Alaeha

*Hugs to all* Ha! Now you're stuck with ranks too! What're you going to do now?

Exasperated, Alaeha followed Wyvern down the halls, not willing to bellow loudly enough for him to hear her. When she finally caught up with him outside Racuoul's room, she berated Wyvern: "You forgot something." She reached into her purse, and withdrew: A Pan-oseeya (which looked back at her eerily,) a pan-decked (guaranteed to cover any cooking need,) a pan-ark (big enough to rule the entirety of the kitchen,) a pan-duriform (which was adamant in holding its fiddle shape,) and a Pan-ivore (which looked about hungrily, muttering "bread...") "There!" She said. "Now, let's get out of here before he wakes up." (Happy Birthday!)

But there's a certain level of relaxation that can only be attained by playing Melee in the forest, rather than your living room.

Weeeeee! *Is very, very, very much in on this one* *Stumbles back toward her bed and faints*

I thought it was a rugrats song. But then, either way, it's appropriate. You have to appreciate it when people have the sense to ridicule the ridiculous.

To answer your question: Schizophrenic. Even though it's pronounced Skitz-oh-fren-ick. And thanks for the warning. It's nice to know that Sol is still approximately as sane as he used to be.

Alaeha stopped herself in midstride as she heard a familiar voice. "The sun's about to set! Come with me for a second? There was a somewhat muffled reply, but Alaeha was certain that it had been Jirah speaking... that didn't leave her much time. She reached into her purse, (grateful that it was a light bag of holding,) and withdrew a flute. "No, that won't work..." She set it aside and drew out a harmonica. "Neither will that." On the third attempt, she found her lyre and softly plucked each string, to test its tuning. It was fine. She replaced her other instruments in the purse and slowly crept around Jirah and PS, and sat in silence by the lake. With her back to the lake, she couldn't see the sun, so she awaited Jirah's signal. When his arm rose, she drew a deep breath, and began a low chant as she softly strummed her lyre. * * * * * "I hear something." PS said. It wasn't a question. Jirah cursed silently for a moment, before remembering that she had to be able to hear, or the song would be useless. "That would be Alaeha." He spoke, after a moment's pause. "I asked her to play for us." "She came all the way out here just to play music for us?" "Shh... listen." He pulled her closer to the shore, and the music, as Alaeha lifted her head to look directly at them. Her voice rose, and finally they could hear her. A blue glow emanated from something on her, and then it dimmed. "It's... pretty,,," PS said. "Wait," Jirah whispered. "It gets better.'" Slowly, a glow appeared around PS, before disappearing, and she gasped. * * * * * PS turned her head about, to the left and then to the right, trying to make sense of things. There had been this hazy sense of things for a little while before, but now it wasn't hazy. She just couldn't figure out what was going on. "Does that mean it worked?" The figure to her right asked, in Jirah's voice. "What?" She demanded. "The song is a rearrangement of Welyn's Aria of True Seeing. We had hoped it would let you see the sunset." "So... this is seeing?" She asked. "If you're seeing me, I would assume so." She turned her head, unused to having to move her neck to perceive things. Normally she just listened... and Rat told her where to go. Jirah sat next to her, it seemed. He wore a dark tunic and light leggings, with hair of a completely different hue... "What color is that?" She asked, pointing at his shirt. "This? This is Navy. It's a dark blue. These are a lighter shade of blue." He pointed at his pants. She pointed toward his hair, and he volunteered "that is brown. Well... sort of a brownish blonde. They call it dirty blonde, even though I bathe regularly." He closed one eye, and she realized belatedly that it was what people called a wink. "Look... The sun is setting now. It's that way." He pointed out toward the lake, and began naming the colors as he pointed to them. "That's orange, and that right next to it is red. That light color in the clouds over there is pink, and the sky right next to it is purple. That flower by your hand is white..." * * * * * "I'm sorry we couldn't make it last longer... it wasn't very nice, I guess, to let you see for just a half an hour and then take it away again." Jirah apologized to his date as they stood by her doorway. She remained silent, though he couldn't say quite why, and before he turned to go, he pressed a flower into her hand. "This is the flower you sat next to while we watched the sunset. I thought you might want to keep it." He turned to go, but turned back as he heard her begin to speak. "Thank you."

Alaeha looked up from her notes at the sound of her door slamming open. "I don't believe that thief!" Aleyn's voice sounded clearly from the main portion of her chambers. "He dragged me across the entire keep" "I know." She interrupted, as she leaped to her feet and grabbed her purse. "to that girl's..." he trailed off. "You... know? What do you mean, you know?" He demanded. "You know I could never" "I know." She interrupted once again, as she began lacing her boots. "He knows too. I know PS, and I know she knows. We just needed to be sure that I would know when they left. You're entirely too predictable, you know." She ran through the door, slamming it behind as she left her brother sputtering. She had a necklace to pick up, and a picnic to be at. She didn't have time to waste. * * * * * "Of course it's done, Milady." The goldsmith seemed genuinely surprised that she asked. "I always finish my work by the deadline." Alaeha breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I'm glad to hear it. I brought this to you as quickly as I could, but I was afraid you might not have time." She reached into her purse and dropped a small handful of geld onto the smith's desk, and admired his handiwork. A large sapphire hung suspended from an intricate platinum chain. Each link of the chain had been shaped into a different runic symbol without weakening the chain itself. The sapphire itself had been a gift from Elrohir at the end of their date. She hadn't wanted it damaged, so she had found a smith who could seal it in place without carving the gem. As it was, tiny bands of magic wrapped the gem and held it in place. "Thank you for your work. You did a masterful job in a short time frame." She clipped the amulet in place and stepped toward the door. "It was a pleasure, milady. I only ask that you pass on the name of Trianin, if your friends need jewelry made." As she closed the door, she called back to the goldsmith "We have a deal, then!" * * * * * "Let's see..." Jirah rummaged through his pack. "Sandwiches, apples, oranges, a couple of melons... you do like venison, don't you?" "Venison?" PS asked, blankly. "Deer meat." "Honestly, I've never had it." She seemed a bit embarrassed. Jirah smiled. "I guess we'll have to fix that. You'll like it." He laid out the meal on the blanket -- a deep green woolen blanket. It would resist the grass stains. As he searched through his pack for the last time, to make sure he hadn't missed anything, he heard a sniffing sound from behind him. "Hmm?" He turned around to see a rat sniffing at the sandwiches suspiciously. The girl's rat. He thought. Best to leave him alone. "SQUEAK!" The rat pronounced. "I know it's all safe, Rat!" PS sighed. "Squeak, squeak, SQUEAK!" "Ok, you're right. Have it your way." She turned to Jirah. "Sorry, he doesn't trust any strangers. Nothing personal." The thief smiled. "Don't worry. Trust me, paranoia can be a very good thing to have around you." He smirked as he placed a sandwich into her hand. "Well, since we know it's safe," He began, "shall we eat?"

Jirah crept into the meeting room silently, heaping unspoken blessings on Salinye for keeping her doors well-oiled. Only a scarce few of those already seated even looked up from their musings as he surveyed the room. It wouldn't do to be too close to her -- he was an outsider, so they wouldn't trust his motives. Too far away would be even worse, though. It was conceivable that any one, even several, of them might have been sent as a backup plan if the undead army failed somehow. So, after a moment's pause, Jirah seated himself with one "layer" of seats between himself and Salinye. The elven woman... Ayshela? The ranger. Yes, that was Ayshela. She sat directly across from him. She seemed forthright enough. Some distance down the table was a figure he recognized... You might want to rethink this. The memory of the words flooded back into his mind. So... Jirah thought, he's a vampire. That would explain why I didn't kill him. A vampire? What's a vampire? Nilani spoke into his mind. Vampires are like werewolves, except they're undead. A Vampire bites a human, and then the human dies and turns into a Vampire. He explained. They're nasty beasts, and hard to kill. Undead? She seemed curious. He realized that she had been young, and wouldn't have known about the undead. You know how, when someone dies, their spirit goes away? He asked her. Like me? She asked. Sort of. Usually the spirits go... I don't really know where. But not really like you. Anyway, undead are things like zombies. Bodies that are still moving without spirits. Bad wizards make them move, and kill things. Vampires are like that, except they have their own magic that keeps them moving. He continued his internal dialogue. He smirked. Why not? The meeting hadn't begun yet. Why shouldn't he?

, somehow, into a box under the stairs in the basement of a house about half a block from Louie's baitshop. (You know the place.) "OOF!" The resident of the box was, quite reasonably, irritated at having a pair of molluscs slammed into his midriff. Because apparently they had become molluscs once again. Without another word, and before Melvin and Vinnie could explain their predicament, he casually tossed them aside into a huge vat of sauerkraut. As they drowned in the substance, they both heard voices in their heads: "Hit F4! Load the last Savestate!" Suddenly they were jolted back into the midst of the penguins, having reverted to the previous event. Melvin opened his mouth and began to address the penguins before they could be catapulted again...

1. Wyvern (Because he doesn't have devil horns and a goatee) 2. Rydia (Same reason) 3. SHINY 4. Dean the Adequate 5. Masterwork Studded Leather Sports Bra 6. glimmering 7. burning witches 8. cheerfully 9. silicon 10. defenestrated 11. incarcerated 12. gryphons 13. backwater 14. demonic 15. job 16. lightly 17. galumphed 18. dangerous 19. Nimball 20. Fakeballs

"Whoa! Careful there!" Jirah lunged toward PS, catching her as she stumbled. "Sorry... thanks..." PS mumbled. Jirah cursed himself for not realizing how unfriendly the terrain would be for her... "We just have a little while to go," he began, "maybe a quarter mile tops. So... let's make things easier shall we?" 'Wait, what?!" PS shrieked a little as he swept her into his arms and began the walk again, but at a slightly faster pace. "Sorry, I didn't realize how bumpy this area actually is. That's my fault. I would've hired a coach or something, but they can't make it through this forest without a path, and we're not on a path." He paused to take a breath and let her translate his explanation into something sensible, and then he continued: "I'd have asked for a teleporter, but this area's a secret. "You promise not to tell anyone where we're going?" He smiled, despite knowing she couldn't see it. A growl emanated from PS' purple knitting bag. Probably her Rat. PS laughed, and confirmed his thoughts when she spoke: "calm down, Rat!" They continued on in silence for a few minutes, until they reached a curtain of foliage completely blocking any sight of what lay beyond. Jirah spoke, as he gently lowered PS to the ground: "Give me a minute. I don't want to carry you through a solid wall of vines." "Hmm?" She didn't speak, but the question was clear. She reached out and grabbed a vine, and he could see a smile burst onto her face, before she slipped through the wall with shocking ease. Jirah dove through the wall, with only a slight rustling and snapping, but couldn't catch her as she stumbled to her knees. Fortunately, it was all grass on their side of the curtain. As he had promised, the trees were all green and gold. Now he just had to wait for the other player to arrive. He reached into his pack and laid down a blanket where they stood. "Here!" He said, "I brought dinner. Care to eat while we wait?"

Jirah smirked, as Aleyn struggled to escape the ropes binding his hands together. "Hey, you owe me! I don't know how you weaseled out of the auction and stuck me in your place, but the least we can do is give the poor girl her choice, right?" "You signed me up, remember? Without telling me?" Aleyn retorted. The two continued stumbling through the halls, with Jirah dragging Aleyn a great deal of the way. As they neared his destination, Aleyn's desperation grew, and he charged Jirah. The two fell in a heap outside PS' door. "What do you mean, two?" The men looked up to see a girl standing in the now opened doorway, looking at a rat in confusion. Jirah stood up and hastily brushed himself off. "Well, it was originally Aleyn who signed up. I wasn't sure whether you had accidentally gotten me in his place, so I... requested... that he come with me to pick you up. I'd hate to see you get the wrong man by mistake -- and not many people let those with my talents near them at all, let alone pay for them." "Pay?" The girl seemed to grow even more confused, then realization appeared. "Oh! You're Jirah, aren't you?" He nodded, but spoke an affirmative "Yes," for safety. "Did you mean to bid for me? Or was it a mistake?" "Oh... umm..." She backed up a bit, blushing slightly. "I meant to bid on you... but if Aleyn was supposed to be in the auction and you got put in his place..." "No, that's fine!" Aleyn cut in from his sitting position in the hall. "I let him take my place. We just wanted to make sure that you got the right man." With that, the BladeDancer sliced the ropes at his wrists, and left. Jirah shook his head and chuckled softly. The boy had done all his struggling purely for show, it seemed. "Well," he began, "the carnival seems to have disappeared, I'm afraid, but I'll tell you what... I found a lake near here, in the middle of a forest that's all green and gold this time of year. There's a cabin near there that I've kept neat in case I needed to get out of here in a hurry. "I don't know if you like swimming," he continued, "but the lake at sunset is an experience you won't forget." He knew she was blind... but he had a trick or two up his sleeve yet. He took his date by the arm, and they began the walk -- a short jaunt, he thought -- to his destination.

Hmm... I agree with Ayshela, but I don't see any reason that I can't post my answer here, regardless. I can always decide whether or not I consider the second part of the question to be worth answering. Are there things I regret? Absolutely. Are there things that I regret that I wouldn't change? Absolutely not. Yes, I would be a different person than I am now. That's certainly true, and I think that would be a good thing. I'm not so wonderful a person that I shouldn't be changed. Sure, there would probably be some changes for the worse... So what? There would be changes for the better as well, and far more opportunities open to me than I have now. (Granted, I have plenty as it is, but I would be in much better shape.)

For instructions on bidding and such, look here. The description of the item reads as follows: Now, do I hear 10 geld for this coin? 10 geld for a share in a dragon's horde, and more? Just 10 geld... the man doing the auction -- a short, portly, and balding middle-aged man -- speaks slightly faster than greased lightning, and continues rambling about the virtues of the coin....

Congratulations to Boaz! Your description won! The contestants were ordered as follows: 1. Gyrfalcon 2. Wyvern (Come on now, was anyone honestly surprised by that one?) 3. Cryptomancer 4. Boaz 5. Tamaranis 6. Orlan 7. Katzaniel

Don't remember where I saw it, but I saw something or another with a cutesy little phrase that sums it up: Home is where you hang your heart.

Woo! *Big Big Hugs for the new Poet*

Hmm... After two separate hugtackles, a third would hardly be fair, I suppose. Hugs her very favorite Half-Fire Elf, "loses her balance" and falls over anyway. Sorry about that...

A SpellSinger? Poet? You must have me wrong. Lies, one and all. I'm a courtier, you see. A source that you trust says he knows my old mentor? Elise? My old nurse. Not a singer. I sent her Home years back. I really must go. Excuse me. (A man's spilled my secrets... He'll quiet 'ere long.) OOC: (Yeah, this is a pure denial of who my character is, but in the context I'm imagining it, it would be appropriate.)

*Bites back a multitude of caustic remarks* I think I'll just leave that one alone... Anyways, onward to the main question of the thread. Yes, I consider myself a religious person. I have set values and standards which I hold myself to despite the fact that some (even among my friends,) seem to consider it a flaw to have standards which are not up for negotiation. I'm not a zealot, nor am I perfect, but I do my best. As for spirituality, that always brings to mind the phrase "not so much religious as spiritual," which I've always found means "I don't want to have anyone else tell me what to do, so bugger off." Feel free to correct me on that if I'm wrong, but unless there's a set definition on what we consider spiritual to mean, I'm not up to answering that part of the question.

Lots of bodice daggers?

Alaeha nods emphatically, having received the Salinye result as well.

For the sake of clarity, regarding my promotion to Elder... As Ozymandias said, a place has been set for me at the Elder's table. There is a seat waiting. The seat will be waiting for a while, though. I appreciate the Elders, and what they do for the Pen. I'm looking forward to helping with that. However, I have a commitment to get the AAA stabilized, and I haven't yet finished with that. There are things, yet, that I need to do as a Guild Leader before I could, in good conscience, hand that position off to someone else. Anyway, returning this thread to its original purpose... Congratulations to all the newly promoted. You all deserve it. *Big hugs to all*

Could only come up with seven questions, but here you go. Alaeha's Quiz