<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Status</div><div class="spoiler_body">Profane Gift (Telepathic link to Ishtar, +2 Dex)<br/>Str damage: 9 (of 10)<br/><br/>Spells remaining: 7 of 7 1st, 6 of 6 2nd, 4 of 4 3rd, 1 of 1 from bonded object.  Uses of bow left: 3 of 3.<br/>Quiver: 10 common arrows, 10 silvered, 9 cold iron, 2 Tangleshot, 5 adamantine arrows, 2 greater hushing arrows, 11 +1 Dragon Bane, 1 Rayne's Resumption, 8 Holy<br/>     (pack: 25 common, 5 silvered, 9 cold iron, 1 tangleshot, 5 adamantine, 5 +1 Dragon Bane, 10 Holy arrows)<br/></div></div><br/>If they had been moving into the Blighted Woods, Rayne might have turned back before they got quite so deep into the forest... but this was a far more pleasant route, more encouraging.  Just as well, as her feet dragged a little with the unfamiliar weight... it was more like a vigorous hike than the stroll it should have been.  But her confidence in the little bird remained undimished, and she followed along as best she could, with Dixon behind her.  And when the robin left them, there was no reason not to continue.  "Let's see who's waiting, Dix."<br/><br/>But the stakes were raised, in her mind, when she realized they were being watched from the trees - from the trees themselves.  This was not a mere wood, and so the likelihood that their summoner was a friendly PC dropped sharply.  Rayne walked a bit more slowly, conserving her strength, and her mind became more alert, banishing fatigue for now.<br/><br/>The clearing was beautiful, idyllic - just the sort one might expect in an enchanted wood, and it appealed both to Raelynne's aesthetic sense, and to Rayne's half-elven inclinations.  The sound of her own footsteps, and Dixon's much heavier ones, were almost the only sounds.  Her intake of breath at the lovely scene was quite audible.  But she turned her eyes to the standing stone, its presence in all this green tending to draw the eye, and she looked up to read the writing there.  A slight frown: her first thought was that it was an admonishment specifically for her, regarding her boldness in travelling alone ... but at about the moment she heard drops of water falling back into the pond she made the more immediate connection, and snapped her head down into a low nod.  She stared at the water's edge, then slowly raised her eyes to catch the reflection in the pool - first the nymph's head, then as her eyes travelled further up, the inverted reflection showed more and more of the ascending beauty.<br/><br/>Fortunately for herself, she remembered stories - from the real world first, then in-game details - of the danger of staring directly at what she realized now was a nymph; she stopped her eyes' ascent before they reached the shapely legs in their unreflected glory.  And then, with another force of will, she made herself start breathing again - softly, afraid to disturb the moment.  So beautiful - so hard not to look up properly!  She stiffened her neck, and even her hands balled into fists with the effort to keep her head down.<br/><br/>Rayne's delicate elven voice sounded almost croaky next to nymph's honey, but when she switched to speaking elvish it was, at least, more musical and appropriate, without the uglier tones and shapes of common.  How EHO accomplished this she'd never understood, but it worked.  She started again: "I've come following your robin-friend, lady.  But before that, I am travelling to Stag's End, interrupted by... Shadows out of the Blighted Wood."  The elvish word for "Shadow", not the same as its word for ordinary shadows, sounded cold and flat, very appropriate.<br/><br/>The possibility of a boon - she didn't know what was in a nymph's power to grant, but it seemed likely she could in someway advance this quest.  At the same time - Rayne's mind whirled - would a nymph favour someone hunting the White Stag, for no other reason than the requirement of a quest?  She thought nymph's probably were less concerned with matters outside their own home, but even so... it might be best not to be too specific.<br/><br/>"Any favour from you, lady, would surely be worth any price."  Rayne swallowed, and again fought the urge to look up "just a little".