Dev’s smile freezes in place as he recalls his last interaction with a De Rollo — or rather, a fake De Rollo — in the windswept icy spire which is now a pit of molten slag. By the time he fully pulls himself back to the current moment, he realizes in terror that he has already started talking and has no idea what came out of his mouth before now…
“…and I wonder how Lord De Rollo looked, healthy, I hope, and was he still wearing the outfit I last saw him in, I wonder. But don’t worry, we had a nice time too at dinner. And this hotel gave us our first comfortable night’s sleep in many days. Certainly the warmest after those days and nights in the snow-capped mountains. And if you hadn’t mentioned this place, we would have missed out on that.
”Have you… always been able to make such good choices?,” he asks, eyes sparkling and friendly, almost flirtatious.
Quinn will come into the room from the outside sweating. When he sees his friends and the food he smiles and moves over to grab a plate of food and park himself quietly as to not interrupt the teifling talking.
Lokilia smiles, seeming pleased that Balaran had remembered her name. "The esteemed gnome is Normont. And this genasi gentleman is Quinn," she says, motioning to each as she introduces them. "We certainly understand you had to keep your prior engagement. Do you have time to sit with us for a moment this morning? We would love your company." Her eyes linger on him as she waits to see what his answer will be.
" Normont. And Quinn. Delighted to make your aquaintance."
Normont blushes slightly at the compliment but inclines his head to Balaran after being introduced, "Indeed one does not say no to any de Rolo, such is the honour of an invitation". As usual, his adoration of the de Rolo family is plain to see.
He looks across to Dev to see how his friend is handling the social interaction, and waiting for him to speak.
Dev’s smile freezes in place as he recalls his last interaction with a De Rollo — or rather, a fake De Rollo — in the windswept icy spire which is now a pit of molten slag. By the time he fully pulls himself back to the current moment, he realizes in terror that he has already started talking and has no idea what came out of his mouth before now…
“…and I wonder how Lord De Rollo looked, healthy, I hope, and was he still wearing the outfit I last saw him in, I wonder. But don’t worry, we had a nice time too at dinner. And this hotel gave us our first comfortable night’s sleep in many days. Certainly the warmest after those days and nights in the snow-capped mountains. And if you hadn’t mentioned this place, we would have missed out on that.
”Have you… always been able to make such good choices?,” he asks, eyes sparkling and friendly, almost flirtatious.
" Oh, always."
" I'll just squeeze in here.....shall I?", he moved across and insinuated himself down on the bench seat rather tightly between Dev and Normont.
" I did not see Lord DeRolo or indeed anyone other than Lady Vesper last evening, but I did indulge in a little brandy whilst there and I have been invited to undertake a family portrait of sorts....."
He smiled broadly, then... as his eyes lingered on Dev, sighed as if coming to a decision.
" So....... if it is not too impertinent a question how old are we all?", his strange almost starlit eyes stared off into the middle distance as if at nothing........
" Oh....and where were you born?"
" For astrological purposes....", he finished with a slight lip bite and stifled chuckle.
Lokilia looks perhaps a bit disappointed when Balaran goes to sit next to others. "A family portrait of sorts? Are you related to the De Rolos?" she asks after his comment. When he asks how old everyone is, she shakes her head, "I suppose it's not too impertinent," she gives a small laugh. "And I am 18. Born in Zephrah." Then after a pause she adds, "Really nearly 19 actually."
She had wanted to ask what 'for astrological purposes' meant but couldn't really think of how to ask. 'Or was he just joking about that part?' she wonders. Waiting for others to respond she finds herself studying his face, becoming lost pondering the various patterns of shades of purple in his freckles.
Dev makes space for Balaran to sit down and blushes at the physical contact.
“Seventeen,” he answers, “but… I guess… I don’t really know where I was born…,” he finishes rather lamely. In truth he has wondered where and under what circumstances he had come into the world since the moment he realized he was not a biological child of the Hornds. Yet his questioning has always been without answer.
Say something, he tells himself, to avoid an awkward pause, and continues, “But if you’re going to tell me that the stars insist everyone my age falls under a single standard… or is bound to the same future path… or personality type, I will have to disagree… and,” he continues, warmly, “we’ve barely met, so…, I hope we need not disagree…”
Normont happily moves over whilst listening to Balaran.
"Astrological purposes, how interesting. I am keen to hear more about what sort of purpose you refer to. I am 39 and from Emon", he replies simply, looking up at the newcomer to the table to elaborate.
Balarans eyes flick from Lokilia to Dev, lightly passing over Normont and Quinn with a polite semi-nod.........he marks both blush and disappointment with a tight smile and pins the tip of his tongue between two sharp canines....
" Not at all......simply that certain years are influenced more strongly by certain celestial and lunar events.....I would ask your dates or months of birth to determine more fully which Gods and seasons and colours and magics hold greater sway over your lives but that is too intimate a discussion to have at the breakfast table."
He gives Dev a long look then a long slow blink before ever so slightly tipping his chin towards Lokalia, though his gaze hovers for the barest of moments over Quinn as he does so.
" Well, I have a lot of preliminary sketches to make......so I must be off.", he slips upwards and off the bench leaving Dev a slight, almosted regretful, smile, as he begins to move away he turns back and places a hand lightly on Lokilia and Quinns shoulders.
" Lovely to meet you all. Toodles.", he calls back as he leaves the room.
When Balaran calls back, Lokilia a bit awkwardly tries to return the wave just as he disappears from view. As she turns back, she gives a surprised, "Oh! I wonder if he meant he was painting the portrait of the De Rollos?" She shakes her head feeling a bit silly for not catching on to that before.
She is nothing if not confused from the tiefling's words and actions before he left. She is quiet for a long moment, turning to glance at Dev to see his reaction. The sensation of his touch stays with her, but she couldn't help but notice his attention seemed most focused on Dev. Finally, she quietly says, "I think he regrets not having more time to actually talk to you, Dev. Surely he'll want to chat with us again to explain his 'astrological' findings."
Normont watches Balaran leave, a little taken aback by the quick exit.
"He seemed nice. A little eccentric, perhaps. I wonder what our places of birth have to do with the astrology", he ponders, even whilst aware that Quinn had once again remained secretive about his.
Looking across to Lokilia, he responds, "Yes, I believe you are right. Although the youngest de Rolo is a tiefling, I do not believe Balaran is related. My impression is he has just been asked to paint the de Rolo family".
He looks across and up to Quinn, and says, "If you want to talk about where you are from sometime, you are amongst friends".
Astrology Check (with guidance): 12+(5 if Arcana, 3 if Religion)+3 = 20 / 18
You can't think of any real bearing that someones place of birth or age......though perhaps one might be able to calculate if someone was born during a solstice or other unusual event.........he definitely had his reasons for the questions but you get the impression that they perhaps weren't the stated ones.
“Do you ever let people watch you sketch?,” Dev blurts out, calling after the artist’s retreating form and raising his voice to be audible a bare moment before Balaran leaves the room. Too fast, he thinks, of this conversation, his first with another tiefling.
Balarans eyes flick from Lokilia to Dev, lightly passing over Normont and Quinn with a polite semi-nod.........he marks both blush and disappointment with a tight smile and pins the tip of his tongue between two sharp canines....
" Not at all......simply that certain years are influenced more strongly by certain celestial and lunar events.....I would ask your dates or months of birth to determine more fully which Gods and seasons and colours and magics hold greater sway over your lives but that is too intimate a discussion to have at the breakfast table."
He gives Dev a long look then a long slow blink before ever so slightly tipping his chin towards Lokalia, though his gaze hovers for the barest of moments over Quinn as he does so.
" Well, I have a lot of preliminary sketches to make......so I must be off.", he slips upwards and off the bench leaving Dev a slight, almosted regretful, smile, as he begins to move away he turns back and places a hand lightly on Lokilia and Quinns shoulders.
" Lovely to meet you all. Toodles.", he calls back as he leaves the room.
"That guy creeps me out, are we sure he is not evil?" Quinn seems very disturbed by the interaction.
"I admit I find his explanation for his questions quite illogical, and his mannerisms are unusual, but we shouldn't equate eccentricity to evil", Normont replies to Quinn. "And besides, the last evil creatures we came across took form based on our memories, and Balaran is not someone we have met before", he continues, putting some logical thought to the question.
He looks across to the doorway to see if Dev has managed to catch the tiefling painter before he leaves.
“Do you ever let people watch you sketch?,” Dev blurts out, calling after the artist’s retreating form and raising his voice to be audible a bare moment before Balaran leaves the room. Too fast, he thinks, of this conversation, his first with another tiefling.
" Some!", is the lilted call back from the front door...
"Yea, he doesn't seem evil," Lokilia says, agreeing with Normont. "Maybe he's just a bit quirky. And he seems quite busy. But I thought he seemed quite nice." She grins, "And I think there was an interesting arrangement to his freckles. I was trying to see if the lighter ones fell into some kind of repeating pattern. I think they did." She does linger on the thought Normont brought up about his explanation not being logical. If the 'astrological purposes' was false, then he must have got the information he wanted. And then he had immediately left.
When Dev calls after Balaran, she is a bit surprised that he responds. 'Some?' she wonders. 'I wonder who? Why is everything he does so cryptic?' Her eyes drift towards Dev. "Maybe you should go after him and ask if you could be one of those 'some' that watch!"
Quinn takes a sip of tea and places it on the table. "All I am saying is that we should be weary of those who ask so much information from us without giving any of theirs in return. I do not claim his morality, but in my experience, those who are good with the tongue can be far more dangerous than one who is good with the blade. I am sorry if my comment caused frustration." Quinn then gets up and stretches and says, "Shall we get a start on the day? I think we are all excited to see what you have in store for us, Normont."
"Very insightful, Quinn. We should be wary, especially after what we have been through", Normont says, agreeing with the big earth genasi who now looms over him.
"Righto, up and at em and all that", he says. "I was thinking that we could go do the errand in the Eastern Ruins first", he says, lowering his voice as he mentions the Eastern Ruins. "And then go to the Slayer's Cake and pick up some Trinket Claws on the way yo see my grandfather. He is quite partial to them. We can then have elevenses with him before a walk in the park. What do you all think? Ready to get moving?".
He also jumps down from his seat and stands next to Quinn looking back to Lokilia and Dev, unless Dev did indeed rush after Balaran.
“…oh…, ok…,” Dev stutters after Balaran replies so briefly — and not with an invitation.
When Lokilia suggests that he follow the artist, Dev, whose eyes remain on the doorway, seems far away for a moment, but he shakes his head. “We all are staying in the same place. Maybe I’ll see him around,” he shrugs. But he is used to disappointment and when Normont suggests an agenda he agrees right away.
When everyone is ready, he glances at his friends and smiles confidently. Haven’t had tieflings around until now and I’m doing just fine.
Quinn will nod when introduced. He tries to not make himself to intimidating.
Dev’s smile freezes in place as he recalls his last interaction with a De Rollo — or rather, a fake De Rollo — in the windswept icy spire which is now a pit of molten slag. By the time he fully pulls himself back to the current moment, he realizes in terror that he has already started talking and has no idea what came out of his mouth before now…
“…and I wonder how Lord De Rollo looked, healthy, I hope, and was he still wearing the outfit I last saw him in, I wonder. But don’t worry, we had a nice time too at dinner. And this hotel gave us our first comfortable night’s sleep in many days. Certainly the warmest after those days and nights in the snow-capped mountains. And if you hadn’t mentioned this place, we would have missed out on that.
”Have you… always been able to make such good choices?,” he asks, eyes sparkling and friendly, almost flirtatious.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
" Normont. And Quinn. Delighted to make your aquaintance."
" Hmmm....Yes, I have a little time."
" Indeed."
" Oh, always."
" I'll just squeeze in here.....shall I?", he moved across and insinuated himself down on the bench seat rather tightly between Dev and Normont.
" I did not see Lord DeRolo or indeed anyone other than Lady Vesper last evening, but I did indulge in a little brandy whilst there and I have been invited to undertake a family portrait of sorts....."
He smiled broadly, then... as his eyes lingered on Dev, sighed as if coming to a decision.
" So....... if it is not too impertinent a question how old are we all?", his strange almost starlit eyes stared off into the middle distance as if at nothing........
" Oh....and where were you born?"
" For astrological purposes....", he finished with a slight lip bite and stifled chuckle.
Lokilia looks perhaps a bit disappointed when Balaran goes to sit next to others. "A family portrait of sorts? Are you related to the De Rolos?" she asks after his comment. When he asks how old everyone is, she shakes her head, "I suppose it's not too impertinent," she gives a small laugh. "And I am 18. Born in Zephrah." Then after a pause she adds, "Really nearly 19 actually."
She had wanted to ask what 'for astrological purposes' meant but couldn't really think of how to ask. 'Or was he just joking about that part?' she wonders. Waiting for others to respond she finds herself studying his face, becoming lost pondering the various patterns of shades of purple in his freckles.
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
( Perception- 26 )
Dev makes space for Balaran to sit down and blushes at the physical contact.
“Seventeen,” he answers, “but… I guess… I don’t really know where I was born…,” he finishes rather lamely. In truth he has wondered where and under what circumstances he had come into the world since the moment he realized he was not a biological child of the Hornds. Yet his questioning has always been without answer.
Say something, he tells himself, to avoid an awkward pause, and continues, “But if you’re going to tell me that the stars insist everyone my age falls under a single standard… or is bound to the same future path… or personality type, I will have to disagree… and,” he continues, warmly, “we’ve barely met, so…, I hope we need not disagree…”
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Normont happily moves over whilst listening to Balaran.
"Astrological purposes, how interesting. I am keen to hear more about what sort of purpose you refer to. I am 39 and from Emon", he replies simply, looking up at the newcomer to the table to elaborate.
Quinn will speak up, "I am 36 years young."
Balarans eyes flick from Lokilia to Dev, lightly passing over Normont and Quinn with a polite semi-nod.........he marks both blush and disappointment with a tight smile and pins the tip of his tongue between two sharp canines....
" Not at all......simply that certain years are influenced more strongly by certain celestial and lunar events.....I would ask your dates or months of birth to determine more fully which Gods and seasons and colours and magics hold greater sway over your lives but that is too intimate a discussion to have at the breakfast table."
He gives Dev a long look then a long slow blink before ever so slightly tipping his chin towards Lokalia, though his gaze hovers for the barest of moments over Quinn as he does so.
" Well, I have a lot of preliminary sketches to make......so I must be off.", he slips upwards and off the bench leaving Dev a slight, almosted regretful, smile, as he begins to move away he turns back and places a hand lightly on Lokilia and Quinns shoulders.
" Lovely to meet you all. Toodles.", he calls back as he leaves the room.
When Balaran calls back, Lokilia a bit awkwardly tries to return the wave just as he disappears from view. As she turns back, she gives a surprised, "Oh! I wonder if he meant he was painting the portrait of the De Rollos?" She shakes her head feeling a bit silly for not catching on to that before.
She is nothing if not confused from the tiefling's words and actions before he left. She is quiet for a long moment, turning to glance at Dev to see his reaction. The sensation of his touch stays with her, but she couldn't help but notice his attention seemed most focused on Dev. Finally, she quietly says, "I think he regrets not having more time to actually talk to you, Dev. Surely he'll want to chat with us again to explain his 'astrological' findings."
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Normont watches Balaran leave, a little taken aback by the quick exit.
"He seemed nice. A little eccentric, perhaps. I wonder what our places of birth have to do with the astrology", he ponders, even whilst aware that Quinn had once again remained secretive about his.
Looking across to Lokilia, he responds, "Yes, I believe you are right. Although the youngest de Rolo is a tiefling, I do not believe Balaran is related. My impression is he has just been asked to paint the de Rolo family".
He looks across and up to Quinn, and says, "If you want to talk about where you are from sometime, you are amongst friends".
Astrology Check (with guidance): 12+(5 if Arcana, 3 if Religion)+3 = 20 / 18
Normont-
You can't think of any real bearing that someones place of birth or age......though perhaps one might be able to calculate if someone was born during a solstice or other unusual event.........he definitely had his reasons for the questions but you get the impression that they perhaps weren't the stated ones.
“Do you ever let people watch you sketch?,” Dev blurts out, calling after the artist’s retreating form and raising his voice to be audible a bare moment before Balaran leaves the room. Too fast, he thinks, of this conversation, his first with another tiefling.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
"That guy creeps me out, are we sure he is not evil?" Quinn seems very disturbed by the interaction.
"I admit I find his explanation for his questions quite illogical, and his mannerisms are unusual, but we shouldn't equate eccentricity to evil", Normont replies to Quinn. "And besides, the last evil creatures we came across took form based on our memories, and Balaran is not someone we have met before", he continues, putting some logical thought to the question.
He looks across to the doorway to see if Dev has managed to catch the tiefling painter before he leaves.
" Some!", is the lilted call back from the front door...
"Yea, he doesn't seem evil," Lokilia says, agreeing with Normont. "Maybe he's just a bit quirky. And he seems quite busy. But I thought he seemed quite nice." She grins, "And I think there was an interesting arrangement to his freckles. I was trying to see if the lighter ones fell into some kind of repeating pattern. I think they did." She does linger on the thought Normont brought up about his explanation not being logical. If the 'astrological purposes' was false, then he must have got the information he wanted. And then he had immediately left.
When Dev calls after Balaran, she is a bit surprised that he responds. 'Some?' she wonders. 'I wonder who? Why is everything he does so cryptic?' Her eyes drift towards Dev. "Maybe you should go after him and ask if you could be one of those 'some' that watch!"
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Quinn takes a sip of tea and places it on the table. "All I am saying is that we should be weary of those who ask so much information from us without giving any of theirs in return. I do not claim his morality, but in my experience, those who are good with the tongue can be far more dangerous than one who is good with the blade. I am sorry if my comment caused frustration." Quinn then gets up and stretches and says, "Shall we get a start on the day? I think we are all excited to see what you have in store for us, Normont."
"Very insightful, Quinn. We should be wary, especially after what we have been through", Normont says, agreeing with the big earth genasi who now looms over him.
"Righto, up and at em and all that", he says. "I was thinking that we could go do the errand in the Eastern Ruins first", he says, lowering his voice as he mentions the Eastern Ruins. "And then go to the Slayer's Cake and pick up some Trinket Claws on the way yo see my grandfather. He is quite partial to them. We can then have elevenses with him before a walk in the park. What do you all think? Ready to get moving?".
He also jumps down from his seat and stands next to Quinn looking back to Lokilia and Dev, unless Dev did indeed rush after Balaran.
“…oh…, ok…,” Dev stutters after Balaran replies so briefly — and not with an invitation.
When Lokilia suggests that he follow the artist, Dev, whose eyes remain on the doorway, seems far away for a moment, but he shakes his head. “We all are staying in the same place. Maybe I’ll see him around,” he shrugs. But he is used to disappointment and when Normont suggests an agenda he agrees right away.
When everyone is ready, he glances at his friends and smiles confidently. Haven’t had tieflings around until now and I’m doing just fine.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer