Hello, Dash. Wasn't here when you (left?), but good to see you back. Looking forward to RPing with you as soon as my name is in the books  :P

Rian listened as Tai told his story, and as he took it all in Rian couldn't help but feel like the man had been waiting for an opportunity to tell this story. It came in a rush, one event following the next in rapid succession, though the man never lost his outward poise and dignity, Rian could almost sense a palpable comfort in the opportunity for Tai to relate his tale.

Good, Rian thought to himself as he listened. I suppose at least one of us should feel comfortable...

Truth be told it had been the hardest thing in his life to step through that hole in what was, into pure nothingness, and not empty his stomach. Not that he wasn't grateful for his ability to control that, he had emptied his stomach enough in the past few weeks to last him the rest of his life. The hardness he had felt expressing his reason for coming to the Black Tower had dissipated almost as fast as it had come, and there was Rian, terrified again, but never showing it. Rian focused on Tai's story to push the ever-encroaching thought that some planks of wood were all that stood between himself and oblivion out of his mind.

"Recently things have been a little volatile at the Farm, the old Leader went mad and there were...casualties..."

Rian started at this. He went mad? Their leader? It was certainly no surprise that men who channeled went mad, he had been told it often enough while growing up, and these days he was just waiting for it to come knocking on his door, but their leader? However what startled Rian more than that was the man's pause and tone. Those were no ordinary casualties; Rian recognized that tone, the expression on Tai's face, as the exact same he himself had felt when talking about Alise. Maybe his hunch was wrong, but Tai had lost someone important to him in that "madness". As quickly as the faltering moment had arrived it vanished again, and Tai confidently raised his hand, splitting the darkness like shears to silk and revealing a village draped in snow as he spoke.

"I have done what must be done to serve the Dragon as shall you my friend, come we will discuss more once we have you entered into the book properly."

Rian nodded at the man's words. This was his life now; he had nothing else. The Lord Dragon, Tai, the Asha'man, they were his family now. Stepping out into the frigid air, Rian pulled what remained of his tattered coat around him and looked back into the blackness through which they had traveled. Staring into it he poured out all of his feelings for what he had had, the people he had known, the life he had led. He left everything out there in the black; everything except Alise. In time, Rian knew, he would have to let it go, let her go, but for now, she would be his motivation, the strength he drew on through what he knew would be rough days ahead. "You're better than this," she had told him in secret, when they were the only ones left closing up the common room for the night. "You're a great man, Rian, and you've already dealt with more than so many people ever will. You could go wonderful places, do great things!" And while he had always thanked her for the kind words, he knew he had never wanted to be anywhere else. He was comfortable in Cairhien, in the Dawn's Pride, and Alise was there. Feeling the cruel irony of her words, Rian let out a short, mirthless laugh as the gateway closed.

The laugh startled him, and he inwardly cursed himself for it. Gripping tightly to the memory of Alise, he followed Tai through another hole in reality, into a dark basement. As Rian's eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness again, a small orb of flame sparked to life in front of Tai. Following him through the softly lit home, Rian absently let his hand slide against the polished wood of the walls. They reminded him of the counters in the Dawn's Pride, especially in the evenings when he'd just given them a good clean-- No. He stopped himself abruptly and all but slammed his hand back into his coat pocket. Following Tai into a simple room that was apparently his office, Rian took the chair he was motioned to and looked out the window at the gentle snow falling on the village before Tai spoke again.

"Let us begin I suppose. I know you have told me some, but for the record please state your full name, your country of origin and your age."

"Rian Tareth, of Cairhien, age 21."

The words came calmly but inside Rian felt the last vestiges of his previous life shatter as he watched Tai pen the information into the book. And oddly, even though he sat terrified of what would be to come, and ragged from the trials of the last few weeks, he did not miss it. As feelings for his previous life slid away in his mind's eye, he saw only Alise. She sat in a comfortable chair in the library of the inn. It had been uncomfortably cold due to the current weather, and Rian had come to say goodnight to her. Though that was not all he had come to say to her. He had hesitated, told himself he would address it later when they weren't so tired, or any other myriad of reasons. He had hesitated, and now she was gone. He would not make that mistake again.

Lost in his thoughts already he had missed the next question Tai had asked him.

"Ah...I'm sorry. I ah...was..." Rian lowered his eyes in embarrassment at even considering lying to this man. Lying to family. Steeling himself, he raised his eyes again. "I was letting go of some things. What was it you needed of me?"

OOC: Assumed the office has a window, not sure if it does. May be trivial, feel free to ignore it if it does not in fact have a window :P

Tai'Dashan, Attack Leader he had called himself. Though unsure exactly what that meant, Rian knew enough about titles to know they implied a power. Pushing aside thoughts of what power that might be, Rian met the man's tight grin with a tired smile. He had traveled far to make it here, to begin anew, but some aspects of his old life he just could not forget, not yet. The helplessness washed over him again, she was burning alive and he couldn't to a thing to stop it, the fire he had started...

Viciously he shoved the memory out of his mind and looked up. Tai'Dashan raised his arm slightly, and Rian turned to leave through the doorway, the only possible place two men would exit a room from. Instead he turned and faced oblivion, a hole in the world. Fear gripped Rian's heart but as he had told himself a hundred times by now, this was his life now. After a motioning from Tai, he stepped inside and onto the wooden platform. Tai followed and the hole closed behind them. As Rian stood in darkness wondering when they would begin their journey, Tai spoke.

"Rian, tell me more about yourself and your situation. The trip should not be long but I do not wish it to all be in silence. Feel free to ask any questions you wish."

Rian related his tale, which as he realized now that he actually decided to tell someone, was not a very long one. His father had left when he was a young boy on some fool notion that his life was best served fighting the Shadow in the Borderlands, his mother tried keeping an inn but her grief was too much, and by the time Rian was around 20 she succumbed to it. He had taken over The Dawn's Pride and poured his soul into keeping it and running it. He had hired on his childhood friends to work with him, Haric in the stableyard, Melane in the kitchens, and Alise.. He trailed off when he finally got to her, remembering what had happened yet again. He could feel the other man shift on the platform, had he noticed his pause? Quickly resuming his story, Rian relayed the events of the Feast of Lights, his inn burning to cinders and the nobles burning in the alleyway alongside innocent Alise.

"After that night...I ran from Cairhien. Into the woods. I tried to harness it, control it somehow, but every time i tried I would black out, or empty my stomach or scream from the way my head would spin. Eventually I found out about the amnesty, and came here to find it, stealing what I could from inns along the way. I had been told as a youth that men who channeled went mad...and I almost did a few times out there at night in the woods. Truth be told I don't know why I haven't yet. Everything I loved, I've been the destruction of. So here I am...to start over.."

Rian knew how somber and depressing his tale must sound, but for some reason right now that didn't bother him. His usual upbeat self did not step in to try and lighten the mood.

"I hear them. When I tried teaching myself, and I would seem to have control over it for only a few seconds, I heard their screams like it was happening all over again. Who could concentrate through that? I'd let go and terrible things happened to me. So I'm here to learn to control it, and do whatever good I can with it, because the dead deserve that from me," he finished with a hardness he did not know he had left in him.

Rian noticed he was staring down at the platform they stood on, following the lines of the grain in the wood with his eyes, which had begun to water. Brushing them dry with the ragged and dirty sleeve of his once-favorite coat, Rian turned to the other man in the darkness.

"Enough of my rambling, what of you, friend?"

OOC: Thanks for picking this up, and for the welcome. I'm excited to be on board :)

OOC: Also, if Tai has been in Tear long, he may have heard about the incident with The Dawn's Pride, as tradesmen coming south would surely be mentioning it. Just an option for your character. :)

Thanks! Look forward to RPing with you. :)

If anyone is around and can spare a second I'm still looking for someone to RP on the Tear board and "let me in the door" I suppose.  :P

I remember being told we're just getting back into the swing of things from summer and if so no worries, just thought I'd send up a flag again that I'm still here.

Thanks!

Best,

Scott

These football references add a touch of interpretive reading that I'm finding quite enjoyable.

Cheers!

[OOC: Moved and slightly altered from the Farm board, after being horrendously mislead by Tai!!! :P  Glad to be a part of the team.  ;D]

The snowy slush of Tear made Rian step cautiously as he trudged through the streets alongside merchants, dockworkers, and citizens. Looking around apprehensively at all of them, Rian wished he were anywhere but here. He felt that even though he had just walked into town, eyes were upon him, and people knew who he was and what he had done.

Stepping into the nearest inn, Rian moved to an empty slot in the bar and took an ale from the innkeeper, looking at the others around him. As he drank, thankful to be out of the slush and traffic, he overheard a man's voice from behind him.

"..burned to the ground, it did. 'Course no one knows who, or what, started the fire, but that young lad what owned the place was nowhere to be found. Folks are sayin' he died in the fire, 'course I'll have none of it. Five noble youths and a serving girl, dead in an alley, and the place burned to cinders? Sounds to me as if our young innkeeper had more trouble than everyone believed.."

Rian choked on his ale, earning a look from the men talking, and hastily coughed more to act as though he were ill. They seemed to accept it, turning back to their drinks and conversation, now the overbearing weather, and Rian stood calmly and left the inn.

Wondering how he was ever to find the place to claim his amnesty save for asking locals, which at the moment did not seem at all the intelligent way to go, Rian wandered from district to district around the streets, until something in him, a feeling, pulled him down a right alleyway. Out into the street two blocks away it lead, and across from the opening, a small building with the Dragon's Fang scrawled on the door. Wondering what wild feeling had led him perfectly here, Rian stepped across the street and pushed open the door, ignoring the wary looks people in the streets were giving him.

Once inside, Rian shut the door and approached the tall man in a black coat leaning against a nearby doorframe. Reaching the man, Rian stopped. He had not thought about this moment for all he'd been fretting about his ability to channel in the first place. What should he say? Noting the look on Rian's face, the man smirked.

"Here for the amnesty, I take it?" the man said with an air of knowing that said he had spoken these words to more than just Rian today.

"Ah, well...yes. Yes, that's my business here." Rian replied hesitantly.

"Well you'll be wanting to see the man behind the last door and the end of the hall upstairs," the man replied, gesturing to the nearby stairwell with one black-gloved hand.

Nodding his thanks, Rian climbed the stairs and walked down the long hallway, pulling his coat tighter around him as he walked, and adjusting the sack on his shoulder, filled with a blanket and some food he'd stolen from inns along the road to Tear.

It's no colder in here than it is outside, you goat-headed fool. Quit letting your nerves get to you.

Reaching the doorway, Rian placed his hand on it and stopped. This was it, everything he had had before he must let go of, this was his new life. Pushing open the door, Rian stepped into the room, seeing a man with a drink in hand staring out the window into the street below. Or perhaps out into the harbor, or across the hills to some distant place. Rian couldn't tell. A small desk full of papers stood in front of the man, and Rian squared his shoulders, approaching the middle ground. The man took note of him entering and turned to Rian as he closed. Thrusting his hand out confidently, maybe a little too confidently as evidenced by the sudden raising of the man's eyebrow, Rian introduced himself.

"I'm Rian Tareth. I used to own an inn in Cairhien, but some....terrible things happened. I came to Tear to accept the Dragon Reborn's amnesty, and found my way here. I..." Rian closed his eyes, intent on making it through this. No matter what he wanted to believe, this was the way it was. He would accept this, and overcome it. Master it. No matter the cost.

"I can channel."

:o

I've been deceived!!!

Deleted my post on The Farm and posted one on the Tear boards. Thanks for the correction!  :)

Hello All,

Just got my character bio and point expenditures approved, so I wanted to send out a public notice that I'll be starting up an intro thread I suppose in The Farm. Open RP of course and I'll mark it as such, just would like to get through the formalities of getting initiated into the BT and meet some of you fine folks who RP around here.

Happy to be here, hope to see you on the boards! :D

Best,

Scott

EDIT: Suppose I'll start in Tear, forgot that's where the amnesty is.

Haha thanks for the welcome. Looking forward to meeting some great people.  :)

Been away from Dragonmount for about 3 or 4 years now (funny how college seems to get in the way of things isn't it?  ::)). Hopping back in and after a couple hours of reading through and re-familiarizing myself with DM, I've decided to make an Asha'man. Currently working on the bio, just wanted to leave a note here saying hello and hoping for some great RP!  :)

Best,

Scott