Nym (Ranger9000)

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

Eru nodded, immediately beginning to sniff around, making use of her superior sense of scent to pick up the trail. Still, it took them a good amount of fruitless walking around the lake before she managed to find something that smelled like a man. Rushing forward, she'd lead Nym on a short run, stopping in front of a small ring made of large stone slabs. A ragged-looking human was sitting on top of it, holding some kind of parcel under his arm, lost in thought. At least he seemed lost until the adventurer came closer.

His eyes immediately snapped open, his head rapidly turning towards her, a pair of bloodshot eyes staring at her. "You! Muse!" He called out, rapidly rising and running towards them. He stopped only a few steps away, looking very excited. "Hold still like this, please! I must put your image to the paper, before you flee!" He spoke excitedly, gnarled fingers rapidly opening what looked to be a large sketchbook, withdrawing what seemed to be some kind of weird pencil as he quickly began to draw a picture of Nym. "This outfit... Yes, this outfit... It is new! Thank you muse, for bringing it here!" He chatted maniacally as he worked.

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

"Uhh...what is going on..." Nym said as they ended up being pulled into a flurry of movements and rambling statements after they had encountered this person that the Undine had tasked them to find. The man looked very ragged, and maybe a bit insane, but Nym thought that it might be better to not do anything at the moment, though she would throw a few questioning glances at Eru.

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

Eru seemed to be just as confused. Initially she was defensive, but when the freak turned out to be not a violent one, she ended up being just as bewildered as Nym. Meanwhile, the madman finished his picture, presenting it to the girl. It was a portait that presented her from feet to head, but it was a little... Odd. The details of her body, like hair or face, were very rushed. However, her outfit was drawn damn near perfectly. It almost seemed lifelike. "Thank you oh muse, thank you!" He bowed repeatedly, his long, wild hair and unkept beard flailing around. "You have provided this unworthy one with new things to paint and immortalize! You have my undying, my eternal gratitude, oh muse!" He all but prostated himself before Nym, babbling about how thankful he was.

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

'....................' Nym sweatdropped, 'What. The. Fuck.'

Still the man hadn't turned violent yet, just extremely extremely weird, "Uhh, hey, in exchange for letting you having drawn that picture, anychance you can leave the spirit in the lake alone? She asked us to try to get you to leave her alone."

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

At this request, the man suddenly paused, staring at Nym intently. Slowly, he rose to his feet, his face taking on a melancholic, sad expression. "I... I cannot. I literally cannot." He spoke calmly, suddenly sounding a lot more lucid. "I was cursed, you see. For my ignorance and sin, the divine punished me with this fate. I have no choice but to wander and draw, to immortalize everything there is on this earth in pictures. The undine... Her beauty... I have no choice but to capture it here if I am to ever fulfill their judgement!" He shouted, his earlier maniacal energy returning. "Muse! Aid me! Please help me immortalize her in drawing! I beg of you, I cannot leave her alone until I do!" He kneeled before Nym, panting.

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

........"Did you ask the undine nicely the first time? Cause she seemed kinda creeped out by you," Nym said, tentatively, "Infact I'm fairly sure she very much doesn't want you to get a picture of you, is there any other way to get you to leave?"

Nym somewhat was worried, maybe this guy was just acting nuts, and was infact some villain. Which was why she wasn't all the eager to help him.

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

Once more the man seemed to calm down, for only a moment. "No... I wish I could, but I cannot..." He whispered, tears in his eyes. "And I asked and I asked as nicely as I could, but this zeal, this fervor to made her beauty immortal in my pages is too strong to contain! I beg of you! Please! I shall do anything, anything you ask of me, just give me a chance to complete my task!" He sobbed, still on his knees. "Anything, even a pound of my flesh, just speak to her on my behalf! I cannot, she will not listen, but you, muse! Your words are soft and gentle, maybe she will heed you!" He pleaded.

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

........, Nym would look over at Eru, then shrug, "I-I guess? Just wait here though, if she sees you before we say anything, I don't think she'll be happy and then you'll never get your chance."

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

Eru just seemed to be eager to get away from the guy, looking SEVERELY creeped out. In fact, she was struggling not to run away from the looks of it. The madman began to nod furiously as Nym made her promise. He seemed ready to cheer, but was visibly holding himself back, perhaps because nothing was set in stone yet. "Thank you, oh thank you kind muse! You're a bright ray of hope to this poor, damned soul!" He gushed. He'd remain where he was, not moving even a little bit even when the girls walked away, apparently honoring the promise he had given. "Are you SURE you want to help this guy?" The wolfgirl would question as soon as they were out of earshot.

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

"Honestly, I don't know," Nym said as they got away from the man and started back to where they saw the spirit before, "But I don't entirely see how else to get him to leave without getting violent, and even then if we didn't kill him he would probably just come back, and I don't really want to kill someone...Unless you got another idea?"

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

Eru paused, thinking with a pensive look on her face before sighing. "No. But he's... Weird. Like, really weird. Not right in the head." She shrugged, walking alongside Nym. "And he might actually be cursed, too. I mean, anything that messed his head up THAT bad has to be something big. He might have actually pissed off a god." The wolfgirl glanced back, looking a little wary even as they've approached the lakeshore. "What if the god gets pissed off at us too for helping him? I don't want to end up like that guy. And I don't want to piss off her too." She gestured at the water. "Well, if you're sure that you know what you're doing, then I'm not going to run away or anything. But I hope you do know what you're doing." She finished explaining herself, waiting for the girl to either summon the undine or do something else.

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

"He really is weird but as I said, short of killing him I can't think of anything else to get him to go away right now," Nym said with her own sigh, before going up to the waters edge and dipping the crystal in the water. She just hoped the undine would be willing to listen to her, and not try to blast her with water elemental powers or something...

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

Eru sighed, sitting down nearby and waiting. The two of them would have to remain a bit patient again, as the undine was taking her sweet time arriving just as she did the first time. Thankfully, she did show up, rising slowly out of the waters near the shore. She looked around, scanning the nearby area before focusing on the two girls again, raising an eyebrow as she looked at them for some reason. "You're back, I see." She noted calmly. "Have you taken care of that man? Will he trouble me no more?" The spirit asked, watching the two of them with unusual intensity. The wolfgirl began to fidget under that stare, casting a few glances towards Nym and prompting the mistress of the lake to focus her attention on the human.

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

"Spirit, the man seems relatively harmless. Apparently all he wants is the opportunity to draw you once and he promised he would leave," Nym said, trying to avoid getting nervous under the spirits stare, "We don't think he will leave without such a chance and killing is against my morals. So I was wondering if you could consider humouring him."

Nym could only really really hope the spirit wouldn't get too mad.

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

The undine didn't seem to be too happy to hear that, judging by the frown on her face. Still, she was not throwing water at them even as she silently stared at the girl, so perhaps it wasn't the worst case. "You seem to be speaking the truth, at the very least." The lake spirit remarked. "Your hands are not stained with blood and you seem certain of his intentions." The undine paused to ponder this for a moment, keeping her stare locked onto Nym as if judging her. "I may allow this... But on a few conditions. You will ensure he stays silent, I have no desire to listen to more of his rambling. You will see to it that he leaves my lake immediately once he's done. Any misbehaviour on his part will be your responsibility, and you shall be punished alongside him for it. Do you agree with those terms, mortal?" She questioned, her tone cold.

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

Well, she wasn't fighting for her life yet, so that was good. Then the undine began talking, and it seemed like she wasn't going to get blasted. So that was good! Now she just had to trust that her confidence was well placed and the madman was infact, just a regular madman, and not some horrible horrible villian, "I agree to these terms Spirit, we will bring him back shortly after explaining the terms to him."

Once she was dismissed, Nym would turn to Eru and give a, "Well, I'll handle talking to the guy, he seems to like me for some reason."

With that they would head back to the madman, preparing to explain the terms to him when she got there.

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

The undine quirked an eyebrow at Nym's declaration, but said nothing, wordlessly sending her off with a gesture. This time she remained above water instead of retreating back to lake, though. Eru merely nodded and followed the adventurer back to the madman's place. After a short walk, they've found him right where they ended up leaving him, kneeling on the ground and staring forward without making a single move. It appeared that he remained there motionless ever since they've finished talking. Though his eyes did light up upon noticing Nym, his expression a mixture of hope and trepidation. "You return, muse! Are the news joyous?" He called out as soon as the girls were within earshot. "Has the undine agreed to let me portay her beauty?"

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

"Indeed she has, but she has some conditions. First, you must not speak at all the entire time you are near her. Second, she want's you to leave as soon as you have finished your drawing. Also you really need to behave, because if you make the undine angry then we get punished as well," Nym said in response to the mad artist. The man had proven very willing to listen to orders it seemed, seeing as he hadn't even moved since they had left, so maybe this could work out. If not she was going to make sure she was standing nearby so that she could gag him if he tried to say anything when he was drawing.

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

At those words, tears began to flow from the madman's eyes. "Muse... You truly convinced her?" He spoke, as if having a hard time believing it. "I thank you... This poor soul thanks you with all his heart!" He quickly rose to his feet, running up to Nym and hugging her briefly. "I shall abide by any rules the spirit lays out in exchange for this opportunity! Lead us, muse, so that we may meet the lake's mistress!" He shouted, pointing dramatically with a wide grin on his face. Eru's face turned a little white at that smile. Probably because of how wide it was. And how many teeth it had. It was really suprising how many teeth human beings really had, Nym would likely reflect. Still, once they set out he fell silent immediately, turning completely stoic... If one ignored how energetic and tense he was under the surface.

Returning to the lake, the group found the undine already waiting for them. Rather than address Nym or Eru, however, she merely glanced at the girls before turning to the man. "Draw." Was all she said, and yet it sent him into a frenzy, sketchbook opening and pencil dancing on the page as he worked. He kept going on like this for a good while, saying nothing, doing nothing but drawing furiously. The girl wasn't sure how long it took, but eventually he stopped, kneeling down before presenting the finished picture to the undine - a lifelike drawing of her form, standing above the rippling surface of the lake. For a long while, neither he nor the spirit moved, frozen like statues in their position.

Eventually, the silence that had been lingering was broken. "Acceptable." The undine judged, nodding her head. "Now leave." As soon as she said that, the madman suddenly rose, bowed to her deeply, then gave Nym a similiar bow before running off as fast as his legs could carry him, disappearing between the hills. The undine watched him go with a stoic expression before turning her attention back to the girl. "You have done well to keep the madman obedient. I can feel his presence moving away from us. You've completed your task. As promised, I shall grant you my boon. Have you any containers?" She inquired. Nym would likely remember she had a waterskin in her traveling bag, for storing water during travels.

 

[Ranger9000]

Re: Nym (Ranger9000)

Nym was a bit weirded out by the madman's hug, and even more terrified by his smile, but he went silent so maybe this would all work out? Still they got back to the spirit, and with only a single word the man went to work. Drawing in total silence and in a frenzy of work. Which atleast meant they didn't have to wait too long for him to finish, considering the quality of the drawing in the end.

Then the man left after the Undine dismissed him, and Nym let out a sigh of relief she didn't know she had been holding. Happy that she had managed to get through this quest without any serious trouble, "Thank you Spirit, and yes, we have a container," Nym would root in her bag and pull out the waterskin, "Here Spirit."