Song Sprite

*rises from the depths of AFV upon being tagged* That is correct, @KittyvonCupcake.

So.... just clicking the link in the announcement automatically casts a vote? That was my question too. Is this confirmed now? :3 I just got to the ranking site and was like: "...did I do it?"

Just waking up Mornings really aren't my thing Hope y'all are having good days so far

*sits down and sips tea* what's new

Sorry about the delay guys. Homework and life has been kicking my butt a bit.

Is Selemath out of bounds because I'm sort of in charge of it? If such is the case and someone else wants it I wouldn't necessarily be opposed. It's not like I've done much with it. For me it was always more a case of wanting a logical place where my race of Elves came from, moreso than actually wanting to do a lot of writing there.

heya :) Yeah I think I'm back pretty permanently, though I'm working full time and going to school so it'll depend somewhat on my courseload as each semester progresses. I'm not up to too much right now. Trying to keep it light so I don't get burned out again. Got one character on a quest with some adventurers to find her long lost love, got another one who's a little girl tagalong on someone else's journey.

"I want t'come with ya!" The words hung in the air between them, sounding much less convincing than they had the many times the girl had rehearsed them to herself during the long ride to the city. Nevertheless, she forged ahead. Please, Gaia, open her heart to my words. "I left th'Derkesh's a note that I came with ya, an' I stowed away in the wagon." It was the first time she had ever done something like that, and a note of pride tinged her voice and features. "I want t'see the world, 'ave adventures. I know you never wanted nuthin' like that, but it's different for me! I cain't just stay in Hellawes lookin' after sheep m'whole life!" She squirmed beneath the priestess's piercing gaze, and looked at her toes. As she often did when she was nervous, she pulled out the jade pendant from beneath the collar of her shirt and clenched it tightly in one fist. "I don't rightly belong there, Mara! I don't look normal, I don't have real folks, an' I'm goin' insane doin' farmin! I ain't goin' back, no way!" She looked up again, stubborn as any mule. "If ya don't want me with ya I'll just make my own way from 'ere."

Hey I was just matchin you to be poetic ;)

Oh yeah, true! Even if you just went through and read my posts and Kingofgames' posts, it would give you a pretty good idea what happened. I was in charge of that quest so my posts usually summarized the what happened in each round.

Yeah I'll give you and jaistlyn a shout when we're ready for the next scene :) I actually haven't decided where we're going next, so, no homework for now. But your willingness to read lore is noted and greatly appreciated.

Oshit. That was the only thought that Jenny had as the terrifying sight of a furious Mara bearing down on her suddenly filled her vision. Given that the older woman had had a substantial hand in raising the young orphan, it was perhaps not surprising that the level of fear that sight inspired ranked closer to primitive terror than mild alarm, even if Jenny WAS all of sixteen now, and had been out of the orphanage's care for a couple of years. Clenching her fists against her sides, she jutted her chin stubbornly and resisted the urge to turn tail and flee. It was now or never. Somehow, she had to convince Mara not to send her back to the tiny fishbowl of village life. "Priestess, wait," she pleaded, and found herself raising her hands in a pleading gesture, even as a blotchy blush of guilt flamed over her cheeks. "Please. I... I can explain. Just please don't send me back."

Every day. Every day Mira woke in her bunk at Heathe Tower, and for a single, drowsy moment, tried to remember what Nolan's schedule was today. When she would see him next. And then the devastating loss returned, sharper and deeper than the gnawing, burning aches where her aura had been stripped by hellfire. Nothing would ever be alright again. Not unless she could find him. This one thought kept her going from the moment she woke, pale and frail, a month and a half after she had fallen in the struggle to bring down the Spire. Find him. The descriptions the professors gave her of what had happened to him seemed like pure folktale - in her heart of hearts, she could never bring herself to fully believe it. That he had turned himself into a monster to save her, to save all of them, was simply unthinkable. There had to be a way to redeem him. To bring him home. There has to be a way to get my heart back. Because living with a hole where your heart should be isn't really living at all. Because it wasn't fucking FAIR that that would happen to him after how hard they had all tried to get through it together. No, Mira Westerril was not at all ready to make peace with that ending to their story. * * * Despite her determination, for the first month after she woke, she found herself in no state to find anybody. She had to learn to eat again. To speak. And finally, to walk. And it was another painful three months before her watchful caretakers would let her attempt even the simplest of spells. Since trying to light a candle ended in her passing out and nearly giving herself a concussion, she supposed she couldn't really begrudge them their caution, even though she felt like screaming at the slowness of it all. Every day, even as her strength returned, she could feel him slipping further from her reach, the trail growing colder than the ice of worry in her gut. Even the civil war that swept over Terrenus seemed like little more than an annoying distraction compared to the urgency of finding Nolan. Soon she was spending every waking moment researching what could have happened to him, where he could have gone. She wrote letters to the other mage towers and even further abroad, to scholars as far east, west and south as she could reach. But it all came back empty handed. Every scrying spell (which she begged her classmates to try for her as she was still too weak herself) came back as blank as though he had been erased from the face of the earth. It was utterly maddening. At the end of the tenth month since the fog had swept over the city, she could take it no longer. She was going to find him, if she had to go out there and turn over every stone on the face of the continent by hand. And she had an idea of someone who just might be crazy enough to help. * * * Knock. Knock. Knock. Mira knocked loudly on the door of Gregor's home with her staff, before resting it on the ground and leaning against it once more. She was out of breath from the short walk from Heathe Tower to the address Gregor had left them, but she'd be damned if she let him see how weak she was. In the moments while she waited for the door to open, she took a few long, slow breaths to steady her heart and trembling muscles. She just hoped he wouldn't notice how she was white-knuckling the staff, or how much weight she had lost since last they had met. Or the invisible gaping holes in her aura.

Beautiful post, mate. I feel awful for Gregor.