RP:An Unexpected Expedition (Part 1)

Synopsis: Long after Diryon put the young necromancer to rest, Nasada wakes up to find herself in the City of Gualon. How strange. Here she meets an amnesiac named Meri and a well traveled woman named Lita.

Characters: Nasada, Meri, Lita

Location: Gualon Gardens, Gualon

Date: Jan. 27th, 2016

Meri 's rear is parked in a bench, off beneath a tree near one of the many beds of flowers. Let's just say that she's loitering around the roses. Her legs don't dangle off the bench. Naw, Meri's going to claim the entire bench for herself, sprawling out so that her back is to one arm of the bench and feet are propped up on the opposite arm, boots crossed at the ankles. As if that made her more lady-like, given that she still favors a bit more of a rough look. Boots, pants, y'know. Emi's implications that Meri's made more than a few memories down in Gualon has the woman hanging out in places for prolonged periods of time, like it would do something to jog her memories. So far, nothing.

Nasada was lost. Very lost. Her cautious footsteps signified a visible level of fear, her expression laden in both confusion and grogginess. Did she just wake up? Those normally straightened locks of black where disheveled. Frizzy; Traces of dirt and leaves sewn within. Maybe she was just homeless? Mentally defunct? Regardless, if was obvious that she did not belong. The park didn't seem quite so busy and as she marched on, she seemed to be looking for something or perhaps someone in particular. It was when Meri was spotted, the young woman would stop, one arm brought up and flailed like a kid in a classroom eager to answer a question. "H-hello? Miss! Miss!"

Meri 's blue-eyed stare is slowly drawn toward Nasada, as much as she would rather stew and brood with her own thoughts. Now that another was directly seeking her attention, Meri straightens herself into an upright position so that both booted feet are firmly planted on the earth. Arms are lifted high above her head in a long stretch before both hands are placed on the back of her own head, with Meri leaning back into a bit of a slouch. "Hey," she greets the woman, who certainly fit the bill looking like someone who is mentally deranged. Meri was going to try and not judge too hard as she was far from well off, "What's up?"

Nasada slowed in her approach, a bit of relief beginning to show in her tired looking features. "This is going to be a strange question..." she started, coming to a stop just before the seated woman. Lowering one shoulder, the heavy pack that clung to her back hit the ground with a soft thud. "...but, where.... where am I?" Those pale corpse-blue eyes wandered to the surrounding environment with the intention of seeking any sort of familiar landmarks. Nothing seemed familiar. In a nervous habit, she lifted her hand and gnawed on her black painted thumbnail. "I have no idea where I am."

Meri would indeed find that to be a strange question, under different circumstances, but with all things considered Meri really doesn't dwell on the question too much. Where am I. Who am I. How can Meri judge? Red lips curl up into a faint smirk, removing one hand from the back of her head so that she can motion toward the entrance of Gualon. "You've wandered your way well into the city of Gualon, so they tell me. Really, compared to a lot of the cities I have seen..." At least that she has remembered she has seen. "...It's not at all a half-bad place." Meri takes a moment to let her blue eyes traverse Nasada from head to toe skeptically, "Where were you trying to end up?"

Nasada 's brow knitted as the name of the city strikes her. "Gualon?" She heard this name before. Where did she hear this name before? Diryon? Diryon! Did he do this? No, it couldn't be. Could it? "I was not trying to end up anywhere." she began to explain. "I... I woke up down the street." A finger pointed toward the west briefly before the young woman fell to her knees and unbuckled the straps of her pack. From within the black leather bag a large book is revealed, the pages flipped open posthaste.

Meri wasn't the only crazy one in the room! I mean, not that Meri was crazy -before- but she certainly was feeling rather crazy now. As rude as it may be to smile at Nasada's present plight, the woman can't help her lips from slowly twitching upwards. She quickly manages to sober up before a smile breaks into a full on grin. Let's be serious now. Her gaze follows the line of the finger toward the area Nasada was indicating she had just woken up from. "You just woke up here? Well, as far as I can tell, everything within the city walls it pretty damn safe. So, it could have been worse for you." Bright side? Meh. "What do you remember just before you woke up here? Where were you last?"

Nasada lifts her hand in preparation to point in a specific direction again , until she remembers that she had to idea where in the hell Gualon was located in relation to where she had been previous. The digit curled in on itself, the hand returning to flipping through the pages. She knew she saw a map of sorts the night prior. "I. Um." Her eyes closed and she fought through the thick brain fog that had fell upon her mind's eye. "Xalious. I was with a friend and we were talking. Terrible, stressful night. I think..." It clicked. "..He helped me find my cot in the dormitory and left. I fell asleep shortly after." Focusing upon the helpful woman, she asked. "Do you know where Xalious is? If Gualon is far from it?"

Meri spends a moment thinking on the cities she has visited as of late, if Xalious was amongst them, or if she had heard of that where yet. It doesn't take her long to come to the conclusion that she needs, both women were so dreadfully confused. "No....But I can tell you that if you take this road..." She points to the main road just west of where they are presently conversing. "And follow it that direction," again this is clarified via a point of her finger but that direction is meant to be 'north'. "That will take you to the swamps and you need to go through the swamps to get out of Gualon." A beat. "Kind of weird that you don't know how you got here, don't you think?"

Nasada sighs in defeat once Meri reveals naught the the most basic of direction. It was a start at least. "Weird... is only half of it. It's not the first time..." The leather of her pants groaned and creaked as she shifted positions, opting instead for a cross-legged seating arrangement to give her knees a break. Swamp. Gualon. It has to be here, she thought as she continued to speedily flip through pages. Feeling a tad impolite, Nasada looks up at the equally confused woman and half-smiles. "Oh. Um. I am Raevyn, by the way. Thank you for your time- I don't mean to be a bother."

Lita appeared from the west.

Meri leans forward to try and take a gander at the book that 'Raevyn' has been flipping through. Some might consider the behavior to be rude and nosy but when was Meri ever the sort to care? Until the other woman snaps the book shut or chides her for Meri for poor behavior, well Meri was just going to snoop away. Sentiments of it not being the first time is met with a faint nod, what do you really say to that? Meri was no doctor. "Maybe you should see a doctor about it," there you go, that's a thought. "And you're not taking up my time, I got plenty of it. Besides, I was just sitting here on my rear before you showed up...Which I am still doing, clearly."

Meri looked at Lita.

Nasada didn't mind Meri's snooping, not in the slightest. She was just so eager to find answers. "I... think that would be a good idea." she stated in reply to the woman's suggestion. Suddenly she stopped flipping through those worn pages, landing on what seemed to be some sort of Atlas. A single digit trailed the words just beneath, a couple more pages flipped as she found what she had been looking for. "What... in the seven hells? There is no way I traveled that far in so short a time." Nasada bit her lip, asking Meri then. "How...dangerous is this... swamp?"

Lita wasn't entirely lost. She'd kept herself away from society for the last few months and it had been a rough couple of days trying to find her way back through the world. Gualon had always been good to her thought. Well, it hadn't killed her. The gardens were pretty at least, even the overwhelming smell of the place was was an assault to her senses that made her nose wrinkled as she wandered barefoot towards the fountain, scrutinizing the flowers she passed along the way.

Meri seemed rather interested in this atlas that 'Raevyn' is looking at but if Meri leans any more forward on the bench she is perched upon, she's very likely to fall off. Mental note to self: acquire maps. The little outburst about how it was possible to travel so far so fast? That is regarded with a rather dubious look. Meri had been trying so hard to not judge the woman but maybe she was just a straight nutcase? "Pretty dangerous to travel at night, I hear. I would at the very least wait until the morning before braving them. It's no walk in the park, for certain." Lita's arrival does indeed pull Meri's gaze but it doesn't hold any immediate recognition. Sure, Meri had found her way back to Rynvale and with the help of Simon, picked up a few basic details. She was aware that Lita existed, but putting a face to a name? Easier said than done when suffering from amnesia. "Hey, you know much about this area? This chick here is lost." She points to 'Raevyn'.

Lita looked at Nasada.

Nasada huffed. She was annoyed. Maybe a little pissed. Why can't she just have a normal night? Why can't things just go back to the way they used to be? " Really? Morning?... I.. damn it." Inward she pulled her cheek, those pearly molars chomping down to keep herself from screaming as her head fell back to gaze upon the sky above. This can't be happening. Not tonight. The book in her lap was settled into the dirt, the current pages opened being a smaller map of the Gualon region- perhaps a little outdated, but still fairly relative. Factoids of its distance in relation to other cities, its flora and fauna, and more interesting tidbits to help any that sought to learn of the land. When Meri spoke again, Nasada lowered her head and looked around, spying Lita not far from where the two sat. A little embarrassed as Meri pointed out her current predicament, the young woman wiggled her fingers in greeting.

Nasada looked at Lita.

Lita was grateful for the familiar face found ahead. She'd founded a kindred spirit in Meri's artistic soul more than once in past years and though their meetings seemed destined to be brief and clandestine, they were always genuine and never without their smiles for merit. Now was no different. She found a familiar smile for the fellow artist, dark eyes traversing the woman's form- How long had it been since their last meeting? Since the Cap'n was still around most likely. She didn't let the thoughts fester long. Brushing dark curls past her cheeks and tucking them behind her ears she spared a moment's glance for the stranger and offered a polite enough smile as she closed the distance towards the pair. "Are you hassling the locals again?" Her voice was soft, the words an affectionate tease as she smoothed the hem of her teal sundress to keep her hands busy. "Always the wanderer Meridoll, you've been missed." The nickname rolled from the tip of her tongue with a practiced ease. She hadn't seen Simon for too many months, at least half a year and so far she'd only met one person she could stand the company of for longer than a minute. Gualon had been a welcomed distraction. But Meri's words gave her pause. Lita narrowed dark eyes at the woman, intrigued by the curious behavior. Where was the warm greeting she'd grown so accustomed to after their absences? The witty banter, the quick wit, the sweet smile punctuated so succinctly by honesty she more often than not didn't want to hear? There was something off about the girl, though she'd no idea what it was. Lita flickered a glance sideways towards the other woman as she waved. "Where you gettin' to, hon'?" Perhaps Meri's strange behaviors were rubbing off on her but she was feeling uncharacteristically generous.

Meri can feel the tides turning. What might have started as an embarrassing moment for 'Raevyn' might prove to be even more embarrassing for Meri. The familiarity in which Lita speaks to her doesn't slip Meri's notice. Meridoll, she doesn't remember the name but she likes it. It is enough to cause a smile to spring across red lips and almost enough to cause Meri to blurt out her predicament to Lita. There is no way to get around this without being awkward, "You know me." Of course she does, what an astute observation Meri! Blue eyes flit toward 'Raevyn', who was presently the cause of the only reservation in just ripping that bandaid with dear Lita. After a moment of contemplation, she just sort of goes for having that awkward moment with Lita. After all, she did just blurt out 'Raevyn's' own woes. "I'm sorry but I am having trouble remembering....a lot. Everything. Literally. Who are you?" She hardly gives pause before she is quick to admit, "Not causing any trouble with any locals here or anywhere else." That didn't sound guilty at all. "I'm just trying to help."

Nasada ran both hands through her hair, pausing about halfway through once she realized how unkempt it had been. Bed head? Had she really been walking around like this? Something crunched beneath her fingers. A leaf? The youthful necromancer-in-training pulled the foreign object out to look at it. Yep. A leaf. Up went her hood, pulled over far enough to hide those messy strands of black, but not so far as to hide those facial features of hers- Maybe just the scar. She figured company would want to at least see who they were talking to. Lita's question snapped the poor girl out of her random train of thought, pallid gaze resting upon the newest arrival in observation. "Oh. Um... I want to go to Xalious. It's a bit far and I don't know the proper way back." She already felt strange having told Meri about practically sleep walking here, there was no way she wanted to explain it to another. The exchange between Lita and Meri was then held under scrutiny. The fact that Meri seemed to admit having trouble with her memory? That was strange. Maybe something was going around.

Lita knew the truth of Meri's admission, maybe before the admission the woman gave. The lack of recognition was evident enough. Even knowing the troubles Meri was having, Lita couldn't help the sting of loss that painted her heart. She pursed her lips slightly and kept her questions- and her emotions- to herself. Meri would share if she wanted to and if she didn't, it wasn't much of Lita's business to intervene. She nodded towards the book in the lost girl's lap, a welcomed distraction from Mer's perdicament of memory. "I'm heading up north through the Sage forests and Xalious, heading for Frostmaw. You're welcomed to join me if you want. Books won't help you much for the journey, unless that thing can tell you how to avoid swamps filled with poisonous flowers, forests over run by drow and whatever other beasts you might encounter on the way."

Lita said to Nasada, "I'm Lita, by the way."

Meri 's baby blues occasionally flit between Lita and Nasada but there is admittedly a pull toward Lita. The tattooed blonde could not help but stare at the face of the woman who spoke with such familiarity, no doubt trying to unravel the mystery in her mind. At least until Lita makes mention of leaving toward the Xalious area toward Frostmaw. Trying to force past memories lost during some freak accident, the details of which only two people are familiar with, well what is the point? Live in the moment, make some new memories. Why the heck not? What was a better alternative? Meri couldn't think of anything. Though the invitation was extended toward Nasada, Meri chimes in with a barrage of questions. That much hasn't changed about the woman, when she is curious she is not going to make the slightest bit of effort to hide it. "What are you planning on doing up in Frostmaw? And when are you leaving?" Again her bounces between Lita and Nasada to suggest that this last question is geared toward the both of them, "If you guys are leaving sometime tomorrow, do you mind if I tag along?" Because it is about bed time for Meri's player here!

Nasada grunted, her blackened lips curling in the corner as the word drow fell upon her ear.. "Skin them alive." It was momentary. Fleeting. Barely audible- but she did say it. She didn't even notice she said it, either. Suddenly the woman sprang to life with Lita's offer, more of the girl's former personality shining through that more recently bleak outlook. "Really? Oh by the gods! Thankyouthankyouthankyou." Both hands met, fingers intertwining with one another as if she were in prayer. "I really appreciate that, Lita." A name. Right. "Oh. Um. Raevyn. Well met." When Meri's barrage of questions caught her attention, Raevyn smiled and gave her own answer to the woman's latter-most inquiry. "I certainly don't mind! I just want to get home!"

Lita had tilted her head to watch the girl with the book but she lifted dark eyes enough that she could catch sight of Meri's azure gaze and smiled softly. "You're always welcome, doll." There was no hesitance in that. There were few truths in Lita's life that came without strings attached. She'd count that as one of them. "I have a few things to see to here in town first. Just wanted to stop by the gardens for old times' sake, really." Too much had changed. She relished the few places in the world that were true to their history. Lita was a bit surprised by the girl's sudden burst of enthusiasm but it was met with a brief smile. "A pleasure, miss Raevyn." She managed a nod towards the woman before turning slightly to motion back over her shoulder. "The tavern's not far, and beyond it you'll find the clinic. They'll offer you a bed for the night if you ask. Perhaps our Meri would accompany you?" she glanced back to Meri with the posed question. "And I shall meet you both in the tavern tomorrow."

Meri pushes up out of her seated position on the bench at the encouragement that Meri lead Raevyn off the direction of a bed for the night. That much she had managed to discover during her stint in Gualon, she may not remember but she was definitely getting a feel for things all over again. "Sure, I wouldn't mind at all. It's not that far." Nevermind that rather awkward outburst about skinning them all, Meri was choosing to just ignore that. That wasn't weird at all. To Nasada, a smile is offered, "Your escort is about to hit the road, so if you want to take me up on that offer to show you were the clinic is, let's get crackin'." Lita is far from forgotten despite Meri's impending departure for sleep, to the other artist, "Maybe we can catch up over a drink or two before we head out tomorrow." Red lips curve up into another smile.

Nasada is a bit floored. Despite the atrocities she has had to face in the last year, she always seems to manage to find the nicest people! Quickly putting the book into her satchel, the young woman rises then to her feet and stretches. "Okay! Thank you so much!" she replies to Meri. To Lita, the girl offers another little wave, those corpse-like blues taking one last look. "And thank you again. We shall see you tomorrow. In the.. um. Tavern." Ready to follow Meri, Nasada slings her backpack over her shoulder and waits for the other to lead on.

Lita would not have been so nice had she found the girl unattended amongst the roses and the thorns. She was hungry, which left her in little moods to be nice. But Meri was an insatiable creature with an allure all her own and Lita was willing to play the part of nice for the artist's sake. She managed a nod of thanks for the woman's willingness to play escort. "Only if you're buyin'. A mermaid warned me once that you drink like a fish and it's a compliment I've always been wary of for the source." The joke was funny to her at least. She lifted a hand and let the backs of her fingers brush Meri's arm as the woman passed. It was a gesture of thanks but also a reminder that the woman was real. She'd done a lot of imagining in the past few months of confinement and there was a part of her that still needed to be sure the world around her was real.

Meri would lead on! First she would lead Raevyn to where the tavern is, so that mystery is taken care of right away. From there she would point her in the direction of the Clinic. Why? Due south of the tavern. Like you literally step out the backdoor of the tavern and oh look, there is the clinic. What does that say about Gualon, hm? Prior to parting Lita would be embraced in a one-armed hug, perhaps in direct response to the touch. Assurance that yup, it was real. "Mermaids are full of nothing but sweet lies, but we'll have to see if it rings true." Naw, she already knew. No lie.