The Outlander

RP Date: 2026-10-11

Location: Moorlands

Participants: Mara, Naledi

Summary

Naledi encounters Mara, a newcomer, while out on a walk.

This archive was published after approval by all listed participants.

Roleplay

Mara has put up a small tent against against a taller Stone that buffers some of the endless wind.  The mist distorts its shape and her own, but the smell of a campfire and the lazy wisps of dark smoke that come from it are unstable. Mara is seated in front of the fire, dressed in unfamiliar garments that cover the entirety of her body save for her eyes in fabric of beige and brown over leather.  A soft scraping noise can be heard as she whittles something out of a stick with a sharp knife.

Naledi hasn't traveled much outside of the town at large.  In fact, most of her time has been spent holed up in the apartment above the bookshop cleaning every nook and cranny to make it habitable.  When she wasn't doing that she was, like the others milling about, scrounging for food.  And then, when she needed a break from the nightmare that was their current predicament, she was slowly making her way through the books, fully taking advantage of her new 'home'.  Still, the elf needed to get out and get some air, which is how she found herself at the moor.  Naledi steps forward through the mist and wraps her arms around her middle, thinking she should have searched for a coat before heading out this way, but also swallowing more easily past a knot in her throat that had been increasing in size recently.

Mara continues her work; the only sounds are the endless whistling of the wind and the soft scraping of bone against wood. The object has no shape yet, but it's heading that direction.  She stills at the sound of footsteps on grass and looks in the approaching elf's direction. "Hello. Are you lost?"

Naledi has spent recent days lost in thought and preoccupied with her inner monologue.  So, while her eye register the tent and the fire and even the figure sitting there, it isn't until she hears a voice call out of her that she's broken out of her reverie.  With a quick shake of her head, she turns towards, what she assumes to be a woman, and offers a small, kind smile.  "Oh, no.  Not lost.  I just realized I hadn't been out this way yet."  A beat, "are you new here?"

Mara remains seated and calm. She appears perfectly content exactly where she is.  Her dark eyes smile back at Naledi and her voice carries an accent that doesn't match anyone else's here. "I am, yes. The water brought me through.  I am? not sure yet where we are, but it does not matter so much; I am where I need to be."

Naledi nods when she mentions the water bringing her here.  That seemed to the be consensus with everyone she had met so far.  Her latter words, draw a slight cant to her head, however.  "Can I ask what you mean by that?  You're where you need to be?"

Mara lifts her chin a little bit to meet Naledi's eyes. "If I am here it is because I am needed here if I was not needed here then I would be somewhere else. My name is Mara, of the Starseer tribe."

Naledi closes her mouth as she considers Mara's words and a cold chill runs down her spine causing the elf to help her arms a bit more tightly around her body.  "Nice to meet you Mara.  My name is Naledi."  

Mara sets the knife and stick down and bows her head to Naledi. "A pleasure, Naledi.  Are you here alone or are there others in the town? I see someone has lit up the watchtower."

Naledi gives a quiet, humorless laugh.  "I am here with my husband, but there are several with us in town.  We had a meeting with most of us, I think, a week ago."  The elf pauses to look about in their general area.  "Is it just you out here?"

Mara looks around when Naledi does. "No, there are many creatures out in this wild place, but I am traveling by myself, yes."

Naledi looks out towards the expanse of the moor and to the vastness beyond.  "What types of creatures have you seen out here?"

Mara looks out at the misty moorland. "I have seen many small creatures, a snake, and two small wild horses far in the distance. Many birds also, but what sort of birds they are isn't known to me. Moorland birds."

Naledi listens and nods along as Mara begins to list off the different animals she has seen sine arriving and it is the mention of the wild horses that piques her interest the most.  "Do you have food?  Water?"<br />

Mara smiles gently at Naledi. "Do you <i>need </i>food? Water?"

Naledi smiles and gives her head a small shake. "I'm doing okay, thanks."

Mara nods and settles back to her work, picking up the knife and stick. "I i'm also doing well enough even if the climate is damper than I'm used to.  All will be well."

Naledi says to Mara, "I have to say, I admire your positive attitude through all of this."

Mara 'a eyes smile at Naledi again. "I am on a pilgrimage, Naledi. This is all part of the journey."

Naledi smirks and shrugs her shoulders slightly.  "I can't say I know anything about that.  I'm just a broken girl from Solol."

Mara nods quietly again. "I have heard of your Solol, but I wish you the best of luck if your desire is to return there.  If it gives you hope, remember that life moves in cycles and all journeys and eventually."

Naledi smiles sadly at Mara. "I'm not sure if my journey is meant to finish at Solol." But hopefully Lex would be able to get back there, to be with Charlotte. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mara, but I should head back before I freeze out here. If you need anything I'm sheltering about the bookshop in town."

Mara says to Naledi, "Sometimes we must travel in order to grow. Perhaps the soil of Solol no longer suitable for you.  I will probably not venture into town because civilization is for the civilized but if you're ever in need of aid, seek me out and I will do what I can for you."