Tanisevania at the Tournament

Wow, its been a long time. However, we just started a new campaign. Huzzah! I am now offifically playing Tanisevania, my Gnomish Druid.

Last night's session was AWESOME!!! And so far she's easier to play than I thought she would be. However, a lot of her reactions to the other characters and the opinions she formed were not voiced, so I felt the need to type out her thought process over the day she spent attending a fighting tournament. Here that is.

~~~~~

As Tanisevania settled down in her seat next to Vesa, she immediately began staring down at the assembled fighters, studying each as they presented their arms. She didn’t know very much about fighting, or this practice in it, but it seemed as good a time as any to try and figure out who her plan was going to lead her to.

Her plan was simple. She would use her sex appeal, though it wasn’t that impressive, to seduce the winner and get into the caravan through that “bond.” Most of the fighters were male, and she could only hope they were attracted to women. The only woman competing, the one with the bright red hair who danced with fire, had implied in her actions yesterday that she was attracted to men. At least, that’s how it seemed to her based on her reaction to seeing that Dwarven fighter with the odd hair. There was no denying that she was very beautiful, but even if she took interest in women, her looks and apparent skill put her way out of Tanisevania’s league. She sighed, accepting this. After all, not all women who were attracted to their own sex would be attracted to someone like her. It would probably be far easier to attract one of the male fighters, assuming at least a few of them liked women, and could be easily distracted with breasts. In her experience, that wasn’t too hard to do if the man in question fancied women. But she understood too that the men here might not be like the ones in her hometown, so nothing was guaranteed. She would need to do her absolute best to make the plan work, as she didn’t know how else she was going to get into that caravan.

The battles began, and she watched attentively. Every time someone fell it made her wince. She had never been a fan of combat; she hadn’t even participated in the duels that were part of Gnomish culture. If she succeeded and for some reason the winning fighter developed an attachment to her, it might be difficult for her to continue the charade, having an outlook on his or her life that was so different from her own. She didn’t really want to lie, either, but she didn’t see any other way of accomplishing this. She sighed again, softly, so Vesa wouldn’t notice.
Another person had fallen, this time a fighter with scars all over his face. One of them disfigured his mouth on one end. She stared at it, knowing no one would notice her doing so. It was petty and shallow, she knew, but disfigurement of the body often made her uncomfortable. A disfigured body always reminded her of death, and death reminded her of her mother, and how she herself was responsible for…

She shivered, forcing herself to look away from the fallen warrior. She hated the ugliness within herself that made her relieved that he had not won.

As the next battle began, she refocused her attention and continued watching. Eventually, another man of note began to win his own battle, fighting with a bow and arrow instead of a weapon suited to close combat. His style of fighting made her pay attention. Even though she didn’t know much about weapons, she thought this looked…odd, but it was definitely more to her tastes. She too was one to stay farther away from danger. He wasn’t very handsome, but she thought maybe his personality would be one more akin to hers. She would have to wait and see what became of him.

Soon after that, the Dwarven warrior began his battle. He was ferocious and violent; almost every strike of his weapon made her wince. His opponent appeared to fall easily, and she relaxed. It was over. However, the warrior stood over the defeated man, raising his weapon high and looking at the King. It was clear, even to her, that he would kill this man if the King desired it. Her discomfort at his viciousness in battle turned to fear. Would he really kill this man, who he had already defeated? To her relief, the King motioned for him to stand down, and he did so. However, he still raised the man over his head and threw him, hitting him again with the end of his weapon, as if defeat was not humiliation enough. She watched him leave the battlefield, more confused than she had been since she arrived in this strange place.

~~~

The lunch gong rang, and after some deliberation, it was clear to Tanisevania what she must do. She had gone over the results of the battles, weighing each of the victors in her mind. It seemed that the two most likely winners so far were the man with the bow and arrow, and the Dwarven warrior. And out of the two of them, she was fairly certain who would succeed.

Her feet had carried her to the vendors, and she looked around, sure he was seeking his lunch. When she spotted him, she drew all her courage to herself and sauntered over to him. He didn’t notice her at first – too absorbed in his lunch, which he was smearing all over his beard in the process of eating it. She said hello, and he looked around, then down at her. His eyes immediately went to her cleavage. She smiled. Good. As she continued to flirt with the man, whose name turned out to be Grim, she relaxed. Something about the way he acted, his face flushing and his eyes trying their hardest to stay away from her bosom, instilled in her the confidence that if he won, she would not have a hard time of winning him. She even let herself be bold and kiss him on the cheek before she left him. Despite her discomfort in how he fought, she was glad that he might win the tournament, and began to hope for that outcome…as long as he didn’t kill anyone in the process.

She purchased her lunch and made to return to her seat when she bumped into the Kender woman again. Kaleena chattered on at her about the matches, and she smiled and listened politely. She didn’t know much about Kender, but so far this one was amusing. Kaleena mentioned that the man who fought with the bow and arrows was a friend of hers, and Tanisevania made note of this. If he were to win, or even continue doing well, she would have to ask her to introduce her to him. She invited her to join her and Vesa in the stands, but Kaleena declined, suggesting instead that Tanisevania join her up on the wall. Staring up on it, she too had to refuse, and they decided just to meet after the match.

When she sat back down, Vesa was already there. She said hello and set to eating, her face forming a thoughtful expression. What was she going to do if Grim really won? Surely a warrior like him had had many women already, but he still seemed so innocent. Almost boyish, despite his rugged features. Guilt tugged at her heart. Could she really continue lying to him, if she took her plan to his bed? She didn’t want to hurt anyone in this. She would have to tell the truth, or at least part of the truth, eventually…

Feeling eyes on her, she looked up to find Vesa staring. He asked her for her thoughts, and she realized he must have noticed the look on her face. She shook her head, smiled prettily, and assured him that she was just thinking. Her eyes lingered on his face longer than she knew they should have.

What she had wanted yesterday was to skip the brothel and take him directly to bed with her. She couldn’t help it; he was gorgeous, and her attraction to him had been instant. He wasn’t cruel or chauvinistic either, as far as she could tell. He had spoken to her as an equal. They even shared the same interests, obviously, as he had called another man to his bed after going upstairs with two women. Vesa was promising, very promising. She regretted that he was not a fighter, so he could not win the tournament and become her goal. That would turn the task entirely to pleasure.

There would be pleasure, of course. Even if she wasn’t extremely attracted to the winner, sex itself was fun, and she wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to have it. And if Grim won, sex with him would probably be an adventure.

She tried to watch the rest of the matches with the same focus she had in the earlier ones, but none of the battles produced winners that were as impressive. The red-haired woman did not fight that day, but Tanisevania found herself watching her anyway as she sat on the sidelines. Her display of arms had been strange, but skillful. She found herself worrying. What if she won the tournament, and wasn’t attracted to women? What would she do then? Scowling at herself, she forced her fears to the back of her mind. She would wait to see how the woman fought, and if she won, she would approach her tomorrow. She could not plan any farther than that.

A gong rang for dinner, and another, later signified the end of the day’s matches. Tanisevania stood, telling Vesa she’d catch up with him at the Blue Dragon, and bounded down the steps to see Grim again. She had to instill in him the memory of her. As she walked over to him, she made sure to skip a little so her breasts would bounce too. As expected, she got his attention, and set to flirting with him some more. He still acted with such boyish innocence, and it intrigued her. Against her better judgment, she honestly found herself wanting to know more. She left him without another kiss but a promise to return to watch the matches tomorrow. He told her that if he saw her, he’d point her out, and she didn’t know what to make of that.

As she walked away, Kaleena found her again, and immediately began chattering on in her surprise that Tanisevania knew Grim. She explained, smiling, that she was just becoming his friend. She continued pondering this “friendship” as Kaleena talked, but was jolted back to attention as the Kender mentioned that she had gotten some Reindeer fiber to spin with. She didn’t know much about spinning, but she knew where that fiber must have come from. Her thoughts turned to Vesa, and her contemplation turned to concern. He might be angry about this. Assuming the Kender was in tow, she headed off to the Inn they both shared, intending to find Vesa so they could find his poor, shaven reindeer. She had to admit to herself, that in this strange town where so many odd things were happening, she didn’t know what was going to happen next.

~~~~~

Soooo yeah, that's it so far. Here's what I plan to do at the beginning of the next session, in case I forget:

~ If Vesa isn't too drunk after his own competition, she'll try to get him to spend the night with her.
~ The next morning, she'll get dressed in her new outfit again, meditate for her spells, and then go check on Vesa's reindeer.
~ Then to find some green space (a garden, tree, anything) to refocus herself.
~ Then off to the tournament, making sure to sit where Grim can find her.