Session - Horizon (09/05/17)

[jantra]

Welcome to Horizon!

Things to do in Horizon:

• Delivery Moogle - send messages to friends or family or whoever
• Visit the weapon and armor vendor
• Speak with other adventurers, including your group!
• Talk to other NPCs and possibly gain knowledge, quests... who knows!

Comments

[inana]

"I don't mind in the least." Her reply is friendly and she lengthens her short stride some, so he doesn't have to slow down too much himself. "I know Far Eastern traders bring tea leaves with them, but we may have to hunt them up."

[jumpinjanvier]

Janvier slows down a tiny bit, adjusting his pace to match the Lalafell. His shield bounces on his back with the shift in walking speed.

"If we have trouble with far away drinks, some local delicacies come to mind. A mint lassi on a hot day like this could be quite refreshing"

[inana]

She tilts her head up with a softer smile. "That's right...you're from this region, aren't you? Hehe." She puts a hand over her mouth. "I don't expect a tour, but a little local know-how would be nice to have. Thanalan is very different from La Noscea."

[jumpinjanvier]

"Born and raised here. My parents migrated from the mountains, came here to start a new life. They did all right for themselves, figured out how to mesh into the local business."

Janvier spins around, walking backwards next to Inana, hands resting on the back of his head, elbows pointed out. A goofy smile is plastered across his face.

"Obviously this place is hoooooooot. Cooler beverages are preferred on hot days, but in the evenings, we do have Thanalan tea leaves. They make a tasty, sweet tea. I take mine with extra sugar or honey, if any is around."

Janvier, without looking behind him, spins out of the way of a passerby who was about to bump into him. He grins, and goes back to walking normally, and trying not to look like the silliest highlander.

"I haven't really been outside the city much since I was a kid, so I can't tell you much about Horizon. They kept us busy fighting or recovering from fighting in the pits."

[inana]

Inana smiles just a little wider. When not striding into battle or hanging back, he really seems very youthful. She has to wonder; how old is he? And how is this carefree man the same man that had had such a haunted look in his eyes?

It's rude to pry. But it's not rude to get to know him a little better than this. "Thanalan tea leaves. I'll remember that, though I'll just take mine with honey."

The pits...she knows, now, he means the Coliseum. "How did you come to such a...profession?"

[jumpinjanvier]

"Being an entertainer? I wanted to do something more exciting than what my family was doing. Fame, fortune, excitement. I wanted it all. A life moving goods and coin around is stable. Calm and stable. I was young, I didn't think I wanted that."

He tilts his head back and laughs a little.

"So I entered the Coliseum and entered my first fight, and I've been there until my recent retirement."

Janvier pauses. He stops speaking. He stops walking. Then he starts up again, a little slower, a little more gently.

"I wanted to apologize. Again. I'm sorry. I just, thought I saw something, from my days in the arena. I got lost in thought."

[inana]

A little frown breaks through Nana's friendliness. "That...body? It reminded you of the arena?"

From what little she knows of the Coliseum, she's assumed that death isn't actually something that's meant to occur there. Though she knows it is rude, she feels her question slip through her grasp.

"Will you be alright?"

[jumpinjanvier]

"It was midway into my career. I was 16 or 17 at this point, though I'm sure my official paperwork says otherwise. They put me up against someone they called a young, promising fighter, with a style supposedly more aggressive then my own. He swiped at me a few times, and we sized each other up. That's when he made a rookie mistake. He charged forward, leaping into the air. His shield was far off to one side, his sword the other. He was clearly trying to use the weight of his body and his swings to beat me, but if I held my stance, I could slip my sword through his guard and disarm him, and he'd run into my shield. Maybe he'd lose a tooth, or get a big bruise, but he'd be fine."

Janvier sighs. "See, when you fight enough people, you anticipate how they move. You don't anticipate how they fall, or trip. I moved my shield into position, and he tripped. His face ripping into the side of my shield. His chest slamming into the edges... bone visible, the blood..."

The youthful energy seems gone, if only for a moment.

"I'll be fine." A small smile appears on his lips. "I promise," he says. There is no trace of the smile in his eyes.

[inana]

An accident. For a moment, Nana feels a small flash of guilt: she had begun to assume terrible things about this man she barely knows.

But she pushes that feeling, and her imaginings, well away. Fearless, she reaches up to gently pat his knee. "We all do things we regret, son. You'll be alright."

Her smile is more confident, making up for how his is not. "But if we do find some tea, I'll make up a cup, special just for you."