clearing at least. I could see his eyes lock on target, taking in the scene the same way I had, calculating a plan.

I can only assume they couldn't see Marakinth clearly in his bedroll, and just saw a camp of two with minimal weapons and simple gear. They probably thought it would be easy money to swipe some stuff and ride on.

They were wrong.

Seeing the group coming at him in formation, the Dragonkin took up his spear, but didn't ready it immediately. First, he took a deep breath and unleashed his fire on the front of the group. With the whole attacking force suddenly looking a lot crispier than they had a moment ago, and the front line swiftly approaching that spear, I threw an Acid Splash at the back of the line.

Marakinth brought his spear up to meet the front line's charge, and I started targeting the rest of the back line with rays of frost, focusing on any who tried to run away. A few solid hits from my companion, and one lucky Chaos Bolt from me, and the attacking force was reduced to a pile of corpses.

We stood a moment, catching our breath, looking at the fallen attackers.

"Well. Now what?" I asked. Marakinth shrugged. "Now we dig a big hole, I guess," I muttered. Not how I wanted to spend my night, but even though we spoke precious few words before daybreak, I think both of us were keenly aware of how that fight would've gone without the other there to fight alongside.

Kai Shan

(arriving at town, deciding to stick together longer)

Into the Jungle

(heading into the Hai Jungle)