Subject: Turn

Sorry I did not get anything out last night. I have my stuff with me this morning and I have one thing to do and then I will work on a turn.

Subject: Elven naming convention

Elven last names.

There are 6 elven clan/family names. They are: Ril, Ell, Tor, San, Raf, and Lar.

Elven first names. All elves are given a three letter first name at birth. This is then combined with the three letter last name for the full name. For example Kal-Lar or Ran-Ell or Kev-Lar or Lou-Tor.

If two elves meet and have the same name they then refer to their parents name.

Half elves names depend on who raises them. If they are raised by the elven parent they usually have an elven name, if not they might likely not have an elven name.

Subject: Meet Maximus

As the party dismounts a couple of guardsmen hustle out to take the horses back to the stable. Halpin leads the party into the common room where they sit at the long tables. Two more guardsmen start bringing out mugs of ale and water and plates of bread, cheese and meat. As they eat Ragnar asks Halpin about the dwarves. Halpin looks a bit surprised "I thought you would know more than me, Brother, being a dwarf and all?" "You'd think" answers Ragnar "Except for two thing. First, I am from the White Fang Mountains, not the WorldSpine. Second, I grew up a captive of orcs and was rescued by a Paladin of the Order. I have actually spent very little time with my people. So assume I am a human who has never seen a dwarf and tell me what you know."

Halpin gathers his thoughts. "I am sure all of you are familiar with dwarfs, since you travel with one. I have met a few in my day and even been to the entrances to their mines once. They tend to be quite and steady. I have heard that this can change a bit when they have been at table for a celebration, but I have never seen it. The High King, Dar, has been king for almost 30 years and he was fairly young when he became High King. Byho has more dealings with them. The dwarves mine the ore, ship it to one of the many smelters in Byho where they turn it into metal and then ship the metal back to the dwarves so that their blacksmiths can use it."

"Bhyo, having a large part of the Great North Woods, has a large industry built around the dwarf trade. Many dwarves work in the foundries and smelting plants North West of here. The humans do more of the grunt work, cutting trees, hauling the ore and hauling finished goods. A lot of people there make a living because of the dwarves."

"Bhyo is a fairly nice place to live. They can be a little cold when the rules call for it, but they are not really spiteful. They have a good trade situation set up with the dwarves and they all make a lot of money from it. You should meet some tonight."

The afternoon moves on and the party members prepare to move their gear to their new mounts. They re-supply their provisions. There is a call from the guard tower in late afternoon "Patrol on the horizon" the watcher shouts. The garrison breaks into frenzied activity at the impending arrival. With Halpin's permission, Kal climbs to the top of the tower to get a look at the contingent from Byho.

There are just over 20 men mounted on horses with another 10 or so empty horses on lines behind them. Most of the riders are clad in leather armor and have short spears. Short bows are slung over the backs of half the riders, which Kal is surprised to see is made up of women and men. His keen elven eyes spots short swords at their sides. Two figures stand out. The first, the man in the lead of the patrol is dressed in a shiny breast plate and has a helm with a large feathered plum on it. He has a long spear with a pennant flying from it. The flag has a fancy design on it. Kal figures it for some heraldry, but is unfamiliar with the symbols. The second is a well dressed woman ridding side saddle on a large roan gelding. Her blonde hair trails behind her as she gallops with the rest of the patrol.

Several minutes later the patrol canters into the courtyard of the garrison. Halpin greets the man in the breastplate with a loud shout "Maximus, you old dog. I thought you had retired?" The man with the breastplate slides off his horse and hands the reins to one of the waiting guardsmen "Halpin you young buck. Who have you offended so greatly that you are still manning this forsaken outpost?" Maximus is an older gentleman, just about 6 foot tall, grey hair going bald. He looks like he was once a powerful man, but age is getting the better of him. However, he moves and talks like a seasoned veteran.

Maximus walks over to Halpin and the two shake hands like old friends. The riders start to dismount and the Schon guardsmen rush to help them with their horses and the extras. Over the din the party hears a slight cough and Maximus turns and sees that the lady is still sitting on her horse. The Bhyoian turns and shouts "Dammit Flavius help the Ambassador down from her horse." He turns to the lady "I am sorry, you Ladyship, my corporal is new and still learning." The lady nods as she is helped down from her mount by a young man. She turns to Maximus "I assume he will be properly chastised for his inattention?"

Maximus grimaces but nods "Yes, your Ladyship, 10 lashes. Flavius, take the Lady's gear to her room and then report to the Sergeant after chow for chastisement." The young corporal, fear in his eyes, nods. He then hurries to one of the horses that has a few bags on it and starts unlashing the baggage. Maximus turns back to Halpin "So what's up." The Lt. gestures to the party and makes introductions. When he is done introducing the party he gestures to Maximus "This is Marcus Aurelius Maximus, Centurion of the Army of Bhyo and good friend." Maximus bows to the party "A pleasure to meet you all." He then motions for the lady to join him. "May I present the Lady Collette De Blum, Lady of the Court and Ambassador to the Dwarves from Byho?" De Blum executes a perfect curtsy. "I am honored to meet you all."

With the light fading Halpin suggests that they all head inside "We have food and a warm fire ready for everyone."

OODM: Any role playing you want to do or questions you want to ask.

Subject: Back on the road

OOC: Retcon on Ally's conversation yesterday . I didn't know the convention on Elven names.

IC:

"I was at the great Elven University outside of the capitol. I actually was sponsored to study there for 5 years, it was some agreement that the mages in Gorn had made with the elven wizards there. Since Elven instruction in magic is more relaxed and esoteric than the guild style of instruction most humans learn by, I was never with any mage for a long time. Some of the greatest venerable wizards there actually came to seek me out, since human visitors at the mage school itself are rare. The venerable Ohn-Ell himself spoke with me once, he wanted to 'see how magic had been progressing among these human upstarts' as he put it."

"I actually spend a lot of my time studying with another student named Sün-Ril. Even though the elders considered her a student still, she had been there for over a century and was very knowledgeable. She had a natural gift for magic and was able to teach me how to remember some of my spells without even having to read them in my spellbook."

Subject: Maximus

Surin waits for one of the less prosperous looking individuals of the Byho contingent to move away from the main party. As the man moves out of earshot of the main party, Surin engages him in conversation. After some small talk, Surin reaches the question he wanted to ask. He cautiously broaches the topic, taking care not to offend. "Who is the Ambassador? She must be quite the personage for a Corporal to be taking ten lashes for simply being slow to help her from her horse." Surin muses as if to himself: "I wonder if the merit is in some title, or simply in the title of Ambassador itself?"