Legends of Tyrrus

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Kara made it back to her room, kicking open the door and shutting it behind her. "Oh, your'e here already? Dinner must have been boring." she commented on Conrad's presence in the room before pulling the cloak off of her, shaking her hair free as her loot fell her from arms and landed on the discarded clothing. "So, I'm not going to bed anytime soon, unless you know how to pick a lock." she told Conrad as she sorted through the items until she found the lock box. "Because I really want to know what's inside this thing.

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"Open, please." Tessa breathed a sigh of relief as a possible escape route was opened. Not necessarily because she needed one right now, but because in the event that she would need one, there was one available. "Just nowhere else to go." She murmured to Alice's question. She certainly didn't want to get mixed up in whatever Kara was doing, and Ren seemed to be otherwise occupied. She was upset with Conrad, but couldn't blame him for his actions. So really, that left Alice, who was an unknown entity, but safe in that regard.

"We should probably sleep. Early day tomorrow, and I don't know about you, but that meal isn't going to restore me." She tried to say it cheerfully, the way people had talked in the social area, but it came off more forced then anything. Her smile was a little easier as she turned over on the bed and curled into a tiny ball, covering herself with the blanket; a rather foreign object that she wasn't used to having, but it brought her much needed warmth.

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Conrad was sitting on the floor with his armour checking it all for damages then Kara walked into the room with some robes and a lockbox. Did she just bloody steal that? "Yeah dinner didn't have too much going on. Just made the decision on who bunks with who, you and I ended up together" He said simply, focussing on his armour. "I don't know how to pick a lock and if I am perfectly honest with you I don't really want to get caught up in whatever you're doing with that. Or how you got it...." Conrad said "Though if I may give you a tip, try removing the pins from the hinges. It's how we opened badly designed secure doors." He put his armour away and sat down on the bed and looked at Kara as she went over her stuff. She wasn't too bad of a person, she was a rather playful person and there wasn't anything wrong with that. He lay down and decided to try and get some shut eye. "Well goodnight Kara, good luck with whatever you're doing."

 

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Kara blinked. She hadn't considered moving the pins. "Oh, well thank you." She told the lying down figure before removing one of her daggers from it's sheath. The blades were too thick to try to unscrew the pins, so she turned it to use the pommel and began beating it against the hinges. The clanking was a constant drum, and her eyes remained on the pins, watching as they slowly edged out of the hinges. It was slow progress, but her mind worked in tune with the banging of the pommel against the hinges, as steady as a drumbeat. Everything else in the world began to fade away as she stared at the device, willing it to fall apart.

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Tessa turned on her side, then lay on her back, then the other side. As much as she shifted and turned, she couldn't seem to fall asleep. Maybe it was the bed, maybe it was the blankets, or maybe it was the too small room. It didn't help she heard the crunching of the spiders, over and over in her head. Whatever the reason, her mind was too restless to let her sleep. Gently swinging her legs out of the bed, she got up and crept out of the room to avoid waking Alice, making her way down the nearly silent hallway, interrupted by the sound of metal hitting metal. Must be a blacksmith.She thought to herself, making her way out the door and into the fresh air. She inhaled deeply, her eyes closed as she wrapped her arms around herself and stood underneath the moonlight, soaking it up. This was where she belonged.

It didn't make sense to her why the spiders' death bothered her so much. She had killed, hunted and scrapped for her own survival, out there in the woods. She had taken down bears, boar, wolves, and other spiders. None of their deaths haunted her as much as this one. Even when she had killed rabbits, squirrels or deer for food, she hadn't felt bad.

So why did this bother her?

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Bryce tossed and turned before sitting up. The apple hadn't been enough to fill his stomach, and he half wished he would have eaten more. But they hadn't had the dragon fruit. Hellions. He got up, stretched, and paced around the room, quietly as he rubbed his head, trying to make his body tired. It didn't work, and his stomach began to grumble, even worse. Fine. He poked his head out the door, and stepped into the hall in his bare feet. At some point, he had removed his armor (he hoped it had been himself, he wasn't sure he could handle someone else touching him) and was only clad in the pants that were his protection from the metal, chafing his skin.

He found his way to the kitchen, mostly using his sense of smell, before grabbing a perfectly placed loaf of bread and tearing into it, smiling as he chewed. Oh yes, his stomach was happy now.

 

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Conrad attempted to get to sleep and while he didn't demand total silence, which would acutally keep him from sleeping more. However the bloody racket that Kara was making, making the room more akin to a blacksmith's workshop. He tried to sleep, but the noise was just too much, he half regretted giving Kara that tip, then again she was working contently and maybe she'd try to annoy him a little less if she managed to get the box open that way and they'd get along perfectly fine. He did realise that part of the reason Laurentinus had shipped him off here was since he got along the best with Kara or could atleast stand her the best. She wasn't too bad really, just a rather odd one and while he did dislike what she had done on the carriage and how he had been portrayed in that, but if they were going to have to work together he'd have to set aside his personal opinions and just try to work together.

After a while the noise got too much for the young man and he got back out of bed, Kara seemed rather lost in her thoughts trying to get that box open, he put his boots back on and left the room saying he was going for some fresh air and a little quiet, but he doubted Kara caught that at all. He wandered down the stairs and through the inn trying to be as quiet as possible for the other guests. He walked outside breathing in the fresh air through his nose letting it fill his lungs before letting it out again. The moon was out and illuminating the area with it's soft glow. Then his eyes caught something, someone was standing outside a certain someone he knew. He walked over to the girl, looking up at the starry skies. "Can't sleep either then?" His voice was soft and kind. "I'm really sorry if I startled you, I didn't mean to." Something crossed his mind, something he needed to do and he'd do it a little bit later. He would apologise to Tessa about what happened on the carriage, he knew he told Laurentinus that he only would if he had been wrong, but the girl didn't seem to have social knowledge and he didn't know if she would bring it up on her own.

Baldomar sat there listening to the girl, it was rather intriguing to hear what had happened to the young girl "I'm sorry 'bout your family, but hey they're in a better place now. They won't be getting sick or starve any longer, it's better for them. Mr Grason seems like a nice bloke, but really you are now dependant on him. I try to be as independant as possible, depending on other people always gets me screwed over big time, sometimes landing in prison, sometimes leaving me to be thrown out of the city without my coin. Not that I really need it that much." Baldomar said "And that's a big fat lie right there, I know your city folk education is partially to blame for that but look at me, I ain't considered well off by your standards yet I had that sort of childhood. And I don't have some noose around my neck, I mean this bloke maybe looking after you perfectly fine right now but what in the future huh? He wants something you don't want to do and he just kicks you out, you'll be back at square one. You'd be better off taking the initiative learning skills to live off the wilds and then tell this so called Master that he can go **** himself." Baldomar then decided that this was the moment to dig into the broth he had been served and did so rather unceremoniously.

 

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Tessa half turned, her eyes glinting before she faced forwards again, her eyes fixed on the moon. "Room is too small." She murmured in reply to Conrad, letting the light shine on her face. Night like this, the wolves at home would be on the prowl. Tessa always chose a taller tree, making sure she was well out of their grasping jaws. She didn't blame them for trying to pick her as their next meal. She just didn't feel like making it easy for them. Some nights she would remain awake, listening to their howls, trying to decipher them. She had entertained the thought once, that maybe she could study their behavior enough to join them, become one of them.

Similar to what she was doing with the humans now. Tessa sighed, and turned to face Conrad, her features in shadow as her back faced the moon. "Is Kara not a suitable mate?" she inquired politely, arms still wrapped around her waist. "I thought since she and you had gotten along so well in the carriage, and Ren seemed to agree with me. Or perhaps it is the wrong time of season, and you are only inspecting mates." She shrugged with a small smile. "It's much harder to read the motives of humans then it is the animals."

 

Conrad was rather surprised when she too brought up the whole thing of him alledgedly looking for a mate. He hung his head in sadness, why did this happen? "I don't know... I just don't know" He muttered in response. "I could tell you like I did before that I am not looking for a mate, but well clearly that's no use so I might as well save myself the effort." He kept his head low avoiding her gaze but he couldn't keep the sadness out of his voice.
Was he really looking to fill in the hole left by his comrades and not knowing it himself? But how could one person just take the place of a small group of people, it was beyond him. The mention of the carriage however seemed like a good way to do what he had in mind. "About the carriage.... I want to apologise, Ren was probably right, I had only wanted to let you sleep but I was overstepping boundries and I'm sorry for that, I won't do so again..." then something else had come to mind, the way she had greeted Laurentinus with the handshake, probably nothing happened it was rather odd wasn't it? "Nothing happened, did it?" He asked, knowing full well it came out of the blue and that he might have to elaborate on it, but he figured the fewer words used the fewer used against him.​

 

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Tessa frowned, letting her arms drop. "The carriage was nothing, I am sure. I know that I am a female, and you are a male. Sometimes things happen that we cannot explain. Or well, our bodies can, but we can't with our mouths." She motioned towards her lips as she tried to get her point across. "I am not looking for a mate either. I am not suitable yet to bring children into this world. Mates always look for a safe nest first, and I don't think I have found mine." She smiled a little again at Conrad.

"I'm going to go find a tree to sleep in, in the woods. "You're welcome to come with, should you decide to. It's safer to sleep in numbers, after all." She started towards the forest, stopping when Conrad voiced his final question. Her hand, unbidden, clenched. "No, nothing happened." She murmured before carrying on into the woods, picking a tree with firm pine branches and pulling them down into a small cave-like structure. There was enough room for Conrad, should he decided to join her. As she curled up in the bed of leaves and grass, she almost immediately felt tired. It had been the room after all. "I want to know why.." she murmured as she drifted off to sleep, curling in tighter and pressing her face into her arm.

 

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Tessa sort of accepted his apology it wasn't entirely clear but she told him it was alright. She hit the nail right on the head with not being able to explain what happened. She then said that she wasn't looking for a mate either but that mates would look for a safe place first. It was a logical way to look at it a rather simple way but there was no fault in the reasoning. If the mate could provide security then the remainder could be figured out. He caught the smiles of the girl, but he didn't think much of it. Then she said she was going to find a tree to sleep in and practicly inviting him along. He looked back to the Inn, his kit was still there and he would have get back for it later, no that would be irresponsible he asked her to wait for a moment as he went back inside and got his armour from his room.

He followed Tessa into the woods because Kara was still making a bloody racket in the room and he knew he wouldn't get any sleep there. He helped her out with the little dome like structure. She had confirmed what he had suspected happened that it had just been their touch that they had the strange sensation. As she lay down and muttered she wanted to know why. "Me too, Tessa, me too..." He said softly not wanting to wake her up, then put down the armour inside to the side and lay himself down onto the makeshift bed of leaves and grass. It wasn't the first time he'd sleep in the wilds and after a little while he peacefuly fell asleep without too much of a problem. He didn't snuggle up to Tessa but lay with his back touching hers so they'd atleast share some warmth, laying facing in the opposite direction.

 

Lumen went to sleep in his own bed, with blackjack and hookers.

 

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DM Message for Darklight:
Kara Successfully opens the lockbox, having rolled 12 for Precision.
Inside the box is 180 Silver Coins and 30 Gold Coins (1 gold = 5 silver)
There is also a beautiful silver ring with jewels inset and a wand made from some kind of dark wood

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After making sure everyone else had gone to their rooms, Shyra paid the innkeeper and retreated to her own room. Sighing, she sat down and contemplated the events of the day. Would this group survive? She was sure they hated her, after all she had been constantly nagging them thus far, but she only wanted to test their mettle, she only wanted to make sure they were ready. Laying back she grimaced as she remembered the last time she'd gone on an expedition... we weren't ready... I'm so sorry... Sebastian... Kaylibeth... Jarid... She hit her head against the wall in despair, not a day went by when she didn't feel guilty about that day. They could still be alive... It's going to be fine... but deep in her heart, she doubted it. Suddenly she heard a racket from the room next door, what the hell was going on? That was Conrad and Kara's room... fearing the worst she cautiously exited her own room and entered the recruit's room, only to find Kara alone on the floor having successfully opened a strongbox.
"Kara... by the five realms, what are you doing?" she stared confused. A smile crept upon Shyra's face as she realised what was going on "I see... Well I hope you realise you're sharing that with the rest of us" This one is certainly ready.

As soon as Sanderson entered his room and close the door, his jovial facade was replaced by an expression of sadness. After getting changed, he lay down in the bed and tried to get to sleep, but this was a dismal failure. He couldn't sleep, and not because of the quality of the bed, he'd slept in worse conditions. No, shadows of the past were keeping him awake, dark memories that he tried to keep away seeped into his mind. 11. Eleven. Sanderson clenched his fists and furrowed his brow. "...why" Spontaneously he punched the wall. The stone cracked slightly. He wouldn't get any sleep tonight, he was sure. One day, the past would catch up with him, and that was the day he feared. Is that why I'm always moving?

DM Message for BGH:
Morning has broken

"Wake up, we've got a long day ahead of us, ladies and gentlemen!" Sanderson knocked on the doors of his recruits rooms, shouting similar messages excitedly "Can you smell bacon, old sport? I think our lovely innkeeper has an even lovlier meal prepared! Come along then! The day only truly starts after breakfast!"

 

Alice's pov:



She left the door opened and walked over to the bed. Tessa then said that she had just nowhere else to go. She could see this most people did not have anywhere to go. Tessa then said that they should probably sleep. She did not see much of a problem with that. With that she walked over to a wall. she sat down and used her bag as a makeshift pillow. That was when the noise started to happen from Conrad's room. Well the chance of sleep now was going to be slim. After some time she watched as Tessa left the room. She wondered what the girl was up to. She just said that she wanted to get some rest. She did not blame her for leaving. The noise from the other room would keep anyone up. After some more time she stood up to see where Tessa went. At the very lest it would give her something to do. She stood up and made her way out of the room. The hallway that was silent was no longer that as the sound of metal hitting metal could be heard. She walked out of the inn and into the moon filled sky. She spotted Conrad with Tessa a short distance away. Was this what Tessa wanted all along? To be with Conrad. After the carriage ride she did not think that this would happen. Conrad and Tessa were clearly talking about something. Did she frighten Tessa away? Probably, things have not been going well for her so far. She thought she was close to making a friend, but they ran away into a mans arms. Maybe she should let Tessa be. She was not much help when the spiders showed up. How would staying be any better for her? She knew about the same of magic then she did when she left her home. She did not learn anything. She came here to learn more about magic but in the end learned nothing. She watched Tessa and Conrad go to a tall tree. She continued to walk to she found a stream of water. She could see the inn and the tree that Tessa and Conrad were in from here, in fact it was not all that far. She then put her hands in the cold clear water willing it to move, but nothing happened. She knew she was not good at this. Every time she wanted to use magic it did not work. For the most part it happened when it wanted to.

 

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Kara stared down at the box with a pleased smile. Wolfie had a good idea after all. She jumped as Shyra appeared, and scowled. "That's cute, but I got this. I'm keeping it, unless you got good reason for me to give it up." She retorted, clutching the treasures to her chest like they were precious babies. Except they were more precious then babies, to her at least. "If you want this, you're going to have to pry it from my cold dead hands." She retorted, getting to her feet.

~Timeskip~​

Kara rubbed her swollen cheek, scowling as she stalked out of the bedroom, a small sack in her hands. In it was her portion of the gold, the part that Shyra hadn't managed to pry from her cold but only half dead hands, the wand and the ring. She would examine them later. She went and sat on the doorstep, her eye nearly swollen shut as she stared at the rising sun. Something moved to her left, and she blinked before whistling. "Way to go Wolfie!"

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Tessa yawned, rubbing her eyes with one hand before pressing her face into the other one. Except she couldn't feel her other arm. Must have gone numb, she thought to herself, raising her head up slightly to move her arm and allow the blood to recirculate. Except that when she tried to move it, it wouldn't change positions. Her real arm was pinned underneath her body, and she sat straight up, eyes widening as she realized what had inexplicably happened.

Her head had been resting on Conrad's arm, with his other thrown over her waist. She backed up towards the edge of the tree line of the little hut, her eyes on the sleeping male before a whistle caught her attention, and Kara's voice rang out. Tessa scrambled out and brushed herself off, blushing furiously before pausing. "What happened to your face?" Tessa asked, staring for a moment at Kara. Perhaps those rooms hadn't been safe after all.

"What's about to happen to yours if you ask me again." Kara retorted, glaring. "Anyway, I'm more interested in what you've been up to." She winked at Doe Eyes, who blushed once more. "Not a bad pick, though I wouldn't have minded having a go myself."

 

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Conrad had found himself sound asleep rather quickly the nighttime sounds of the forest rather soothing as he drifted off to sleep. He slept rather peacefully completely oblivious of Alice stalking them or Kara and Shyra's little disagreement inside the Inn. During the night he had moved, he was completely unaware of it but he woke up when Tessa stirred next to him she had rested her head on his shoulder and his own arm had be slung around her waist. He was only half awake still and took a moment to get his bearings. Tessa had already stood up and he heard a rather familiar voice. It belonged to Kara and she was cheering him on and whistling. He got up and started putting on his armour again.

When he was done with putting his armour back on he got out of the little hut the flushed cheeks having regained their normal colour. He stood next to Tessa as she asked Kara what had happened, he regretted leaving her alone in that room. Was this why Shyra wanted them to bunk or was she really just being a cheap *****? He didn't think about it too much. Now there it was again the suggestion of him just sleeping around then again to be fair he had been sleeping with someone he to be completely honest barely knew but that was all that happened and it's not like it would have been any different had he remained in his room. "Nothing happened, neither of us could sleep. So we slept out here." He stated simply. Well that nothing had happened wasn't exactly true either, they had woken up differently than they had gone to sleep. Going from backs against each other to her resting her head on his arm and him holding her.

 

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Shyra yawned as she got up, it turned out that beating up a disobedient little thief really helped cure insomnia. That one is going to need to work on her teamwork skills. Shyra knocked on the door of Laurentinus and Lumen and, without waiting for a response, entered. "Morning. Get up. I'd like to get everything done today. Here" Shyra gave the men pouches of coins from the lockbox Kara had broken into "Go into town, have a look around, buy something if you want. We should be heading towards the caves around midday. Any questions?"

What's in the village:
Inn
Blacksmith
Bakery
Butchers
Guard's Garrison
Tailor
Grocer
Stables
Herbalist
Mage's Shop

 

DM Message: Alright folks, time to get this show on the road!

A carriage ride later, and then hiking on foot after stopping in a nearby village later, we at last arrive at the area that Kellan described is located...





Fogwarden Dale Instructions:

“At last, we’ve arrived.” Kellan said, stretching his arms out and groaning with satisfaction. It had taken them some time to hike it up to the Hinterlands and longer still to reach this area. Now, at last, he knew that they would be able to find the Keep.

Fogwarden Dale was thickly wooded with huge swathes of pine trees growing as far as the eye could see, which was admittedly not very far given the abundance of trees. Bushes and grass grew all around and faintly beneath the layers of grass, short stones could be seen protruding. Kellan walked over to one of them and addressed the group.

“This here, is an old road. We’ll need to follow these old roads to get to Fogwarden Keep. The problem is, I don’t actually know which direction it’s in exactly. However, the old road seems to be going North-East so, it’ll be that way.” Kellan set off along the road until they reached a fork in the road. There was a stone sign post, one side pointing to the right fork and the left side detached along with a pile of stones which may have been pieces of wall and of the post as well, as it looked well worn.

“We ought to choose a direction. Splitting up at the moment seems like a bad call.” Aston suggested and their companion nodded.

DM Message: Everyone, pick left or right. You can search around for clues if you wish. The sign on the right hand side has ‘M’ inscribed on it.




"I thought the waiting would never end." Aedan muttered to himself as they were roused by Sanderson in the morning. He hadn't felt overly social the previous night, and everyone seemed absorbed by themselves. There was no place for him, the stranger in that crowd. At least, for the moment. Now however, they were on the move again. He quickly changed himself into his normal attire and went down to eat. He could smell the bacon, and he relished the smell. Truly, well cooked meat was beautiful.

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Kara winked at Conrad, grabbing her sack protectively as Ren walked by. "I gotcha, I wasn't making enough racket to cover the noise so you had to come out here. Thoughtful of you." She patted Tessa on the shoulder as she walked by, whispering in the girl's ear, "Bite a pillow next time, Doe Eyes." Much as she wanted to enjoy the blush that came to Tessa's cheeks, she had bigger fish to fry. Well, not literally, but fried fish sounded really nice.

Kara followed Ren towards the baker, stifling a giggle. "I could think of something." She said slyly, before planting herself next to the man. "But you might as well buy me breakfast with the money I got, that Shyra stole from me." She said with a pout. "I like sweet things."

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Tessa stared at the ground before kicking a rock with her foot. "I think I'm going to go back into the woods." She muttered to Conrad before turning and high tailing it out of there. It wasn't that she minded what Kara thought, or really cared. It was what the insinuations brought to her mind that she didn't like. "Humans are strange. Why can't they see something and only take it for what it is?" She muttered, pressing her face against the cool side of a tree trunk.

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Bryce jumped out of bed the moment Sanderson rapped against the door, and flung it open, wearing only his pants. "Bacon!" He exclaimed. "Bacon is the manliest thing a man could eat for breakfast!" He had fond memories of his mother making such food, telling him it would make him big and strong. And boy, did it ever.

He left his room at top speed, heading for the dining room without a care in the world, or a shirt. Really, his larder plunder the night before had done little to satisfy the awning pit that was Bryce's stomach.

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Kevin's pov:



Aston's group:
He had asked Aston Venger what they would be doing next. He got an answer but not from who he wanted. Baldoma said 'Well what do you think? We'll be staying here for the night and then simply continue our journey.' Clearly he did not want this answer, if he wanted this answer he would not have asked in the first place. The ore they planed out the better they would be in the long run. He simply ignored the man. It was not worth his time of effort to deal with this. Some other person then said something about not having any money. "We will have to make do with what we have." He watched Baldomar leave that was good for him. He saw that he went over to Anthea. She should watch herself. With that done it should be time to go to bed or to do something. At this time he guessed that he should eat the food that Aston was so kind to give them so that was what he did. At some point night and morning came. It came in a flash and there was nothing that could be done about it. At some point they arrived at the location they should be at. The hike was not to bad in fact it was nice to get out. It was then said that the keep was in North-East direction. The continued to walk for some time. Then they arrived at fork in the road. He quickly looked for the location of the sun and found it. "Well that way is North-East," pointing in the correct direction. "That said we do not know if the road bends or not." He then looked at the beginning of each road closely to get a better gage on things. He then took a look a each direction and walked down one a few feet then cam back and walked down the other. He then came back to the fork in the road.

 

"Stupid, isn't it? Humans have so much strange underlying meanings to what they say and do" a voice responded to Tessa from the other side of the tree "Wait, who are you?" a man appeared from behind the tree. He was dressed in almost shamanic, primitive clothing, with a wooden mask that had several eye symbols etched onto it. His clothing was mostly brown and green, with some symbols in various places. His skin was dark, much darker than the typical pale skin of Tyrraneans, and his hair was red-blonde. "Uh, I should introduce myself, I hear that's polite. My name is Rayyad Khayrat. And you?" Rayyad stood awkwardly, as if he wasn't sure what to do with himself.