Nymoria

Nymoria blinked as her apology was met with the most non-responsive, and yet somehow non-insulting response, she could have expected given the situation at hand. She stared at Freyd as he seemed to fluster for the blink of an eye, before a natural calmness returned to him, his words turning away from apologetic, towards the cold and calculated logical path that seemed to fit him so perfectly. She had just raised her hands to respond to his commentary about focusing on the quest at hand – a quest that they had been continuing towards, without any real notice by either of them – when the man tur

Nymoria’s eyes passed between the queen and the advisor standing behind her, guessing that there was more to his presence than a simple measure of supportive aura. She could see the queen watching her, and it didn’t take long before the introduction was brought forth. The queen waved a hand towards the man, smiling pleasantly as she introduced him in a cautious tone. ’This is my military commander and advisor in conflict, Commander Arun. It has been his…position of influence and oversight, which has protected the borders of Ellesmera and its territories since the beginning of the conflict.’

No escort greeted her or directed her along her path, not that one was required. The hallway that she had entered led straight onwards towards a pair of large, imposing double doors – the few offshoots along the way blocked by guards that deterred their usage through their presence alone. She followed the hallway towards the doors, stopping before them to take in a deep breath and prepare herself. Placing a hand on each door, she gave them a soft push and stepped in as they opened, providing her a view of the court room itself. At least, Nymoria assumed it was a court room. ’Welcome, trav

She could have waited off to the side for the effects to tear away what few hit points remained – that would have been the smart, easy thing to do. Nymoria, however, was not in the mindset to do the smart, nor easy thing. She wanted to break free, to escape everything that had happened – everything that she had done. Her mind still reeled, recovering perhaps but only slightly, from the events that had occurred at her hand. She found herself unable to think entirely straight, as if she were trying to make decisions while falling asleep, or having been yanked from the depths of sleep. Finis

She could see him flowing through his menu, but a measure of respect that Nymoria had been raised with kept her from prying towards his intentions. She waited patiently, his explanation doing little other than confirming for Nymoria that she wasn’t entirely aware of his end goal – or the plan to get there, if she were being entirely honest with herself – but that she had no choice other than to play it through and hope he was more inclined towards understanding himself. Huh? She signed the confusion without a second thought, the action coming naturally to her as she processed what he’d

She still wasn’t sure what had been her final deciding factor; whether it had been simple curiosity, or the realisation that a hand delivered message would only come from the possibility of a newly unlocked quest. Whatever the reasoning, she’d chosen to attend the meeting – and had, with deliberate hesitation and delay, made her way to the eighth floor and the city of Ellesmera. She’d managed, through asking for directions from those around the area, to find herself standing before the gates to the keep housing the queen and her associated court. It was here that Nymoria had come to a halt, le

Elvish Rivalries The day had been, in a word, uneventful. Nymoria had spent much of it exploring the greater regions of some of the newer floors, seeing if any markets had opened that might be of interest to her – either in a personal, or professional means. Aside from a collection of smaller shops that held little in the way of interest to her, she’d found almost nothing of usefulness or intrigue during her travels for the morning. You’d think, on the newer floors, there would be a collection of up and coming shops with new and exciting items to offer…instead it’s repetition and…a feelin

Conversation between the two carried on between Acanthus and Ryo as Nymoria paused to stare at Acanthus, a sudden realisation crossing her mind as she saw the flare of embarrassment passing over the other’s features. Nymoria had been preoccupied by the fact that Acanthus had attempted sign language, and the oddity of her commentary and question. She hadn’t even taken notice of the fact that Acanthus had tried sign language. A fact that wasn’t entirely lost upon the silent player. She waited until there was a lull in the conversation, before signing towards Acanthus, her hands kept out of

Nymoria had entirely missed the forms of Cerberus’ heads – at least, two of them. Her blade had sailed passed, missing its mark entirely and leaving the beast only partially hindered from continuing its reign of fire and brimstone upon them. Nymoria had slipped backwards following her attack – as much accidentally as purposefully giving Wulfrin the space he needed in order to follow up his own assault against the heads. She found herself shaking her head slightly in response, trying to clear away the daze that had come over her for a single instant. Hellhounds. Danger still. Focus. She wa

Nymoria turned away, if only for a few seconds, at the mention of her not being a hindrance. There was no embarrassment, pleasure or general collection of warmth towards the words. If anything, she had turned away in order to stop herself from retorting with a self-depreciating commentary in return. Instead, she chose to simply let the emotions roiling within herself, before dissipating as they always seemed to do as of late. When she turned back towards Freyd, it was to follow up with a conversation that had already continued onwards, his words flowing towards an ideal of something mor

The glimmering pile within the chest seemed to sparkle before Nymoria’s eyes, and she found herself grinning happily up at Nemo. The man, standing behind her now that they’d moved to see what was within the chest, seemed almost as excited as Nymoria herself was – more so, if she looked carefully at his features. The expression on his face was more than enough to convince Nymoria that it was something irregular for him to find, and she leaned back to let him sort through it fully. ’It is always wonderful to see what the garden surprises us with…’ He smiled towards Nymoria, glancing throug

Her hand bumped something as she was pawing through the dirt, and Nymoria jumped in response. The gems and assorted other metallic items that she had been finding had felt hard, for certain, but there was something about the feel of this hidden item that had been different. She’d pulled her hand back suddenly, causing Nemo to glance in her direction as she sat up and glanced down at the area. When nothing had immediately jumped to attack her, she’d begun moving the dirt around the area, pulling it away from what she had bumped into, and trying to figure out what it was. That’s a chest. Li

She let the silence stretch as she continued digging through the dirt, trying to find anything further that could be useful during her time here. She knew that she would have to leave soon – there was no point overstaying her welcome, and she’d already been here for quite some time. It’s been a busy, but successful day at least. And…it was nice to see Nemo, especially when he’s happy like this. I wonder… She let the thoughts drift off, knowing where they were going, and that she would have no immediate answer to them. In time, she might test her theory, but for now she needed to finish her tim

Are you just saying that to make me feel better? She signed the words and sent a small wink towards Nemo which had little enthusiasm or effort behind it, a commentary more upon her exhaustion than her humour towards the entire thing. She forced a smile, for good measure, to ensure that he at least knew that she wasn’t faking the joke behind the words – and hoped that he would pick up on that. ’Make you feel better? Why, I’m hurt! To think that I would lie to someone as powerful and capable as you!’ Nemo grinned broadly as he finished his false insulted behaviour, before breaking out into

She breathed a sigh of relief as the final creature exploded into nothingness. Her sabre shook in her hand, and she slowly sheathed the weapon as she forced herself to relax. The fight had lasted far longer than she had expected – the small drakes proving agile and capable, leaving her chasing after them more than she would have liked to have done in a perfect scenario. Still, she’d come out victorious with little in the way of actual danger to herself, which brought a measure of pride to her for a few moments. ’Well done! I was a bit worried there for a moment, I’ll admit, but you pulled

Whether it saw her coming or not, Nymoria wasn’t sure, but as the first of the creatures rushed to get off to her right side, she found herself slashing through the opening of the remaining partner drake. Her sabre soared through its form, cutting it neatly in two and allowing it to disappear in a shatter of shards that glittered against the sky. Nymoria knew that, were it not such a gruesome act, the explosion of shards would almost be pretty to the eye. The remaining drake hovered slightly in the distance, as if no longer certain that it wanted to engage her in a fight. She turned towar

They came towards her as a group in response to her own charge towards them, and Nymoria felt as they collided. A brash group of claws and teeth tearing towards her, her sabre attempting to deflect those that she could. The first of the creatures exploded into shards as she slashed and stabbed, causing one to reel backwards in sudden concern for its own safety – a wise choice, she felt, given the circumstances. The distraction, however, was enough for one of the creatures to slide up beneath her sabre’s blade and slash across her throat, leaving her reaching for the area and pommelling back th

The small drakes shifted around her form as they tried to escape the danger that was the sabre in her hand. Nymoria flowed through them, stepping lightly from foot to foot as she shifted around and underneath the drakes, letting her blade follow a series of strikes that were as much under her control as they appeared randomised. She could see as slashes opened up on the drakes, the wounds forcing them to retreat slightly, as much as her assault and presence had forced them. I’ve really improved. I should be happy about that. Proud about that. Nymoria knew she should feel some positive emo

The snapdragons exploded beneath her blade, no contest between herself and the smaller creatures that could have gone any other way in finality. She almost felt sorry for them, almost. Are they not living creatures too? But then…should I feel pity every time we kill an insect, or something that’s trying to harm us…? It’s a dilemma that I can’t afford to consider right now. The purpose here is to live. Nymoria shook herself from the depths of the thoughts, glancing over towards Nemo and seeing the man casually petting one of the mossy wolves that had strolled near. She almost prepared herself t

They saw her coming, and three of the four in the group tried to scramble out of the way – each one caught by Nymoria’s blade as it moved in a scattering of directions. None were safe, and she saw the bleeding openings of two as they shifted slightly towards her, their escape failed and forgotten as they refocused on attacking her. Her sabre moved as she parried their claws, driving up and away attacks that would have otherwise torn small gashes in her sides. They tried surrounding her, pressing in towards her in the hopes of overwhelming her defences. She managed to repel most of their a

’Are you just going to sit here all day? There’s more things to cull, you know.’ Nemo grinned at her surprised expression, seemingly amused in her reaction to his words. Somehow she hadn’t considered – even with everything he’d said earlier – that he would encourage her to hunt down the creatures within his garden. ’What? Did you think I would be upset again? You’re one of the first people to actually ask for permission…I’m not mad, this time.’ Nymoria gave a silent laugh in response, finding the entire situation amusing. The man seemed more comfortable somehow, a far change from when the

She considered the thought in silence for a few moments as she continued to run her hands through the rocky area she’d come to rest in, trying to figure out if she’d been ignoring obvious signs in other areas of her explorations in Aincrad. She was certain that she had, in some cases, ignored more obvious actions by NPCs due to any number of extenuating factors; even she was bound to have bad days where her desire to be away from people, real or digitally created. Sometimes…things do not go as we expect, do they? She signed slowly, as if feeling the thoughts out among her fingertips even

Nymoria could already figure out what had occurred. She found herself empathising with Nemo, even if only slightly. She could understand the frustration of the players coming and helping to clear out the population a bit, but then spreading off and causing more and more destruction without even asking permission. She knew that were she in his place, she would likely have been frustrated as well. You are very passionate about your garden. It is good to see. She signed with a smile towards Nemo, hoping that it would break apart any negative feelings that were growing within him at the memor

Nymoria released a sharp breath, settling harshly onto the ground beneath her before waving a hand for Nemo to join her. The fight – and the subsequent ambush – had taken more out of her than she cared to ever admit. Still, she was alive and healthy – for the most part. Small blessings. It could have gone a lot worse, if I hadn’t been more lucky. Imagine if any of them had managed to truly overpower me… She felt a shiver pass down her spine at the thought, and forced the entire idea out of her head. Do the creatures here populate by themselves? It was the first question that popped into h

Her brow furrowed in response to Freyd’s actions; no disdain crossed her face, but rather an uncomfortable expression that showed she was far from used to the treatment he was providing towards her. The formal bowing, the description of his own limitations and capabilities, the insight into his own ideals, and how he operated. All things that Nymoria was used to either not receiving, or figuring out for herself. It took her a few seconds to register his final words, her feet pattering against the ground as they made their way along the path towards, what she assumed was, the Stygian Riv