<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">ooc musical cue</div><div class="spoiler_body">Just playing around with something.  But if you want, try opening this link in a separate window while you read the post.  (adjust your volume to low first and raise it to whatever feels right)  Let me know if you think 'ambient music' is a good idea or not, I'm trying to decide if it's worth the 10-20 minutes to create a bunch of ambient sounds for my posts.<br/><br/>Open this link in a new window : Stream ambience (http://water-atmosphere.ambient-mixer.com/stream-side)<br/><br/></div></div><br/><br/>As Nirael considered the matter, the three women turned and looked at him for his response.  The suggestion from Lunari was fairly obvious, there was no reason to set camp now other than to spend time alone with the man.  So when he paused to consider it, it wasn’t simply a tactical decision but one where he was likely turning down the bed of a beautiful elven rogue.<br/><br/>Mara hurried up to where Sirana stood by Nirael and whispered,<strong> “Lets move up along the path aways while these two discuss it?” </strong>The necromancer, with a single click of her silvered talons, nodded her head and the two women walked down the path past Lunari.<br/><br/>Nirael rubbed his chin and explained why he thought that stopping for the night may not be a good idea.  Her face pinched slightly as she turned down the offer, a fact that reminded him of her young age.  A woman in human terms, and only just so in her society it would seem, she still had very little experience.  Certainly it would seem, none in the ways of rejection when it came to lust or desire.  She stood and moved closer to him as he continued to speak until she was touching his arm as he winced and said sadly,<em>“...I can only hope that we’ll all have time later on.”</em><br/><br/>She smiled and nodded her head, accepting this.  Then looking over her shoulder, she spied Mara and Sirana standing a few hundred feet up the path, talking quietly and doing their best not to look in the direction of the young couple.  Lunari leaned forwards and kissed Nirael on the lips briefly and said,<strong>“All of us, that would be nice.  I like Mara, and Sirana seems intriguing.  Certainly if my people trust her enough to make an accord with her, she can’t be all bad.  Though I didn’t hear her leaping into your bedroll just yet stud.”</strong>She smiled and playfully squeezed Nirael’s arm.<strong>“Though I wouldn’t be surprised if you convinced her to stay with us.  She is pretty and a powerful necromancer might be a good addition to our company.” </strong>Then with a whispered naughty voice, she added,<strong>“Plus human women have such delightfully curvy bodies, she’d bring something to our bed as well if she joined our company in that way as well.”</strong><br/><br/>She smiled as Nirael’s hand fished down into his pocket to retrieve the artifact fragment,<em> "Any man would be glad to rest in this fine company, but we've potentially brought the fiend on our trail towards the village as well. It'd be best to let them know, and for us to start our preparations to find out what your father may have known to help us in this, and what we can do to hinder the fiend's attempts." </em>As the artifact held on his palm, it began to twitch, moving slowly across his fingers.  Gripping the chain, Nirael let it drop and watch as it floated in the air and stretched out in the direction they had been traveling towards.<br/><br/><strong>“It still points northwards,” </strong>Lunari noticed,<strong>“That’s good.  It means the demon is likely still on the northern continent across the sea, yes?  That he didn’t follow us somehow?”</strong>She stole a glance at the two women who were waiting ahead and reached up and pulled Nirael in for another kiss and whispered,<strong> “Before we rejoin our companions, I must warn you of something I did not wish them to hear immediately.  I left home against my mother’s wishes.  She thought this was a fool’s errand for someone as young as I.  But I did not wish to bring the wrath of the demon down upon my villiage, and feared that if the artifact stayed locked in a vault or in my father’s old desk, such a thing would happen.  By now I’m sure that Anju has relayed the news to my people of my return, and with you and Mara as guests.  So I know not what sort of a reception will be waiting for me.  By the law of my people I was within my rights to do so, but I have broken the judgement of my mother, and while that is certainly no crime, I hope you can understand that it is a subject that must be dealt with.  There will be repercussions, but I wish to mend my slight to her.  I hope I can count on your help in doing so.  I must show her humility and deference, for as..” </strong>She paused for a moment and there was an instant of sorrow in her voice when she continued,<strong> “...as the widow of my father, she now owns any of his possessions he has not sold or given away to village members.  It would be within her right to deny us access to his notes and spellbook, which I think she would have kept.”</strong><br/><br/>She grimaced slightly,<strong>“My people’s ways have changed from the ancient elves since the culling, and may seem strange, but I need you to accept them if we want to succeed.  But keep the final goal in mind, and remember, my people are different than humans.  Can you promise me that?”</strong><br/><br/>After Nirael had said his peace, She would clasp her hand around the artifact and press it into Nirael’s palm whispering,<strong>“Pocket this before Sirana sees it.  She seems trustworthy for now, but by her own words she seeks to learn of magical powers.  It might not be best to tempt her until we know her better.  Come let us rejoin those two and continue on, we will make my village after dark.  I know your eyes are not as good once the sun sets and this forest is very thick, and it will be very dark before night has even fully fallen.”<br/></strong>