Nari-Lanreth

“Audience? Oh, you mean Onóra? No, she won’t complain. I have a feeling she enjoys having the estate to herself… the music is always cranked when I go to turn it on…” Nari wasn’t truly bothered by it – she did the same when it was just her there. Besides, what better way to enjoy…? “Oh, yeah. She’s an up and coming tailor. Really only does clothing right now… at least, for me. Maybe she does armour too, I’m not sure. I can ask?” She was halfway to opening her menu when NIGHT made the final comment, causing Nari to stumble – barely catching her footing as she looked towards the girl, tryin

She had just opened her mouth to argue the rebuttals, when she realised that NIGHT had asked for recommendations on local eateries. Her mouth snapped shut, then opened slowly, then shut slowly again as she tried to process the lack of arguments, alongside trying to think up an answer. “I… uhm, you know what? Let’s go somewhere you know, this time. I’m interested in seeing what other restaurants are available, and maybe learning more about your favourite places.” Her expression was thoughtful as she responded to the question, and her eyes roamed along NIGHT’s face as the girl seemed to try

Nari’s steps slowed, eventually coming to a stop as she tried to figure out the odd tone in her friend’s words. There was something there, she just couldn’t quite figure out what. “You wanted to talk about something?” Her words were lilted in a tone of disbelief, as if she wasn’t sure she’d heard correctly. She cocked her head, looking at the girl for a moment before continuing. “Let’s go get something to eat, I want to hear what you have to say. And before you argue – it’s important to me, so just do me the favour and accept, please?” She waited, less than patiently for NIGHT’S resp

The sigh came out as the lecture had hit the midway point – she had been aware of the consumables, but she’d…well, she’d not bothered with them. She had them stowed away in her inventory – and a few on order as well, but it was something she had been saving for…well, for times when she’d need them. ‘Like fighting a giant air creature that you can’t hit and leaves you swinging like an idiot. Yeah, like those moments.’ The final question caught Nari off guard, and it took her a few breaths to not only register what was asked – but to realise an answer was expected. Her eyes drifted away fro

Nari looked behind her at the player, cowering as she’d been instructed to do so. A broad smile split her face as she nodded, both amused and surprised at how well she’d done – albeit, mostly for naught. “Yeah, it uh…it moved. But it’s okay – for now. Nothing more dangerous than another level unlocking…Shall we see where this one leads us?” She strode forwards to the mechanism in the centre of the raised platform, seeing that it had shifted slightly as whatever locks had held it in place had disengaged. Throwing a smile at the other player – pretending to be fearless for her sake – Nari t

She couldn’t help it, she felt the laugh escape her in the darkness as everything went out – their work hindered by a single throw of a switch. She heard the curse from the girl, the frustration ripe within the tone – but that only made the laughing fit worse. It took Nari a few second to compose herself, tears streaming down her face as she tried to get back some measure of control over herself. “I don’t think that worked how you wanted it to, did it?” A few giggles broke up the sentence, and she was still trying to hold back another fit of laughter as she crossed to the south west pill

“I’ve considered it…but I don’t want to focus on DPS. I’m…I’m not trying to kill things. Just draw attention to myself and set it up for other players to take advantage of the debuffs…” Her response was spoken with a half-attentive tone, as she continued to pour over everything, trying to figure out what needed to be fixed. Changed. Whatever, in order to make her successful in her role. “I just need to figure out the whole…hitting. It’s never been this bad before. Never.” Her eyes slipped up to NIGHT, walking beside her. She paused in her frantic scrolling, realising how wild she must hav

She bit down on the response that had almost surged out, knowing that the words would’ve been hollow, spoken only in frustration and nothing more. Instead, she said what she truly felt, letting the emotions drift away, her voice sounding empty even to her own ears. “First dungeon or not... I was useless. Less than useless. All that time preparing myself, and I’m still not ready.” Her eyes fell to the ground as she walked, her face lit with a mixture of frustration and contempt for herself. “One, maybe two times missing sure. That was what? One hit, the entire conflict. The entire dungeon.

Nari’s eyes stared at the elemental as it burst into pieces, her annoyance at…well, everything, fresh on her face. The emotions had boiled up now that the fight was over, and as NIGHT suggested to leave the area, Nari could only muster up a single word in response. “Yeah.” Turning and making her way back towards the entrance of the dungeon, she confirmed that the map had been monitoring their progress, before closing out the menu and thinking back on the absolute disaster that had been the adventure through the dungeon itself. She’d been near useless – something that she wasn’t pleased ab

The creature was on the brink of death, and all that Nari could think was that she wanted to end this thing. Not out of hatred, nor frustration – simply out of the chance to be done with it and have a moment to breath, to relax. She knew this had been one of her hardest fights yet – something she likely wouldn’t have survived without the help of her friend. But, for now, she wanted to just finish this and return, alive and well, to her nice warm house. The desire drove her forward, allowing her feet to slide where they would’ve otherwise remained still. Allowing the shield to come up and

Nari felt the rage billowing inside of her as yet another of her attacks failed to connect with anything substantial on the elemental. Sure, it was made of air, but her companion had managed to strike something vital. All the while, all that Nari had been able to do was…swing wildly and miss everything. The frustration growing inside of her was pushing against her battle calmness – threatening to boil over and erupt like a flow of pure, unbridled hatred. At the elemental, at Cardinal, at everything. Breathing deeply – now that she could – she forced the emotions back down, knowing that i

Nari quickly passed her eyes over the brief message, too enraptured in how simply this entire endeavour was proving to be. It was…well, too simple – for something that Cardinal had created. She didn’t like it, and although she wasn’t about to voice her concerns, she was waiting for something to pop out of a hidden door and place them against the wall. She knew that with Cleo here, she’d be hard pressed to defend them against something likely to be brought into such a death trap. “If anything makes a sudden appearance, I want you to stay behind me – got it?” Her words were filled with a to

NIGHT seemed to shift in from nowhere, her blade landed a blow on something within the chaos of wind that made up their opponent’s body. Nari sighed a breath of relief as the wind seemed to calm for a moment – likely in reaction to the health bar sliding slightly. It wasn’t a ton – far more than Nari could do, that was true – but it was something, a start. A sudden wonder popped into Nari’s mind as she realised that NIGHT had managed to draw the attention of the creature towards itself – something that she didn’t like the sound of. Taking advantage of the deadened air, she rushed forwards

Focused on the air elemental before her, Nari cursed the wind slamming against her. She tried calling out to NIGHT, but even she could tell her voice was lost on the winds around them. Gritting her teeth, she knew that she would have to focus on drawing all its attention towards her – which meant that she needed to strike it, repeatedly. ‘If I can just land a single strike…that would be a good start.’ She forced her feet to slide forwards, using her shield as a block from the gusts that continued to bombard her. She knew that this would be a challenge – but she hadn’t expected the challen

Focused on the tunnel ahead, and the new room it led to, Nari missed most of what was said by her companion. She felt herself come short as she took in the crystals along the walls, her eyes looking around – not in wonder, but in search. She wasn’t going to let something catch her by surprise again, now she would hunt whatever awaited them. “Do you think whatever we have to face next is going to be in here?” The words were out of her mouth before she had time to take into consideration that they’d only just entered the room – that NIGHT would have the same amount of information that she h

Nari’s eyes narrowed as she let the spear fall back into the crook of her elbow, shifting her weight onto her left leg and placing her right on her hip – the shield covering a good portion of her as it leaned with her arm. She stuck her tongue out at NIGHT for a moment, before remembering who she was talking to, and instead plastering a smile on her face. “The fact that you had to clarify makes me wonder…” She glanced at the spot the golems had been just moments ago, and her playful smile disappeared. “You may be right though…I need something more to draw attention to myself. Howl, or may

Nari let her eyes shift towards NIGHT as the girl spoke, her face void of any emotion while she held her combative stance – the shield raise, with the spear levelled across the top left corner, settled into the dip in the shield’s otherwise rectangular design. For a single heartbeat she seemed not to notice the worlds, her eyes empty of any recognition, before a sudden light filled them. “Howl…? Oh…uhm, yeah.” Her eyes shifted back to the two golems, considering her options. She hadn’t had much luck with striking both at once, and she decided that it was time to simply do what she did bes

The flash of NIGHT slipped by Nari’s guard, slashing out at the two rock golems before Nari could even react. A single trace of orange hung on the air as the girl’s attack lashed out against their enemies, tearing into them. Nari could see their health bars drain as NIGHT’s attack did more damage than Nari could ever dream of doing, and she felt herself grumble as she realised she needed to do something to get back into this fight. ‘I’m not going down as useless. No way, not if I want to make my way to the frontlines – I need to prove myself. Here. Now. No more games.’ Steadying herself,

Nari smiled slightly as NIGHT took the bait, falling into a modicum of humorous banter as she made her way towards the centre tunnel. Nari, falling in behind the girl, cocked her head before responding to the commentary, her voice dripping with a tone that spoke of the joke behind the words. “With a back like that, why wouldn’t I watch it?” She was just about to add to her commentary when something clattered behind her. Turning, she found herself face to face with what appeared to be large, stone golems – two of them standing side by side, having awoken from the boulders that had lined th

Silence hung between the two for about three seconds before Nari burst out laughing. She had to hold herself upright with the spear as the laughter took over her, tears forming in her eyes. A few seconds later, she had her giggles under control enough to be able to speak, the words coming out haltingly between further bursts of giggles. “I’m…sorry. I’m not…not laughing at you. It’s just…It’s just that you’re right. You’re completely right.” Another string of giggles and a few incoherent words, before she managed to get herself under control again. “Alright, point one to NIGHT. You win tha

The shriek echoed around the cavern as Nari jumped a good half metre into the air, her weapon whipping around and bouncing off a nearby stone as she fell forward, her leap of fear throwing off her balance and taking her to the ground. Her heart was beating faster than she thought it had any right to, and as she looked up, she NIGHT standing above her. She could’ve sworn there was a mischievous twinkle in the girl’s eyes, and Nari felt herself flush – both at realising what had been said, and her own reaction to the whole situation. “Not funny. So not funny…okay, maybe a little funny.” She

Nari tucked her spear in against herself, the shield dropping as her arm fell from its battle ready position. A sheepish look on her face, she mumbled her apology. “Sorry…I should’ve been…more useful there…I don’t know what happened I don’t usually have these sorts of issues…” She took a few steps before stopping, turning back to face NIGHT she let her smile split her face as her eyes filled with a wicked sparkle. “So…you don’t like getting wet, then?” She giggled to herself before continuing down the tunnel, seeing a light blue shine in the distance – a large opening that seemed to

Nari felt herself grinning as the other player countered her joke, the humour clearly not lost on NIGHT as Nari had thought it might be. She watched as the other player brushed past, obliterating the first two creatures with a show of flash, and leaving the two remaining with heavily depleted health bars. Nari twirled her spear, determined to at least do something useful this fight. Bringing the weapon in a rounded spin, she twisted herself in a circle, letting the weapon pick up her momentum and hopefully add to the strike – with any luck, at least. She watched as both creatures leapt ba

“Yeah let’s just…take caution. Especially if neither of us is entirely sure what lays within.” She’ll pause as she suddenly pulls up her inventory, retrieving one of the blank map data pieces she’d purchased, setting it up to trace their route as they went – knowing that it would be useful later. “I knew buying these would be worth the col…” With the map set up and running, she’ll pull her spear out from where it was tucked into her left shoulder, giving it a confident twirl before glancing around the darker area. She could see movement in the distance, as something clinging to the shadow

“I…think we should be okay – but I’ll be honest, Cardinal is not doing what it normally would here, so I’m skeptical of…well, everything. Let’s proceed with caution.” She’ll cast a quick glance over the room they were in, her gaze trying to decipher something about the entire area, before returning her attention to their new destination. She could see the main raised area in the centre, the pillars around it containing the switches that would – theoretically, based off what she had seen, cause some sort of reaction within the room itself. Throwing a glance towards Cleo, she’ll slide into