RP:That Pesky Sun

Summary: Ilvutsil evidently does not visit the surface often.

Kelay Way

Ilvutsil was staggering about, cursing the day he ever decided to leave his underground home and forgot to bring his piwafwi with him. How did these surface dwellers see in this infernal light? He wasn't sure, but he could swear it felt like there was a great, big ball of gas floating up there, making things blinding and insufferably hot. Lucky for him he at least had his halberd with him, half using it as a blind person's cane and half as a staff to lean on. That didn't stop the drow from bumping into someone every now and then, including a few of the local drunks of the woodland sanctuary that he somehow had made his way to. Those were interesting incidents, usually involving someone either getting punched or worse. But what he bumped into this time didn't feel like a drunk. The footing felt less sloppy, so whoever it was was at least likely moderately sober. Did he apologize? He should have, of course, but there was that pesky heritage of his and the upbringing it brought with it, so instead he just shouted, "Oi! Who's there?" while he tried not to stumble too badly to the side.

Kailani stepped out onto the main path, emerging from the path that was just to the north. Upon noticing a drow traveling along the very same path she was intent on moving along, the blue-haired druid stops dead in her tracks so that she can give pause enough to observe. And what she observed had her wondering how hostile this drow in particular was. It seemed like he was struggling with...? Well the druid is not entirely sure for the half-elf has not spent a majority of her life underground. There a part of Kailani that was tempted to continue along her way wordlessly, but the shout of 'oi, whose there' has the healer reconsidering. Drow or not, something seemed off and so Kailani approaches despite any reservations she might have. Besides, if the moment turned sour the druid was armored and armed, her preferred weapon also being a type of pole-arm. She's just armed with a ranseur rather than a halberd. "This is a highly traveled road just outside a Kelay, plenty are passing by. Are you in some amount of distress?"

Ilvutsil spun about upon hearing the woman's voice. His head spun this way and that, trying to locate the source, light-blinded eyes passing over Kailani not once, not twice, but five times. He tried to step back, but once again ran into the more-steady person from before and earned himself a shove for his trouble. "Watch where you're going, rat," the fellow chided the drow as the spell blade slammed to the ground in a flurry of scale skirts, leathers, and sweat-drenched skin. He heard his halberd clatter away, somewhere to his right, and he was quick to start scrambling to find it. "Distress," he scoffed at length, finally addressing the woman as his fingers found the butt of his weapon. "Distress is angering the archmage." He tried to act like he was fine, but it was quite obvious that he couldn't see a thing and wasn't accustomed to it. "How do you people -see-?" he asked himself under his breath, assuming that everyone that lived on the surface was unable to hear as well as dark elves.

Kailani heaves a sigh as there is a brief situation resulting in Ilvutsil being shoved to the ground. "Move along," Kailani commands of the fellow who did the shoving to begin with, leveling a hard stare at the troublemaker until he does so. The goal is not to intimidate, Kailani really could care less, the goal was to make it known she would not tolerate any further hostility. Not even against a drow. When the fellow continues on his way, Kailani falls into a crouch and nudges the halberd a bit closer toward Ilvutsil. And once he has his weapon secure...? Kailani extends a hand toward the drow in offering, so that she can help yank him back up to his feet. At least there was one person standing on the road that was not overly judgmental. So long as Ilvutsil continued to mind himself, Kailani would remain tolerant. "The same way that you do, our eyes are just more accustom to the light. I am not sure if yours will adjust over time or....?" Kailani shrugs. "I can only assume it will..but I cannot say for certain, I have never had in depth conversations with any drow that come to the surface. I'm sure it does not take much imagination to understand why. Is there a destination in particular you are traveling to?"

Ilvutsil felt the weapon nudge into his hand more fully, and he was glad for the feel of the thing as he wrapped his fingers around the staff. The offered hand, itself, was not seen, but the shadow it caused to pass over his vision indicated that something, at least, was extended his way. He poked at it with his fingers first, unsure whether it was intended to help or kill, but feeling the fleshiness instead of something cold and metal, he took the hand in his and accepted the help to his feet. Gods, if his childhood friends had seen him, accepting help from a surfacer. He'd be a laughing stock. He shook the thought from his mind, instead turning his gaze in the general direction of the druid's voice. "I have heard tales of drow who regularly ventured to the surface, but none of them losing their vision, so perhaps I will be able to see, eventually." The talk of never having an in-depth conversation with a drow, however, had him cocking his head. "Unless you're an elf, I don't see why you wouldn't have had opportunity to speak with one of my kind. We have held trade agreements with surfacers before. I'm sure traders have visited here." He didn't bother to mention the time his kind took over the Sage Forest.

Kailani lifts a brow, a gesture that would very likely go missed given the fact Ilvutsil is currently struggling with his sight. The druid does not see the point of discussing the stereotype that all drow are stab-happy murderous bastards, there was a reason that Ilvutsil was gaining the response he was from those passing by. "Half," responds Kailani to the bit about if she was an elf or not. There is silence for a moment, as Kailani's reclusive nature sometimes leaves her struggling to keep conversation going. After a moment, the druid repeats her previous question, "Were you looking to travel any place in particular? Maybe we are traveling in the same direction. I am happy to walk with you a bit." Kailani was trying to downplay her intentions, the truth was she was just not entirely certain she could leave the -maybe- temporarily blind man to fend for himself.

Ilvutsil tensed when it was revealed his savior was a half elf. Every instinct, every lesson from his time at the academies, screamed at him to slide a knife between her ribs. But, she had helped him, something his own kind would not have done in such circumstances. The spell blade forced himself to relax, shoving the more violent of lectures from his mind as he rolled Kailani's question around in his mind. "In particular? No." He remained silent for a moment after, debating what he should and should not reveal about his purposes outside of the Underdark. "Suffice to say, I am a new resident of these lands, and being unable to see, I simply wander trying to find somewhere that I can get out of the light. Barring that, I suppose I simply need a place where I can grow accustomed to the different sort of blindness than what my kind are trained to fight with."

It was easier for Kailani to pick up on subtle details, like the way Ilvutsil grew tense at the mention that she was a half-elf. It did not take her long to figure out why, she was well aware of the opinion of half-breeds, the disdain was equal across the board. There was a reason that the woman tended to keep to herself, why nature was preferred to society. It wasn't just because she was some hippie tree-hugger. It was also the reason that she was forcing herself to temper her judgments of the drow. Her gaze shifts further down the way, toward the town of Kelay, "Ah. Well. If that is your want then I suppose the nearest place to head to would be to Kelay. There is an inn there, I am sure you will find it suitable enough to spend some coin in while you wait for your eyesight to adjust. If you've no objection..." Then Kailani would lead him that direction.

Ilvutsil was surprised he had made it so close to a settlement without his vision. Then again, he supposed that would explain the frequent harassment. At least now he had a direction to head. It helped that she could see, too, and was not adverse to keeping him company in his blindness. "I can certainly think of worse ways to spend the time waiting thank spending coin on food and drink. Lead the way." And so when he felt the tug of her starting to move off, he moved to follow as best he could without running into her or anything else.

It was a quick walk. Ilvustil would be given an initial nudge to hint in the general direction that they were moving in, but that was the limitations of their contact. He'd find that he has a far easier time avoiding people, probably because the druid is there to prevent said run ins. Kailani comes to a halt just outside of the inn. "Stop," she says, not in a way that is meant to be bossy, just helpful. Ilvustil can't see afterall. "We're just outside. You've only got to walk about five feet to your right and there will be a door. I speculate that once you're inside and shielded from immediate sunlight, your vision is going to improve considerably....and if I am right, and I hope that I am, then I am sure you can manage from here on your own without me." It felt a bit over the top to Kailani to attempt to follow Ilvutsil inside given this line of thinking. "This seems like a suitable place to part ways to me." Plus the druid has a preference for being outdoors rather than seated inside some stuffy building.

Ilvutsil turned to face the door, or as close of an approximation as he could. He was about to head inside and out of the cursed light before he turned back to where he last heard Kailani's voice, a curious look on his face. "Thank...you," he said, clearly unused to saying such words, either due to his race's culture, or perhaps because of the treatment he had received on the surface thusfar. "I didn't get your name. I am Ilvutsil." His hand extended, hopefully in the correct direction to shake the druid's, should she accept the gesture.

Kailani promises she's not going to let Ilvutsil walk into any walls, if he is off in his approximation of the door then she will be sure to correct him. Both brows lift in surprise, in part because she actually received a thank you and in part because she really was not expecting to even exchange names. That was due to her own flaws, evidently the drow may just have better social skills than Kailani. The druid accepts the offered hand, gives it a shake, and then releases her hold on his appendage. There's a bit of an embarrassed smile too, but someone probably can't see that. "Ah, yes. Names. Right. I think this goes something like....Well it has been nice to meet you, Ilvutsil. I'm Kailani." That smile shifts into a smirk and then it is gone. "Perhaps our paths will cross again but if they do not then I hope your experience on the surface takes a turn for the better."

Ilvutsil certainly can't see the embarrassed smile, and it's probably for the better. The drow likely would have been far too amused for the druid's comfort. As it was, he wore a slight grin of his own when the woman started her statements. He hadn't expected such social clumsiness from the person who had stopped to help keep him from being assaulted. "Perhaps, if the gods will it, we'll run into each other again. Perhaps next time I'll actually be able to see you. May your enemies not find their daggers to your back, Kailani." It was then that he turned back to the tavern's entrance and began to move forward, the butt of his halberd held ever so slightly in front of him. He was slightly off center in his movements, but not enough to wind up in the bushes. When his weapon thunked against wood he reached out and opened the door. With one last look over his shoulder to offer a nod to the woman he could only hope was still there to see the gesture he disappeared into the tavern and the - thankfully - dimmer light. Already the spots weren't as painful.

Kailani lingered long enough to make sure that Ilvutsil did not go waltzing into walls, which meant that the druid caught glimpse of the nod. Shortly after, the blue-haired woman turns and heads off in the general direction of Xalious...but honestly there was no guarantee she'd actually end up there. She could always turn south toward Enchantment, or head north to Frostmaw....There was really no telling with her.