Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
From: milar@seq.uncwil.edu (milar andrea m)
Subject: [INTRO] New character
Message-ID: <1993Oct16.191020.5619@seq.uncwil.edu>
Keywords: intro
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1993 19:10:20 GMT



     It was dawn.
     The lone figure approached the town with a steady, determined pace.  
As the figure approached, backlit by the morning sun, a muttering could be
heard; soon, the muttering was even understandable: "...Godsforsaken
trail...bandits should've known...have to clean damn sword now..._better_
be here..."   Other travelers shied from the path, avoiding the seemingly 
deranged being.  The figure stopped, looked around, and grabbed at a nearby 
farmer.  "You!" she said (for the figure was, upon closer inspection, female)
"This is Generica, yes??"  The farmer nodded twice, slowly, eyes wide.   
"Thank you." She turned and moved faster into the city. 
     Her clothing was dirty from the road, but the shield on her back was
immaculate.  A large pack rested beneath the shield, but well out of the way
of the longsword at her right hip.  Obviously a warrior.  Townspeople 
leaving the gates toward her groaned inwardly. "Another one!!" was the 
general thought.
     
     She stopped just inside the city and looked around in near-awe.  A bit
more subdued, she tapped a guardsman on the shoulder.  When he swung around,
she said "Where can one find good meat, ale, and a place to sleep?  It's been
a long journey and I want a few comforts..."
     The guardsman looked her up and down, shook his head and pointed up one
street.  "You can find just about anything at Dragon's Inn.  You're just
passing through, I take it?" 
     "Not necessarily." she sneered.  "How do I recognize this place?"
     "Read the sign." the guard countered.
     "I'm a warrior, not a scribe." the woman's eyes grew dark. "How do I 
recognize it?"
     The guard sighed and gave her a quick desciption of the building's color 
and style and moved on without another word.
     "Wonderful way to start in a new place, Alwine...You always know 
just what to say." the woman muttered to herself ruefully.  She shook
her head and went to find the Inn.

     She found the place with little problem, as there was a great deal of 
traffic to and from it.  She walked in almost hesitantly, then stopped. 
"Gods above and below..." she muttered softly, trying to take in the 
variety of people, things, and smells.  She found a table by a wall (all
of the corners were taken), unslung her shield, and dropped her pack.
     "Anyplace I can get cleaned up?"  she called to the bartender; he pointed
at a small room in the back.  
     "It'll cost..." the bartender grinned.
     The warrior-woman pulled a pouch from beneath her tunic and removed a coin.
"In addition, I want a meal and ale.  _Lots_ of ale..."  She handed over the
coin.  "That should cover it, no?"  The bartender examined the coin, determined
the gold to be pure and the design to be rare, and nodded quickly. "Good."
She picked up her pack and moved into the other room.


     When she emerged, she didn't look quite like a _new_ woman, but at least
she started resembling one.  Her hooded wool tunic had been replaced with
a lighter tunic, gray, with no sleeves, and she wore tight leather breeches
instead of the woolen leggings she had arrived in.  Her waist-length brown
hair was free, and the lamplight caught in the stands of copper and bronze
within.  Her face, cleaned of trail-dust and sweat, looked almost regal,
were it not for the feral blue-gray eyes, slanted like a cat's, or an elf's.
She was tall, and very muscular; not someone one would wish to meet alone
in an alley.  On her right bicep was a strange mark;  a tattoo of a black
scorpion bordered in red.
     She dropped her pack back at the table and walked again to the bar.
Before she was able to say a word a mug of ale was placed before her.  
"Your food will be out shortly, milady."  She did a double-take at the
title.
     "I'm not nobility.  My name is Alwine called Kalimatchka." She pro-   
nounced it "ahl-VEEN-uh".  "Call me that, not 'milady'."  She glared at
him.
     "Y-yes, m...ah, Alwine..."  the bartender stumbled, taken aback.
     "I'm looking for someone."  she said bluntly, pulling a smaller
coin from her purse.  "Can you help me?" 
     "That's hard to say...Alwine."  the bartender seemed torn.  "Perhaps so,
perhaps not...depends on who and why." 
     Alwine laughed, a pleasant sound for her contralto voice.  "Nothing
sinister, I assure you.  Just a friend.  The one who signed this." She
showed him a piece of parchment.  
     He glanced over it quickly and stated "Oh, certainly.  Comes in here
all the time...I'll let 'em know you're here."
     Alwine tossed the coin at him and retrieved the parchment.  "Please do..."
She went back to her table and downed the mug of ale, earning a couple of 
astonished glances.  She settled comfortably into her chair, looking like 
a contented cat.  She smiled as her meat and refill of ale arrived, and 
dug in. "Better get here." Alwine thought.  "I can't wait forever."





andrea