Azure bonds - Kate Novak [31]
Dragonbait laid more wood on the fire, and then stepped outside the campsite to stand in the darkness, facing the hill-top, as though he expected danger from that direction.
"So, tell me, mage," the halfling piped up, obviously uncomfortable without chatter about her. "Where did you find your familiar?" She indicated Dragonbait by nodding her head in his direction. "I've seen nothing like him from the Sword Coast all the way south to magical Halruaa."
Alias snapped, "Dragonbait is my companion, Ruskettle, not the mage's familiar. I did not find him. He found me. He has proved more than useful."
"Aye, I've noticed. Especially at pulling halflings out of the fire. I meant no offense, I assure you. It's just that I've never heard of a lizard acting as a manservant before. But then I've never heard of a magical arm before either"
Alias gritted her teeth. If the halfling wasn't going to give her curiosity a rest, it was time to go on the offensive. "You know, I've never heard of a halfling bard before."
"Well, that's easily explained," Olive smiled. "I gained my training in the south; things are very different there."
"I am from the south as well," said Akabar. "And now that the lady mentions it, I have never encountered a bard of the halfling race, either."
"Ah," replied Olive, staring sadly into her empty bowl. "Well, you are from Turmish, I seem to remember."
"Yeees," the mage said, anticipating what was to come.
"Well, I was trained farther south than that."
"Anywhere near Chondath?" Akabar asked.
"Chondath? Yes, just a wee bit farther south than that."
"Sespech?"
"Yes, Sespech. There is a barding college there with a fine teacher who taught me all I know." The halfling flashed Akabar a beaming smile.
"How odd," drawled the mage, tugging at the edge of his beard. "One of my wives comes from Sespech, on the Vilhon Reach, and while she is quite talkative about the merits of her native land, she has never mentioned halfling bards."
"Ohhh. No, no, no, no," corrected Olive. "You're talking about Sespech between the Vilhon and the Nagawater. I was referring to a place much farther south. How far south have your travels taken you?"
"I've traded as far south as Innarlith, on the Lake of Steam," the mage said. The halfling nodded.
"Our company…" Alias wrinkled her brow, trying to dredge up memories as bright but as liquid as quicksilver. "Our company fought on the Shining Plains. Yes, that's right, and we traveled through Amn once or twice."
The halfling looked at Alias a moment, confused by her interruption about places farther to the west and outside the realm of the discussion. She shrugged and continued her far-fetched explanation to the mage. "And in Innarlith there were dwarves from the Great Rift?" she asked.
"Yes, from Eartheart," Akabar replied.
"Well," Olive concluded triumphantly, "below the Great Rift, on the Southern Sea, is the land of Luiren. We have a Sespech there, and a Chondath, which are small but bustling towns, the namesakes no doubt of your larger nations. Anyway, in Sespech, the one in Luiren, I was trained, having made a long pilgrimage from Cormyr. I was attempting to return to my homeland when that fool wyrm plucked me from my wagon."
"Dimswart says you came from across the Dragon Reach," Alias said, puzzled.
"No, I come from Cormyr. You see, traveling by boat does not agree with me, so I journeyed to Luiren around the western edge of the Inner Sea. Desiring to see even more of the Realms, I returned from Luiren around the eastern edge of the Inner Sea, through many wild and dangerous lands. I made a name for myself in the nations of Aglarond and Impiltur. I had just entered Procampur when I received Master Dimswart's most generous offer to entertain at his daughter's wedding. And glad I was to come home, Procampur being a stuffy town, too restrictive for an artiste."
Alias and Akabar exchanged glances. Akabar looked