Preparation For The First Trial
Things were scattered all throughout the confines of his abode, as Rickter sorted through everything and organized all the equipment by groups. His flat was by no means impressive, to begin with, and had always been overly spacious before, which is why organizing everything he'd brought home was easiest by just piling it in groups instead. After a collectively busy morning spent grabbing a bite to eat, the wolf followed up by going out through the Plaza to collect much-needed equipment.
The first trial of his quest to join the Argent Hand was to scale the Astralar Mountains, where among its peaks there would be Illumite dragonshards for him to harvest. The trick about it was that he'd have to wait until daybreak, so that he could find the most brilliant of those shards, and in turn, harvest some for resource purposes as well as completing the trial in turn. So littering every rounded corner of the dining table in his abode was all gear exploration related, such as the tent and bedroll to rope and other things that'd be vital for the cause. Then of course on his bed were the tools associated with the quest, such as the pickaxes and even the climbing gear bought from the kit he'd found and bought from one of the guilds.
There were even things like harnesses and a grappling hook he had gone out of the way to buy, in the event such items became necessary to aid in their ascent to the peaks. As the wolf sorted through everything though, only half-dressed as he wore only a pair of golden brown trousers, a knock on his front door snared his attention away quickly from the table in front of him. They had arrived it would seem, much to his surprise they were actually rather earlier than expected. The wolf quickly walked towards the front door to open it, greeted by the two beautiful ladies who he'd found himself often surrounded by. Telion the bard smiled upon seeing him, albeit her cheeks lightly flushed when it was without his shirt on, while Hannah in turn smirked at seeing his undoubtedly familiar torso. "Well you two don't waste time." He lightly humored with a slight elevation in his eyebrows, a remark that garnered fairly surprised chuckles from the pair as he moved aside for them to enter.
"Well, we didn't want to get lost trying to find the place." Telion answered in turn as she looked from Rickter towards the inside of his flat, the bard and her brunette friend were immediately drawn to observe his living space with vivid curiosity. "Wow! You weren't kidding when you said you'd be busy today."
"And yet this room is hardly liveable..." Hannah remarked as she likely noticed the lack of decor within the place. The brunette looked to him sharply then, before meandering over towards the table to inspect some of the tools he'd brought home. "Unless all this is going to be your new decorum."
"Yeah right..." The wolf dismissed lowly as he reached the table once more, with Telion looming nearby as she too looked at everything available. "This is just the basics really, stuff that'll make the trip up there a bit easier."
"So we'll be climbing the mountains together?" Telion inquired thoughtfully which led Hannah to glare at Rickter in turn, though the wolf already had an answer in mind for such a question.
"Climbing will be the difficult part, especially if we're going straight up. There are slopes we can use to scale the mountain, but they'll take a little longer since those minimize the dangers only by slightly." He explained as he moved from the table towards the bed, lifting a net that looked to be customized specifically for mining dragonshards. "We need to hit the peaks by morning, though I don't how fast we'll reach them as is. In short, we'll be using this to collect the Illumite, after that we can march our asses back down from the cold and enjoy a hot bowl of soup." To that the ladies giggled, as Rickter always seemed rather fond of the idea of eating one way or another.
"I could accompany you to make the trip down much quicker." Hannah suggested with a fold of her arms, her eyes glinting once again at a possible opportunity, one that Telion seemed to like since it'd cut their time by half. Truthfully Rickter wasn't fully aware of Hannah's capabilities, the fact alone she could warp was more than useful to him. Yet at the same time, he hadn't gone out of his way to buy equipment for them yet either. Hell, the armor he'd purchased would only fit him and keep him warm during the climb, so the both of them would have to go out and buy their own in turn.
"I'm not against it, but I'll already have my hands full watching out for Telion." To that the bard suddenly gasped, looking at Rickter with an offended glare as she planted fists at her hips.
"Excuse me?" The wolf merely looked at her with a plain expression.
"Do you know how to climb?" The question likely threw her off for she seemed confused. "I don't question your skills as a fighter, it's the survivability that concerns me here. We're headed into high places that could be teeming with monsters for all we know, the fact is that the first part is what I'm worried about. Up there it's going to get cold, worse than it already is down here."
"I see." The sternness in her expression softened after listening to him, and of course, Hannah herself even looked a little surprised with how far ahead he'd thought. "I've never climbed a mountain before honestly, and camping out is something I've only ever done a few times." By that admittance Rickter knew more about her experience and therefore understood better the limitations Telion had to work with.
"I've never climbed a mountain to its peak honestly, only recently have I even dared try running up one." He remarked in regard to the Shinaegri horde that nearly broke outside the mountain. Believe it or not, those moments spent hopping across footholds were unbearable for him, as the wolf never considered the idea before that point, and only by luck had the balance necessary to accomplish such a task. "It's possible we may avoid direct confrontation with anything up there... but it's not something I see happening without a bit of luck." He then looked to Hannah next, with a firm stare to ensure there was levity in his tone. "You'd be a welcome asset for sure, but at the same time I'm not fully aware of what your abilities really are."
"A fair point," Hannah remarked in turn as she looked at her nails casually, "I think I can handle it though."
"Just make sure you buy warm armor." He instructed in return. "fur preferably, leather only goes so far in the cold."
"Do you possess a washroom by chance?" The brunette quickly inquired as though a sudden thought rose in her mind. "I'd appreciate using it if that's alright with you." Rickter sighed and nodded his head over towards an open door, which Hannah would casually approach with a smile as she looked back to the wolf and the bard.
"So if we're all going, then we need to combat the cold mainly." Telion reapproached the subject intently with her eyes on Rickter, considerably measuring out the task laid out for them as he'd been doing prior. "I also have my magic as does Hannah, so while equipment is important, location is also a factor we can't ignore either." The blonde looked thoughtfully with a finger pointed under her chin, gazing to Rickter once more when another thought crossed her mind. "Are there any places along the way we can rest at? Areas for rest we can stop within?" Certainly a good question to have asked, considering Rickter hadn't any idea what all was up within the mountains.
Needless to say, he was aware of two places within the mountains, one they could stop at along the way, since the hot springs would be an interesting way to combat the cold throughout the night. "There are a couple," Rickter murmured as he partially eyed the washroom door, "one which might actually help us out when the time comes." He could've sworn he heard noises within, low discreet noises one made when pilfering through drawers and such, and yet Hannah didn't take long to open the door and walk out after finishing her business.
"Thanks Wolfman," she teased in turn as she approached the table once more, "from the sound of it you already have things figured out."
"Mostly," Rickter remarked almost with a suspicious glare at the brunette, "still working out the finer points of the plan. Before too long we'll be ready, and when we are, we'll make the venture up to Astralar then."
"I'm looking forward to it," Telion weighed in heartily with a brief pump of her fists, "first trial for the royal guard here we come!" To that Rickter honestly cracked a slight smile, moving to continue with organizing everything assembled in the room.
Ash 15th, 120th Year, A.o.S.
The first trial of his quest to join the Argent Hand was to scale the Astralar Mountains, where among its peaks there would be Illumite dragonshards for him to harvest. The trick about it was that he'd have to wait until daybreak, so that he could find the most brilliant of those shards, and in turn, harvest some for resource purposes as well as completing the trial in turn. So littering every rounded corner of the dining table in his abode was all gear exploration related, such as the tent and bedroll to rope and other things that'd be vital for the cause. Then of course on his bed were the tools associated with the quest, such as the pickaxes and even the climbing gear bought from the kit he'd found and bought from one of the guilds.
There were even things like harnesses and a grappling hook he had gone out of the way to buy, in the event such items became necessary to aid in their ascent to the peaks. As the wolf sorted through everything though, only half-dressed as he wore only a pair of golden brown trousers, a knock on his front door snared his attention away quickly from the table in front of him. They had arrived it would seem, much to his surprise they were actually rather earlier than expected. The wolf quickly walked towards the front door to open it, greeted by the two beautiful ladies who he'd found himself often surrounded by. Telion the bard smiled upon seeing him, albeit her cheeks lightly flushed when it was without his shirt on, while Hannah in turn smirked at seeing his undoubtedly familiar torso. "Well you two don't waste time." He lightly humored with a slight elevation in his eyebrows, a remark that garnered fairly surprised chuckles from the pair as he moved aside for them to enter.
"Well, we didn't want to get lost trying to find the place." Telion answered in turn as she looked from Rickter towards the inside of his flat, the bard and her brunette friend were immediately drawn to observe his living space with vivid curiosity. "Wow! You weren't kidding when you said you'd be busy today."
"And yet this room is hardly liveable..." Hannah remarked as she likely noticed the lack of decor within the place. The brunette looked to him sharply then, before meandering over towards the table to inspect some of the tools he'd brought home. "Unless all this is going to be your new decorum."
"Yeah right..." The wolf dismissed lowly as he reached the table once more, with Telion looming nearby as she too looked at everything available. "This is just the basics really, stuff that'll make the trip up there a bit easier."
"So we'll be climbing the mountains together?" Telion inquired thoughtfully which led Hannah to glare at Rickter in turn, though the wolf already had an answer in mind for such a question.
"Climbing will be the difficult part, especially if we're going straight up. There are slopes we can use to scale the mountain, but they'll take a little longer since those minimize the dangers only by slightly." He explained as he moved from the table towards the bed, lifting a net that looked to be customized specifically for mining dragonshards. "We need to hit the peaks by morning, though I don't how fast we'll reach them as is. In short, we'll be using this to collect the Illumite, after that we can march our asses back down from the cold and enjoy a hot bowl of soup." To that the ladies giggled, as Rickter always seemed rather fond of the idea of eating one way or another.
"I could accompany you to make the trip down much quicker." Hannah suggested with a fold of her arms, her eyes glinting once again at a possible opportunity, one that Telion seemed to like since it'd cut their time by half. Truthfully Rickter wasn't fully aware of Hannah's capabilities, the fact alone she could warp was more than useful to him. Yet at the same time, he hadn't gone out of his way to buy equipment for them yet either. Hell, the armor he'd purchased would only fit him and keep him warm during the climb, so the both of them would have to go out and buy their own in turn.
"I'm not against it, but I'll already have my hands full watching out for Telion." To that the bard suddenly gasped, looking at Rickter with an offended glare as she planted fists at her hips.
"Excuse me?" The wolf merely looked at her with a plain expression.
"Do you know how to climb?" The question likely threw her off for she seemed confused. "I don't question your skills as a fighter, it's the survivability that concerns me here. We're headed into high places that could be teeming with monsters for all we know, the fact is that the first part is what I'm worried about. Up there it's going to get cold, worse than it already is down here."
"I see." The sternness in her expression softened after listening to him, and of course, Hannah herself even looked a little surprised with how far ahead he'd thought. "I've never climbed a mountain before honestly, and camping out is something I've only ever done a few times." By that admittance Rickter knew more about her experience and therefore understood better the limitations Telion had to work with.
"I've never climbed a mountain to its peak honestly, only recently have I even dared try running up one." He remarked in regard to the Shinaegri horde that nearly broke outside the mountain. Believe it or not, those moments spent hopping across footholds were unbearable for him, as the wolf never considered the idea before that point, and only by luck had the balance necessary to accomplish such a task. "It's possible we may avoid direct confrontation with anything up there... but it's not something I see happening without a bit of luck." He then looked to Hannah next, with a firm stare to ensure there was levity in his tone. "You'd be a welcome asset for sure, but at the same time I'm not fully aware of what your abilities really are."
"A fair point," Hannah remarked in turn as she looked at her nails casually, "I think I can handle it though."
"Just make sure you buy warm armor." He instructed in return. "fur preferably, leather only goes so far in the cold."
"Do you possess a washroom by chance?" The brunette quickly inquired as though a sudden thought rose in her mind. "I'd appreciate using it if that's alright with you." Rickter sighed and nodded his head over towards an open door, which Hannah would casually approach with a smile as she looked back to the wolf and the bard.
"So if we're all going, then we need to combat the cold mainly." Telion reapproached the subject intently with her eyes on Rickter, considerably measuring out the task laid out for them as he'd been doing prior. "I also have my magic as does Hannah, so while equipment is important, location is also a factor we can't ignore either." The blonde looked thoughtfully with a finger pointed under her chin, gazing to Rickter once more when another thought crossed her mind. "Are there any places along the way we can rest at? Areas for rest we can stop within?" Certainly a good question to have asked, considering Rickter hadn't any idea what all was up within the mountains.
Needless to say, he was aware of two places within the mountains, one they could stop at along the way, since the hot springs would be an interesting way to combat the cold throughout the night. "There are a couple," Rickter murmured as he partially eyed the washroom door, "one which might actually help us out when the time comes." He could've sworn he heard noises within, low discreet noises one made when pilfering through drawers and such, and yet Hannah didn't take long to open the door and walk out after finishing her business.
"Thanks Wolfman," she teased in turn as she approached the table once more, "from the sound of it you already have things figured out."
"Mostly," Rickter remarked almost with a suspicious glare at the brunette, "still working out the finer points of the plan. Before too long we'll be ready, and when we are, we'll make the venture up to Astralar then."
"I'm looking forward to it," Telion weighed in heartily with a brief pump of her fists, "first trial for the royal guard here we come!" To that Rickter honestly cracked a slight smile, moving to continue with organizing everything assembled in the room.
"Every side attacks you when you don't pick sides."
