Meandering marshlands (Anora please)

[Dimitri Wladisyaw]

*First cycle of Aperitus*


It was an adventure of sorts. The marshland surrounding Vortex was intersting in its own special way, the consistency of the ground was random for one thing, and the various flora and fungi madr the trip a paradise for a biologist. However in the area Dimitri and his little party moved in trolls (the purpose of the expedition) were in short supply generally.

Would Dimitri want Anora to see a real Troll, not really. He wanted her to ride side-saddle and look pretty in her pristine leather armour. He wanted her to see him as a leader of men and a warrior as well as a politician. He wanted her to come into his tent that evening and stay with him, an idle dream he knew that by now, but one he milled about inside his head and smiled about when she was not looking.

The two day trip produced few suprises on the first day, it was travel into minor troll infested areas, as the sun began to set over the Great Mountains the party consisting of roughly thirty of the most hardened Vortexian soldiers, some mounted and some on foot and all deadly found a large patch of solid ground amidst the marshland and set up camp.

Large mounds of earth were rolled up and small guardposts were formed on each side of the camp, a consitent watch of two men were always on guard at each and Taulkis, that lone shadow prowled the camp needing seemingly no sleep to survive into the next day. It was a safe arrangement. A mishmash of tents began to pop up, the standard military issue tent slept two men, with enough room for a very small table and some storage space, fires blazed outside each tent as men prepared food and exchanged stories.

Anora was not the only woman on the trip, indeed about a fifth of the soldiers were women, orcs, dracons and humans and every bit as fierce as their male counterparts. She did however have the luxury of a slightly nicer tent. Dimitri maintained the biggest, though it was still spartan. Inside it boasted a large cot and a small table used for writing letters. It also had a large chest of personal effects, from cologne to cheese that Dimitri tended to bring along. A few Arium hounds slept outside and a small fire was maintained just outside also, a pot stood with a strange meat dish bubbling away.

Anora's tent was just to the left, a smaller cot but large enough to accomoate her sat inside, a warm duvet atop it and a small table and a chair should she need it. Any personal effects she wished to bring would likely be stored in Dimitri's chest. He had asked her to visit him that evening so they might dine together and spend the evening together also.

He sat in his armour with his boots removed at the small table in his room, eyepatch on studying a small shard of silver with a small magnifying glass. A book was open before him and a small bottle of wine opened beside him, swigs from the bottle were a common theme for him. He awaited Anora yet at the same time was more than happy in his solitude.

[Anora Eventide]

It was by no means a normal outing for Anora. Her last hunting expedition had been for something benign and suitable for eating. It was obvious that trolls were neither. And during those expeditions her attire had been much more charming: riding dresses, suede gloves and caps with pheasant feathers. Things that were fetching draped along the side of a horse or seen bobbing through the woods and darting amidst the green.

At the moment she was a mite appalled with herself. Thankfully Avrie was not there to witness her chagrin, Anora would never hear the end of it. Instead of tailored dresses and soft gloves, she had forced herself into slim, dark pants tucked into her calf high riding boots and a plum blouse. This shameful ensemble was overlaid with her leather armor She was a finely bred lady, but not impractical enough to think that marshlands were a perfect showcase for her scalloped hemmed gown. Logic always won out with Anora, even when pitted against decorum. However, she still rode sidesaddle.

When she entered Dimitri's tent with his permission, her cheeks were a little flush from a brisk tour about the camp. Cycles below ground and cloistered in the musty corners of a library had begun to take its toll. The woman was accustomed to wandering her vineyards, or the soft glades of Natura. While she was not as free-spirited as Avrie, Anora was fond of evening walks outdoors, so her tent was avoided as much as possible.

With the tent door still held aloft by her hand she said, "Good darkening, Dimitri."
Letting it fall behind her, she walked towards his little array of projects.
"Anything of particular interest?"
As she spoke, her fingers were tugging at her coiled hair, releasing wavy strands bit by bit until it spread across her shoulders.

[Dimitri Wladisyaw]

Dimitri carefully turned the silver over in his hand, his eye quinted and observed it, a gentle smile crept over his face and he placed it down muttering a distracted "good darkening" to his guest. Slowly he turned sideways on his chair so he could look at her. "I hope we did not ride too quickly for you, we intended to cover much ground today, trolls like to range far and wide. Yet the other parties I sent out would have received more action, nasty beasts." The book before him which perhaps Anora could now see was merely a map, the silver rested upon the open page but his attention was for now gone.

"Just a privaty study, minerals intrest me and maps likewise, I like to find things on a map and then explore them later on." Another smile and a curt glance to the chest, "I took the liberty of packing you some more lady-like clothes for this evening, if you wish to change." He turned and eyed her up for a moment, like a cat upon seeing a saucer of milk, "Although.....I always find a woman in boys clothes somewhat alluring." He laughed and stood, his own chest covered by a white shirt under his armour, slowly he walked over to her and with a certain familiarity brushed his lips with her by way of a proper greeting between them.

In the chest were some of Anora's clothes carefully folded, a light black blouse and a long bergundy skirt with a deep purple shawl. He spoke slowly and carefully, "So my dear, what did you make of the wilderness of my lands?"

[Anora Eventide]

Dimitri's first question was answered as Anora peered at the map, her hands clasped behind her back like a child surrounded by delicate crystal.
"No, not too fast. I've been taught to ride properly, it was refreshing." She tried to discern names on the map, narrowing her eyes that still sparkled from her walk. "I enjoy a quick pace when I ride."
She smoothly nodded at Dimitri's further explanations of the little scene he had arranged about himself. His comment regarding a softer wardrobe was met with one of her soft smiles.
"A gesture I appreciate."
But the idea that her current apparel was alluring, stoked a noticeable reaction. After returning his familiar kiss, she gave a low laugh.
"If my host finds no fault, then I will not take the trouble of changing, but I would like something..."

Since the foray into Dimitri's sanctuary, Anora's moods would range between wary and polite to familiar and attentive. The former prevailed more than the latter by a small degree, and more frequently she seemed submerged in a maze of her own making. She was easily summoned from such a state though, returning to her cool pleasantries at the mildest encouragement.

Kneeling primly in front of the chest, Anora lifted its lid. As she looked into the chest, a pleased air diffused across her face, but she only withdrew the amethyst shawl for any further jaunts into the evening.
"The wilderness?" she responded, "I think most would mark me odd for this, but I find a beauty in it's starkness and conversely these marshlands."
She moved to sit near Dimitri's feet, "Perhaps I am just too glad to be outdoors and everything I see has a charm. But there is something awe-inspiring about a land that would devour you if not kept at bay. It hasn't been pressed into proper flowering forms and the current inclination of how greenery ought to be shaped. A well traveled forest has more traits of taming, then this place."
Anora lifted her chin from her pensive posture.
"I love gardens, but a land like this can blow a soul clean and scour your mind of notions that man has the world well in hand."
She smiled mildly at her thoughts. "It is an surprising reaction, since I love order so, but perhaps this is more orderly than one would surmise. It is the order of the gods when they feel unkindest."
Her eyes lifted to Dimitri's face. "Even though I am likely ill-prepared for such terrain, I like that it can test a person. However, there is only a little of that challenge in this trip, and that is proper considering my level of experience."
Switching topics, the surprisingly talkative Anora asked slowly, "Would you care to show me about the camp and tell me about those gathered? Maybe with one of the hounds." Her eyes went towards where the dogs were reclining, "I am quite fond of such animals."

[Dimitri Wladisyaw]

Dimitri nodded and moved over to her, carefully he helped her up to her feet and then spent a caring moment adjusting the shawl about her shoulders, and softly a fold was pulled up to rest primly atop her head acting as a hood of sorts. Gently Dimitri wrapped an arm about her waist pulling her to him and guided her outside the tent.

His first look was not at the camp but up at the stars, they twinkled in their glory before him. He smiled softly watching a few faint clouds move across the sky above him before casting his eyes back down. "Man should sometimes look upwards, if he is arrogant he only needs to do this to realise just how insignificant he is." His arm pulled her closer to him and a small puckering noise made by his lips called the two hounds to him.

"Arium highland hounds are excellent herders, and good companions" spoke Dimitri as the hounds trotted in line with them. As they walked the layout of the camp was obvious, in the middle was a large tent where the horses were stabled, it was also a sort of storeroom, the elite of the soldiers slept inside to guard their horses and supplies. Outside this was a circular cluster of tents, and onwards from this the turf watchturrets, men moved around the camp torches held before them or sat before their tents. They all gave a nod of the head or a small curt salute when they saw Dimitri, the young Duke had been careful to earn their respect but riding out with them and by increasing their pay.

"Trolls dont tent to attack at this time, nor do they appreciate fire. We are generally the hunters and not the hunted. Though it is vital one is on guard, long spears tainted with poison are effective against trolls, to get into lose comat is fatal." Dimitri smiled showing his perfect white teeth and for a brief moment his grip increased on her. They now stood near the center of the camp, for a brief moment Taulkis could be seen, he saluted quickly and without regard and was off into the darkness, his collection of long knives attached to him and a small crossbow attached to his left arm.

"A strange beast to be sure, slavers love this terrain. So often their prey slips and slides while they glide across the muddy surfaces." He smiled again for a moment as though recalling a barbaric memory, it soon subsided. "It is important that Vortex continues its expansion, I am leading a campaign into the Great Mountains in the Autumn." He had not told her of this yet, his campaign, his expansion of his lands. "One day I hope to have the trolls at my back and not before me as a corpse, civilization shall spread to all the lands of my family." He paused for a moment and cautiously spoke, "I have not forgotten my promise Morwen, I shall build you a castle and give you all you deserve." He stood holding her like she were a fragile statue seeming to merely enjoy the moment.

[Anora Eventide]

Adjusting her shawl was a brief ritual, the man's caring little gestures perpetually surprised her. But she was glad for them. Avrie had not written in a while, and it was difficult to send letters to a wandering sister. Austin was likely submerged in his newest fancy and the business he alluded to. The library's blissful quiet was numbing her senses and the slow rehearsals of her forbidden lessons sapped her of vigor as she wandered in the circles of the dead. Some candlemarks she felt like a pale, blind thing sloshing through the dark. These moods would pass, but amidst them she found solace in quiet company no matter how precarious its source.
A cheerier woman would have been smothered cycles ago.

Following her companion's gaze, she lifted her eyes to the heavens and thought some foggy line from a poem she had read as a child comparing them to the gardens of archons. Tonight they seemed less benign, shining bright as the tips of swords, their rays pinning the world in place.

Her hand rested kindly on the head of one hound, scratching behind its ears and smoothing its fur. It bore her cool hands patiently as it slinked alongside her.
The camp spun outwards from a central stable, a small collection of tents bearing the shadows of men and the occasional woman. Some stood outside speaking to one another or stirring thick oily concoctions over fires. All within sight managed to regard Dimitri with some manner of fealty, save Taulkis. He gave a hasty salute, but it seemed more of habit than feeling.

Anora watched the dark Elf blend into the evening, his dark skin slipping into the black stretch of sky. Her looks lacked poignancy or interest but they endured longer than her typical appraising glance. She was watching even if her emotions did not betray her keenness.
Dimitri's account of slavers was a sinister background music to her curiosity. She returned her blue eyes to him, caught on the nostalgic smile over such a story. Like he was describing a favorite tavern he had visited.
But Dimitri wisely pursued a different road, detailing his ambitious plans for the future, his bridling of the recalcitrant wasteland and its fierce inhabitants. They had survived Arium winters in the hollows of mountains and pressed against its cruel boulders.
Anora mused aloud, "I wonder how such coarse peoples are to be overcome." Something different crept into her voice but her heart dulled its warmth, "You will be wise in such things I hope."
His arm was around her, and half-recalled promises nestled in her hair. But Anora had no answers for these. Her eyes were cast towards the hunching shadows of the mountains, terrible sentinels over the land, like the fists of the gods knuckling the earth.

And then the hound slipped out from under her hand, bristling in a growl toward the dark. Its mouth curled flashing fangs and red gums as its entire body hummed with hostility. Its bark slammed against Anora's ears as its long legs propelled it toward the slowly rotting marsh.

Anora's head was ringing as she stared after the running hound. Futilely, she demanded that it "heel" and even gave a surprisingly shrill whistle between her fingers. It was rare to hear her speak above a hum, but Anora brushed off this indiscretion when she turned back to Dimitri.
"Shall we follow?"

[Dimitri Wladisyaw]

Dimitri watched the dog move into the darkness before him, he did not call out its name nor care on the matter for long. He had no desire to trample after it but somehow he knew Anora did. Perhaps a foreceful but restrained personality wanted a taste of adventure at last. Dimitri was no fool, he knew the dog had likely smelt a marsh bird of some sort or a large lizard, but if a troll was loitering nearby the young Duke knew better than to encounter it alone with but a thin waif of a girl as backup.

"You ask me to be wise Anora and then wonder if it is a good idea to follow a dog into the darkness on the outskirts of the most dangerous city in the Empire." He smiled and in a moment turned her round so he could look down into her face, "And as of yet you are unsure how to overcome the course man before you." He smiled further the smile seemingly slipping towards the side of his face before vanishing, "A dog always finds its way home, especially my dogs, they are fed well and loved" he paused and pursed his lips speaking in a low tone, "I fear if I promoted you running off into the darkness Morwen I would find myself drowned in the finest Eventide vintage." His hands did not go about her nor even rest in their now familiar faces on her sides, instead they fell away from her as leaves from an autumn tree.

"Do you trust me to know what to do to remain safe here? As I would trust you to guide me through the greatest vinyards of the empire? I leave the decision in your hands for I think it is the wistest decision I can make. Do you wish to follow the hound or would you spend the evening with me in my tent?" He smiled at her, her freedom was given easily and yet like all freedom it had such restrain implied.

[Anora Eventide]

"I did not think it would be so dangerous if you accompanied me."
There was a round hint of surprise in Anora's answer.

She said nothing more, but took counsel with her own logic and will. A twine of leather was fished from her pocket, and her hands reached beneath the cloak of her shawl. When the shawl slipped to her shoulders, her starling hair was simply tied. Not an elaborate coil as she usually favored, but enough to keep her promise to Dimitri and restrain it from her face.
Still immersed in quiet she rolled the shawl into a thin strip that she arranged about her neck like a scarf.

"Follow the hound or pass some of the evening with you. Can I not have both?"

Bending over, Anora tugged at her boots and remarked,
"It is likely a small beast that has distracted it, but the hound's absence will put me at unease for the darkening."
A strange idea, as precious little put Anora at unease. Her fondness for the creatures was not a flippant observation.

While Dimitri had relinquished Anora from his touch, she returned to the warm nearness and pressed a kiss on his mouth.
"I will find you in your tent in a little, if you are too tired for such an errand."

As she followed the hound's impressions in the moist earth, the woman paused and spoke briefly with female soldier beside a low cooking fire. When the few words ended, Anora had the use of a battered lantern, a remnant from some military campaign.

With or without Dimitri, Anora briskly moved through the camp, pushing towards its outer edge where the marsh seeped over the invisible boundary. At this unseen line, Anora paused. Her eyes plunged into the dark and moved through the tall grasses. An imperceptible quirk in the rhythm of her blood. A flush of doubt. A shadow in the reeds.

Crossing into the marsh submerged such twinges, pressing their heads beneath its muddy pools.

[Dimitri Wladisyaw]

Of course Dimitri would never think of letting Anora walk the marshes alone. He was soon beside her with a long thin stick, he walked carefully spearing the ground before him and guiding himself with this method. After all one could drop sudenly in the marshes, a watery, muddy grave was no end for anyone.

For once he was focused not on her, his eyes scanned the ground and darted up occasionally. The stick prodded before him quickly and he drew her along a similar pathway to his. He whistled gently, but his whistle sounded suprisingly like the call of a marsh warbler, a bird Anors would have heard much of recently. Of course Dimitri only wanted to attract a dog and not a troll or a warg.

"The marsh is a vital defensive area for Vortex, any army must attack from one direction, this has been done recently only due to the fact Vortex has no standing army, yet I lead my men on forays and get them used to this land, it will benefit them in the future." Dimitri smiled softly as his pole sunk and he skipped over a patch of sinking marshland.

"I imagine you never imagined doing his back in Daltina, I respect strong women however, you were right to come out here, a dog should be treated with the respect it shows its master, I apologise for not initially matching your fire." He turned and in the lanternlight his grin was visible.

[Anora Eventide]

Anora gave private smirk, "fire" was rarely a term used to describe her person. Her expression turned pristine again when she spoke.
"There is nothing to apologize for, Dimitri. Your response was not illogical."
Nonsense seemed to be the chief sin in Anora's understanding. As her foot sank in a sloppy pool of mud and algae, she replied to Dimitri's other comment.
"Since I have come to Vortex, I have done many things I did not envision doing in Daltina. This is the least worrying of them."
With a brief tug, against the mire she was free, and gingerly following after Dimitri. Though she had instigated the search, it was her habit to walk beside or fall a little behind. Her hand occasionally touched his upper arm for support in the murk as the other extended the lantern in front of them. Where the light touched the land, the water rippled orange and the reeds were striped in yellow, looking like the hide of some marvelous beast.

After a space, the fumes reached their senses. What scent of death Anora usually experienced seemed more sterile, drier, leather compared to strips of flesh. This was moist and rank, fuzzed with the sound of buzzing flies and the wet crackling of fat insects hurrying to a feast.
In the lamplight before them was a round swell in the earth, A body that flattened the grass and exuded the fetid smell of refuse and its juices in the hottest months. The initial feaster and the possessive mud had done sufficient work to obscure what manner of creature it once was, but Anora could discern that it was dark and furred.

It was too soon for this to be her hound. A dwindling whimper and a lurch in the grass confirmed this hope. Carefully, Anora tapped and weaved toward the sounds with Dimitri.

Submerged past its shoulders in a patch of gruel like earth, the hound fruitlessly beat and slid its paws down the muddy shore of the miry pit. With every thrash it sank by another degree. It stretched its neck, straining to keep its snout above the slop.
What had pressed a hound suited to the terrain to this point? Anora had little wish to find out. She was in no state to encounter what the dog had found at the end of its meal.

Oddly enough, Anora didn't wait for her companion before moving. For all her delicate poise, and insistence on opened doors and pulled out chairs, she had grown accustomed to attending to any real difficulty on her own.
Two months had done little to dampen this instinct. Rather Arium had tempered her will, as it did all its inhabitants. So when a dog was sinking in a slough, Anora planted her heels and lantern on the shore and began to reach for it.

The hound struggled and squirmed in the quag and hence his rescuers' hands. The deeper the dog sank, the more franticly its rough claws scratched against anything for leverage. It whined thinly in its throat, a pitiable sound, but Anora's look was not creased by hearing this. Flat resolve possessed her looks and that was all.

(OOC: Feel free to run with it.)

[Dimitri Wladisyaw]

Dimitri eyed the corpse, he sniffed the air gently and shrugged, "Warg maybe, small one though they dont normally come so close to the ciy if wild. Perhaps a large wolf, who knows." He turned to her and smiled softly in a reassuring manner, then she was off, Dimitri and his stick came soon behind almost expecting Anora to suddenly slip down into a forgotten pool hidden under a subtle bed of reeds and lilies, but clearly luck was for the moment on her side.

However she was not to be the one who risked herself for Dimitri's pet, his big arms were about her in a moment and pulling her away carefully and tenderly but his action retained the force he had grown used to using with her. Subtle force but his silence spoke more than that.

Carefully he moved to the edge of the pool and dug the toes of his great boots into the soil and dropped to his knees. His feet offered him a lever and a safety for now. "Make sure my feet do not move from thes hollows." Was all he said before he dropped flat on his stomach spreading himself widely, slowly his hands moved inwards and dipped below the sticky mud. The dog seemed to quieten upon seeing Dimitri and it almost stopped struggling but the animal nature caused its legs to thrash softly still.

His big hands found its middle and he began to strain to lift it, the mud added much weight to the animal and it held on a like a mother grasping onto a newborn babe, all the while the young Duke whispered soft encouragement to his pet. Eventually it slipped out and its paws hooked behind his head. With great effort Dimitri managed to pull himself back up to his knees holding the dog carefully in his arms.

He stood with a smile on his face and mud covering the front of his body, even his face was adorned with the thick black silt and his armour was not visible under the layer. "Now shall we return back to camp?" he asked Anora.

[Anora Eventide]

Strange that she did not expect it. Anyone else who had spent an ounce of time amidst the pair would know that a joint or solo endeavor was not in the cards for Anora. But she found herself bemused as she was carefully deposited elsewhere by the bear. His favored pet forbidden to risk itself in the pursuit of one less favored.

Her behavior was a compulsion. She needed to be useful. Her worth was coiled tightly around her utility. But she was occasionally wise in accepting aid. If the man wanted to do it for her, she would not and could not fight him on the issue. There was not going to be a spat about her level of competence as the dog gurgled into the marsh.
Having someone take on a portion of her concerns was almost…pleasant. But the ferocity with which Anora clung to some difficulties would make further incidents a veritable stand off. For now, it was his dog, she had little ground to expel him from any task regarding it.

Anora only sat behind Dimitri, clasping her hands around his ankles until he drew back with the sodden mass of fur in his arms. She turned away to fetch the lantern, a smile daring to rise on her hidden face.
Dimitri's question was answered first with a blank look as she absorbed the broad and looming man painted in dismal silt, resembling a terrible guardian of the slough. After a caught breath, she gave an affirmative nod, and moved near his side.

As they began to walk, she glanced at the dog, slumped in its master's arms dripping green tinged slop. Anora shook her head and addressed it with a touch of disgust.
"Stupid thing. Fortunate its corpse isn't being fished from the marsh as a specimen for my practice."
Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the hound, "I'd bubble its undead hide with acid like the last one."
Having dispensed with her threats, Anora settled into a quiet ease, no longer vexed by the creature's sudden disappearance. What it had pursued still tagged the end of her thoughts, but they were breaking free of the marsh for the evening.

Returning to a normal state of mind, Anora sourly observed that her riding boots were haloed in gritty mud and her skin flecked with the stuff. Dimitri wore it like a new skin, patches of him resembling a duskier version of the Dark Elves.
In a rare gesture of affection, she stopped her trek and silently beckoned him nearer. From some miraculous pocket, she fished out one of her handkerchiefs, perfumed with violets, and gently wiped off what mud threatened to fall in his eyes. It was a quick, mechanical exchange, like tying a lace, and she resumed their walk hastily.

The camp's flickering boundary, formed by undulating firelight, washed over them soon enough. Anora took a breath, satisfied that she had wandered a space before resigning herself to such tight quarters.

She blew the lantern out before she spoke, "Thank you, Dimitri." She continued briskly, "I think I will make myself presentable and join you again."
Her eyes, oddly more vivid for the lack of light cast into them, trailed up and down his figure, "As I warrant you might want to change as well."

After reaching Dimitri's tent, Anora gathered up what clothes were previously offered and excused herself.
In time, her shadow again fell across the front of his tent. Her silhouette paced slowly until she was bid enter.

[Dimitri Wladisyaw]

A large metal tub had been dragged into Dimitri's chambers, hot water boiled over a fire had made the two occupants of the tent clean at least. Dimitri wearing a pair of Arakmatian silk pantaloons in a deep azure shade and a robe that hung loosely over his large frame. The hound from earlier which had long ago been given the name Drago sat happily in the corner, clean after its adventure gnawing on a bone that if one inspected very closely could almost be a human armbone, yet that would be preposterous....

"Come" came Dimitri's voice, he sat in his chair again before the tent flap freshly shaven and with his eyepatch a deep bergundy, his hair had grown quickly and now covered his tattoo upon his head though it was far from long.

"Come to me." It was a simple request accompanied by a small smile that told of his genuine desire to spend time with her. As she entered Drago barked out a greeting and beat his tail as he stood before slumping back down upon his paws and getting back to his bone.

[Anora Eventide]

"Please," Anora softly added as she glided into the room. She stood beside Dimitri and ran her hand through his short hair, evidently fond of the change.
"Or you may confuse the dog and it will come instead of me."
Her caressing hand withdrew.

The woman glanced to Drago in the corner. Its enthusiastic manner was met with a brief frown, a wordless chide for its previous disobedience. Slight perplexity blinked on her face as she glanced to the suspiciously large bone. She was not even going to inquire at this point, perhaps slowly edging into indifference.

Her sparks of energy had dwindled to embers, their vividness drawn out by the lulling rituals of preparing for bed. In an uncommon show of ease, she languidly settled on the cot arranging a pillow beneath her elbow. Dark hair splayed across her shoulders again, made downy by thorough brushing.
While her body hinted at a mellowed elegance, her eyes neatly avoided the bare patches of Dimitri's skin.

Her voice's cadence was low and persuasive as if she was lazily forming the end to a spell.
"Did you want something particular from me this evening, Dimitri, or merely my company?"