<Erisia> The inn isn't far from the popular pub. It's a large establishment, very upscale and full off all sorts of facinating things. What it does -not- have is a weapon training room, and the young woman is forced to endure the cold outside while she goes through drills with her spear. All her sneaking around only landed her extra practice time later, and now she has to suffer alone. Not the greatest tradeoff. Still, complaining will get h
<Erisia> complaining will get her nowhere so the girl just works her way through the routines, years of endured training making her actually quite good. Shay still bests her more often than not, but he has the advantage of reach and strength on her.
* Calanthar will be trudging back through the cold towards his room at the inn about now, having gone for a rather uneventful walk. It's been hard trying to reach D'Cint, so he'll probably just have to pen her a quick letter. His thoughts keep flitting back and forth between Sadurean, Evi, Kaden, and the woman. Between first meeting the boy and fleeing the burning Ama'til to get to Sinari. Between memories of his own wife's leaving and Evi's fears of losin
<Calanthar> own wife's leaving and Evi's fears of losing Sadurean. Somehow, in all this jumble, he'll catch the woman out of the corner of his eye and pause to watch. At least *someone* else has a respect for the spear...
<Erisia> Ignaria in particular trains it's warriors to specialize in the spear, an art that they hold very highly. Isi is only eighteen, but she has been studying the spear since she was eight and the years of practice show in the ease in which she moves about with the weapon. It's no taller than her, which is a good reach but not so long that she'll overextend her balance. She jabs the sharp point at several imaginary foes, twisting around
<Erisia> foes, twisting around sharply to perform a follow-up routine behind her, and stopping when she notices Calanthar watching her. An arm reaches up to wipe sweat from her brow as she calls out, "Hello.." A distraction! Hooray!
<Calanthar> The unexpected greeting caught Calanthar off guard and brought him crashing back out of his thoughts with a start. "Oh... I... Evening, miss. Just admiring your technique with the spear there. Apologies if I interrupted your training..." The old man will relax, dropping to a more slouched, tired posture. Without even realizing it, he'd brought himself up right, hand behind the back like an officer inspecting his drilling troops. Old habit
<Calanthar> inspecting his drilling troops. Old habits die hard, they say. "You have superb form though, and a good bit of discipline to be out in the cold like this by yourself."
* Erisia offers him a wry grin, "Ohh.. not by choice, I assure you." She has the dialect of the north, Ignari. She crosses the yard to close the distance between herself and the man, spear lifted up to rest across her shoulders so she can hang her arms over it. "Thank you, though. You're in the army?" She asks, noticing his attire. Her own clothing is well-tailored, a new lined coat over warm leather pants and snug new boots. S
<Erisia> and snug new boots. She had taken full advantage of the shopping trip that Shay promised.
<Calanthar> "Heh heh... No no, I'm not Army. Not anymore at least. Kudos to you for recognizing it though, especially given you don't seem like you're from around here. Do you serve in any military capacity? I'm guessing that they don't just send young ladies down here from the North with no cuase..." Was it a northern accent? He always had a little trouble with figuring and faking accents.
<Erisia> "I've studied a lot. I'm from Ignari. I have to train every day, it's part of my job. Did you retire, sir?" It's the most diplomatic way to ask why he's no longer in the army. He wouldn't be wearing the insignia if he was exiled, and he seems a bit up there in age. At least to her young eyes.
* Calanthar nods. Clever girl, this one... "Yes, I retired recently... Not by choice of course, but when you get too old, they tell you that you've ceased to be useful and have become a liability. Possible they're right. Why come to Sinari though? Doesn't seem to be much here for a girl of your training, if I may be so bold."
* Erisia grins, a charming smile that has no hidden motives. "I'm certain they realized their error the moment they let you go, sir." Another diplomatic answer, something well-engrained within the young woman. She lets the spear slide down to the snow, leaning upon it casually. "I'm here with my employer. He wanted to see the city, a vacation of sorts."
<Calanthar> Well, there had to be some wealth there, to hire someone so skilled. Either that or status, seeing as she was military trained... Could be both. "Flattering, young lady, very flattering, but I'm sure they had good cause..." Well, hopefully. "Is your employer not around? Surely he wouldn't venture far without his guard around, and I'd hate to anger him by disrupting your drilling..."
<Erisia> "Haha.. noo, he's inside, with the others. I'm not really a guard, I'm just required to train in case I ever need to be. More a precaution than anything else. Besides, he's not the one that makes me practice, it's our mentor." She just grins, not terribly worried about it. Leius generally doesn't care too much as long as she puts in some effort every day. "Were you stationed here?"
<Calanthar> "Here? Oh no... I was all over the place, but I actually haven't been to Sinari since I was a lad. It just seemed like a nice place to retire. That and the ship I was on was headed here, and I didn't have much choice in the ways of ships
<Erisia> "Ahh.. A well traveled man. I don't think I would ever pick here to retire, but I don't make the decisions, unfortunately. Were you a weapon trainer?" She'll happily extend the conversation even if she is freezing her rear off.
* Calanthar shrugs at this question. He himself doesn't know if he would have been considered a weapons trainer. "Well, that wasn't my title, per say. I was an officer, so I oversaw the training of my men, but I took a more active role than other officers in training, I suppose. Most of my commentary just comes from years and years of experience. Heh... If you ever go in the military, expect a lot of old men to sit around and comment on technique. For s
<Calanthar> sit around and comment on technique. For some of 'em, it's all they *can* do. Aren't you cold, though? Sinari can be a bit cooler than most places..."
<Erisia> "Yes, very cold, but I don't mind. I'm young, right? I suppose the cold doesn't bother people from Ashetai as much." Then it occurs to her that the man might wish to get on with his business. "If you have to moving on, I'm sorry. I can leave you be, sir."
<Calanthar> "Heh... No, I've got nowhere to go tonight, miss. Unless you need to get on with your practice, I'd be more than happy to distract you with the pointless questions and ramblings of an old man. Like, ofr instance, where you learned such a refined technique. Either you've been training longer than your age belies, or you have a master of a trainer."
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* Erisia blushes a trace, which is rather hidden since her cheeks are already pink from the cold air. "My trainer is quite good, I'm certain that's why I do so well." She says in a modest tone. Of course Shay has one of the best weapon masters around for his study and that allows Isi to benefit vicariously. "I've been at it for ten years, but hopefully I'll never have to fight anyone. I don't think I'd like to be in a battle."
<Erisia> be in a battle." That's not to say that there haven't been attempts, but she's never had to be personally involved in combat with anyone.
* Calanthar nods. At least this girl's got a good head on her shoulders, not like certain *other* teenagers. "Well young lady, that certainly shows some maturity on your part. How long do you intend to be in Sinari, or has your employer not given you any idea?"
<Erisia> "I guess it depends on what we learn about the troubles with Ourani. Do you know what's going on? A lot of people don't wish to talk of it, but it does affect our travel plans." She won't say -why- since she doesn't know if she can trust this man or not. He seems nice enough, though. "I heard that Ama'til was attacked and taken over, but getting details is difficult."
<Calanthar> How does someone not know what's going on in Ama'til? Maybe the gossipping crowd has quieted since he's been gone, or maybe the military's been sweeping details under the rug. The woman seems fairly responsible, and he certainly doesn't want to send *another* young person off to Ama'til. "Well, yeah, it was attacked and taken over by Ourani; they're not preventing people from entering or leaving so far, but they've placed tariffs and trade res
<Calanthar> but they've placed tariffs and trade restrictions all over the place. If your employer's a merchant, he might have trouble... Otherwise, he'll just be given the same hassle as most travelers." Of course, Cal doubted that her boss *was* a merchant, but there was no way to be sure.
<Erisia> "Is that why they attacked? Just to get extra taxes? They could have done that anyhow. They control a large portion of the coast." She frowns, shifting and poking holes in the crust on the snow with the butt of her spear. "Do you know what the Ashetai military is going to do about this?"
* Calanthar raises one eyebrow. Now the questions were getting interesting. If she was looking for information however, she'd be better off eavesdropping on the actual military, not the retired old folks. He'll look at her with a bit of a shrug and say "Sorry miss, no idea... I wish I knew, but of course, they're not going to tell civilians that. It would be hard to say, especially being so far removed from the capital."
<Calanthar> capital."
<Erisia> His surprise at the question has her smiling again, abashed, "I've spent a lot of time reading on politics and history.. I'm just curious what's to be done about this. Maybe I could find a young guard to seduce." She says with a grin. Fat chance of that if Shay is around, but she can dream, right? "You seemed interested in my technique, are you a spearfighter?"
<Calanthar> "Well, as an officer, I was trained in sabre fighting, but given the tendency of soldiers to charge, and the youthful zeal every new lieutenant has, I chose to study the spear so that I could keep up. I've found myself relying on it more over the years, because of its offensive strength and ability to aid defense by parrying with distance, so I guess I could be considered some bastardization of a spearfighter." He'll crack a bit of a smile as the m
<Calanthar> He'll crack a bit of a smile as the memories come into his head of the last 50 or so years, and will fall silent for a moment, lost to nostalgia.
* Erisia laughs, "If I had an extra out here I'd ask if you were interested in a spar, but if I go back up to our rooms I'm not sure I'll make it out here again." How long has she been speaking with this man, and she still hasn't introduced herself? She extends a hand clad in a new soft leather glove, lined with fur as the rest of her garments are. She milked the shopping trip for all it was worth, picking out the best warm clothin
<Erisia> the best warm clothing she could find. "I'm Erisia Galliel."
* Calanthar will extend his own hand, worn and rough in gray fingerless gloves and give the young lady's a firm shake. "Calanthar Devregon. I'm afraid I'd have to pass regardless; I should probably get back to my room and finish that letter I was writing before it gets too late. Old men shouldn't be awake late into the night." Then, with a smile. "I'll take you up on it another time, Miss Galliel."
<Erisia> Her smile fades a trace in honest disappointment, enjoying her conversation with the man, but she nods. "Of course, sir. I hope you have a pleasant evening, it was a pleasure to talk with you, Mister Devregon." Her name isn't anything special in the noble crowds, but she obviously has good training with how to speak with people. Maybe people from Ignaria are simply very polite.
* Calanthar bows slightly. It would be fun to spar with the young lady some time, if only to see how far he's let himself go. There's something to be learned in her discipline. "Miss Galliel, I certainly hope you'll be around for a while; it was a pleasure to distract you from your training tonight." With that, he'll turn on his heel and walk up the path to the inn, kicking the snow off and heading inside to write that letter to D'Cint.
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